You can find the greatest chess quotes from top chess players like Garry Kasparov, Bobby Fischer, Magnus Carlsen, and Vladimir Kramnik in this article.
Chess Quotes from Garry Kasparov
Most chess players believe that Garry Kasparov is the best chess player all-time in history. He became the youngest champion in chess history in 1985.
Chess strength in general and chess strength in a specific match are by no means one and the same thing
Nowadays games immediately appear on the Internet and thus the life of novelties is measured in hours. Modern professionals do not have the right to be forgetful – it is ‘life threatening’
Any experienced player knows how a change in the character of the play influences your psychological mood.
Vishy is a brilliant player. But it is very difficult to compete at 40. He is up against people half his age. I will be surprised if he can go on any longer. He can fight against anyone but time.
For me, chess is a language, and if it’s not my native tongue, it is one I learned via the immersion method at a young age.
The highest art of the chessplayer lies in not allowing your opponent to show you what he can do.
Chess continues to advance over time, so the players of the future will inevitably surpass me in the quality of their play, assuming the rules and regulations allow them to play serious chess. But it will likely be a long time before anyone spends 20 consecutive years as number, one as I did.
Winning is not a secret that belongs to a very few, winning is something that we can learn by studying ourselves, studying the environment and making ourselves ready for any challenge that is in front of us.
When I was preparing for one term’s work in the Botvinnik school I had to spend a lot of time on king and pawn endings. So when I came to a tricky position in my own games I knew the winning method.
Attackers may sometimes regret bad moves, but it is much worse to forever regret an opportunity you allowed to pass you by.
When your house is on fire, you can’t be bothered with the neighbors. Or, as we say in chess, if your King is under attack, don’t worry about losing a pawn on the queen side.
Chess Quotes from Bobby Fischer
Most chess players favourite chess player is Bobby Fisher. He is a American chess grandmaster and he became the 11th World Chess Champion.
Chess is a matter of delicate judgement, knowing when to punch and how to duck.
In chess so much depends on opening theory, so the champions before the last century did not know as much as I do and other players do about opening theory. So if you just brought them back from the dead they wouldn’t do well. They’d get bad openings.
Alekhine developed as a player much more slowly than most. In his twenties, he was an atrocious chessplayer, and didn’t mature until he was well into his thirties.
Psychologically, you have to have confidence in yourself and this confidence should be based on fact.
If you don’t win, it’s not a great tragedy – the worst that happens is that you lose a game.
Don’t even mention losing to me. I can’t stand to think of it.
All I ever want to do is just play chess.
It’s just you and your opponent at the board and you’re trying to prove something.
Chess is war over the board. The object is to crush the opponent’s mind.
You can only get good at Chess if you love the game.
All that matters on the chessboard is good moves.
Chess Quotes from Magnus Carlsen
Magnus Carlsen is the current world chess champion and some players believe that he is the best chess player all-time.
Some people think that if their opponent plays a beautiful game, it’s OK to lose. I don’t. You have to be merciless.
Not winning a tournament is not an option for me, unless it’s no longer theoretically possible – then of course winning becomes impossible. But up to that point, not winning is just not an option.
I was lucky enough to attend schools where they were understanding about when I needed to go abroad to play chess. Of course, socially it is important to go to school and interact with people your own age.
Maybe if I didn’t have the talent in chess I’d find the talent in something else. The only thing I know is that I have talent in chess, and I’m satisfied with that.
People ask what my goal is. I don’t have a goal.
I honestly don’t read that much. Obviously, I read chess books – in terms of favourites, Kasparov’s ‘My Great Predecessors’ is pretty good.
I can’t count the times I have lagged seemingly hopelessly far behind, and nobody except myself thinks I can win. But I have pulled myself in from desperate [situations]. When you are behind there are two strategies – counter-attack or all men to the defenses. I’m good at finding the right balance between those.
Self-confidence is very important. If you don’t think you can win, you will take cowardly decisions in the crucial moments, out of sheer respect for your opponent. You see the opportunity but also greater limitations than you should. I have always believed in what I do on the chessboard, even when I had no objective reason to. It is better to overestimate your prospects than underestimate them.
I am not some sort of freak. I might be very good at chess but I’m just a normal person.
Some people think that if their opponent plays a beautiful game, it’s OK to lose. I don’t. You have to be merciless.
I get more upset at losing at other things than chess. I always get upset when I lose at Monopoly.
I don’t look at computers as opponents. For me, it is much more interesting to beat humans.
