I love collecting chess quotes, and here are some of my favorites. Some are inspiring chess quotes, while others are just downright funny!

Mikhail Tal Chess Quotes
Mikhail Tal in 1962. Harry Pot, CC BY-SA 3.0 NL, via Wikimedia Commons

“You must take your opponent into a deep dark forest where 2+2=5, and the path leading out is only wide enough for one.”Mikhail Tal

“If you wish to succeed, you must brave the risk of failure.”Garry Kasparov

“When you see a good move, look for a better one.”Emanuel Lasker

“Every chess master was once a beginner.”Irving Chernev

“Even a poor plan is better than no plan at all.”Mikhail Chigorin

“Tactics is knowing what to do when there is something to do. Strategy is knowing what to do when there is nothing to do.”Savielly Tartakower

“The blunders are all there on the board, waiting to be made.” — Savielly Tartakower

“Why must I lose to this idiot?!”Aron Nimzowitsch

“Chess is a struggle between my desire not to think and my desire not to lose.”Jan Gustafsson

“Play the opening like a book, the middlegame like a magician, and the endgame like a machine.”Rudolf Spielmann

“Help your pieces, so they can help you.”Paul Morphy

“Chess doesn’t drive people mad; it keeps mad people sane.”Bill Hartston

“A game to subdue the turbulent spirit or worry a tranquil mind.” — Bill Hartston

“I don’t believe in psychology. I believe in good moves.”Bobby Fischer

“Tactics flow from a superior position.” — Bobby Fischer

“Chess is the struggle against the error.”Johannes Zukertort

“One bad move nullifies 40 good ones.”Al Horowitz

“When in doubt, take a pawn!”Wilhelm Steinitz

“Win with grace. Lose with dignity.”Susan Polgar

“The older I grow, the more I value pawns.”Paul Keres

“In chess, as in life, a man is his own most dangerous opponent.”Vasily Smyslov

“The Pin is mightier than the sword.”Fred Reinfeld

“You may learn much more from a game you lose than from a game you win.”José Raúl Capablanca

“A passed pawn increases in strength as the number of pieces on the board diminishes.” — José Raúl Capablanca

“Chess is the art which expresses the science of logic.”Mikhail Botvinnik

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