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Quotes About Chess

I like to play chess with bald men in the park although it's hard to find 32 of them.
~ Emo Philips
I met Bobby Fischer in 1993 when he moved to Europe. I have mixed feelings about it. He was an idol, but not a healthy minded man.
~ Judit Polgar
My idea is to make moves to bring chess back to the world's map, to make it part of the world's geography again.
~ Anatoly Karpov
The Bishop moves diagonally forwards or backwards, to the extent of the Board.
~ Howard Staunton
The way I play is not like most people. The moves are more computeresque. They're not the moves that most humans are going to play.
~ Hikaru Nakamura
No matter how badly you play, unless you make a flat-out blunder, there's always going to be some narrow path to being able to save the game and draw instead of losing.
~ Hikaru Nakamura
Because of the Internet, chess is not about your nationality or your background. Anyone can get good now.
~ Hikaru Nakamura
You are a cunning devil, aren't you, Mikhail? But I think your cleverness may have gotten you into a bit of trouble." He watched her with hooded eyes. His teeth gleamed white in the firelight. "Did I happen to mention, Miss Whitney, that the last person impertinent enough to beat me at chess was thrown in the dungeon and tortured for thirty years?" "I believe that would have made you about two at the time," she teased, her eyes glued to the chessboard.
~ Christine Feehan
Mikhail lazily reached across the board to make his move, saw the dawning comprehension in her eyes. "I believe what we have is checkmate," he said silkily. "I should have known a man who walks in the forest surrounded by wolves would be devious.
~ Christine Feehan
Your name, please, little one. It was asked with grave courtesy. Raven found herself smiling in spite of everything. Raven. Raven Whitney. So, Raven Whitney, eat, rest. I will return at eleven for our chess match.
~ Christine Feehan
Like looking down on a lubricious chess set, isn't it? The king moves in tiny steps, with no direction, like a drunkard trying to avoid the archer's bolt. The others work their strategies and wait for the old man to fall. He has no power, yet all power moves in his orbit and to his mad whim. Do you know there's no fool piece on the chessboard, Kent? Methinks the fool is the player, the mind above the moves.
~ Christopher Moore
Perhaps there is a reason that there is no fool piece on the chessboard. What action, a fool? What strategy, a fool? What use, a fool? Ah, but a fool resides in a deck of cards, a joker, sometimes two. Of no worth, of course. No real purpose. The appearance of a trump, but none of the power: Simply an instrument of chance. Only a dealer may give value to the joker.
~ Christopher Moore
Well, of course one must have concentration. Courage. Self-control. That goes without saying. But more important than these, one must have... I don't know how to say it. One must be both a mathematician and a poet. As though poetry were a science; or mathematics an art. One must have an affection for proportion to play Go at all well.Ah... what Go is to philosophers and warriors, chess is to accountants and merchants.
~ Trevanian
But she never could keep it straight. All the letters, the acronyms, the codes, the colors, changing like musical chairs, every week, every month. Games demons play. It meant nothing to her, except in a charming sort of way, as it had when Naganya wanted to play at interrogation, while the rest of them wanted chess.
~ Catherynne M. Valente
I've always found chess to be a bit too much like real life to provide much enjoyment as a game.
~ Catherynne M. Valente
Nor does this understanding require a prolonged grounding in the not yet established laws of psychology. Following the moves made by a chess-player is not doing anything remotely resembling problematic psychological diagnosis.
~ Gilbert Ryle
Clarissa: Talbot, it is so delightful to have you back again. I shall now have such charming evenings with you at chess. Talbot: At what? Clarissa: Chess — the king of games. Talbot: Do you call it a game? Ha! ha! No, thankee; life's too short for chess.
~ H. J. Byron, Our Boys, 1875
In chess there's a saying: "Only the good players are lucky.
~ James Altucher
In chess, computers show that what we call 'strategy' is reducible to tactics, ultimately. It only looks creative to us. They are still just glorified cash registers. This should make us feel uncomfortable, whether or not we think computers will ever be good composers of music or artistic painters.
~ Tyler Cowen
I don't know how many calories an average chess player burns per game, but it often exceeds that of a player in ball games. It is not only the chess as such: You need to be fit and undergo complicated preparation.
~ Viswanathan Anand
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.
~ Magnus Carlsen
I started by just sitting by the chessboard exploring things. I didn't even have books at first, and I just played by myself. I learnt a lot from that, and I feel that it is a big reason why I now have a good intuitive understanding of chess.
~ Magnus Carlsen
There is technology where you can watch the match live online and also on TV. If people understood the game, I'm sure we would have a lot of chess fans by now.
~ Viswanathan Anand
In chess, you gotta come up with a strategy. I made a lot of plans in my life. 'I'ma do this, I'ma do that, this is gonna happen, that's gonna happen.' And a lot of stuff don't go as planned. You really gotta act on events as they unfold. That's how I compare chess to life.
~ Tee Grizzley