Quotes About Strategy

I believe good plans are the best way to maximize fun, avoid disaster, and possibly, save the world. I spend a lot of my time making them.

Chess problems are the hymn-tunes of mathematics.

The first law of business: Make the rules or your rivals will

The more the other party needs what you can offer, the more they will feel the loss if you walk away. And the more likely they are to say yes to your terms.

In auction situations, the final bidder overpays so often that economists call the accompanying feeling of regret the "winner's curse.

It (proof by contradiction) is a far finer gambit than any chess gambit: a chess player may offer the sacrifice of a pawn or even a piece, but a mathematician offers the game.

he had made such and such a move, then I had such and such a winning combination in mind.' But the 'great game' of chess is primarily psychological, a conflict between one trained intelligence and another, and not a mere collection of small mathematical theorems.

Move forward with the proper balance of caution and panicked haste.

And the thing about games is, if you get good at one game, you can be good at any game. That's what I think. They're all hand-eye coordination and observing patterns.

In games, the thing that matters most is the order of things. The game has an algorithm, but the player also must create a play algorithm in order to win. There is an order to any victory. There is an optimal way to play any game.

Sadie was nearing the end of the level. "What's the secret to landing high on the flagpole?" "Hold down the run button as long as you can, then crouch down and jump just before you're about to fall," the boy said. Sadie/Mario landed on the top of the flagpole.

But it's the only way I know to move forward. You make a list and then you go and do the things on it.

Commander Keen, Myst, Doom, Diablo, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, Leisure Suit Larry, The Colonel's Bequest, Ultima, Warcraft, Monkey Island, The Oregon Trail

A maze," he would say, "is a video game distilled to its purest form.

Ah, but Sadie Green was a gamer! In a game, if a sign warns you not to open a certain door, you will definitely open that door. If it doesn't work out, you can always go back to the save point and start again.

And the thing about games is, if you get good at one game, you can be good at any game. That's what I think. They're all hand-eye coordination and observing patterns.

That's the gamer in you, trying to figure out how you might have beat the level. My brain is treacherous like that, too. But there was nothing you could have done, Ant. The game wasn't winnable.

Playing Dungeons & Dragons in a group of two people is a peculiar, intimate experience

Near the gardens, Pei stopped and caught her breath. She liked sweet-voiced Song Lee and hoped for the best in dealing with the other sisters, but Pei rememered all too well the different personalities that had affected her life, first at the girls' house, then at the silk factory and sisters' house. Dealing with so many people was often like playing a game of chess. There were so many pieces, all moving in different directions. It was always wise to guard all sides against capture.

The genius of you Americans is that you never make clear-cut stupid moves, only complicated stupid moves which make us wonder at the possibility that there may be something to them -which- we are missing.

A man with no motive is a man no one suspects. Always keep your enemies confused. If they don't know who you are or what you want, they can't predict your next move.

The genius of you Americans is that you never make clear-cut stupid moves, only complicated stupid moves which make us wonder at the possibility that there may be something to them we are missing.

The genius of you Americans is that you never make clear-cut stupid moves, only complicated stupid moves, which leave us to wonder at the possibility that there may be something to them that we are missing.

They say golf is like life, but don't believe them. Golf is more complicated than that.