57 Inspiring Chess Quotes Worth Remembering

 

1. “Chess is life.” – Bobby Fischer

 

2. “These young guys are playing checkers. I’m out there playing chess.” – Kobe Bryant

 

3. “Life is a chess match. Every decision that you make has a consequence to it.” – P.K. Subban

 

4. “A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kickboxing.” – Emo Philips

 

5. “Critical thinking is the most important factor with chess. As it is in life, you need to think before you make decisions.” – Hikaru Nakamura

 

6. “Most gods throw dice, but Fate plays chess, and you don’t find out til too late that he’s been playing with two queens all along.” – Terry Pratchett

 

7. “In life, as in chess, forethought wins.” – Charles Buxton

 

8. “Whoever called snooker ‘chess with balls’ was rude, but right.” – Clive James

 

9. “Drawing is rather like playing chess: your mind races ahead of the moves that you eventually make.” – David Hockney

 

10. “I feel as if I were a piece in a game of chess when my opponent says of it: That piece cannot be moved.” – Soren Kierkegaard

 

11. “The chess player who develops the ability to play two dozen boards at a time will benefit from learning to compress his or her analysis into less time.” – Marilyn vos Savant

 

12. “Chess is my life, but my life is not chess.” – Anatoly Karpov

 

13. “I am convinced, the way one plays chess always reflects the player’s personality. If something defines his character, then it will also define his way of playing.” – Vladimir Kramnik

I consider myself to be a genius who happens to play chess. - Bobby Fischer

14. “Fencing is a game of living chess, a match where reflexes only work in combination with intent, and mind and body must work together at every moment.” – V. E. Schwab

 

15. “Chess: It’s like alcohol. It’s a drug. I have to control it, or it could overwhelm me. I have a regular Monday night game at my home, and I do play a little online.” – Charles Krauthammer

 

16. “Chess demolishes differences. It’s a language of different generations.” – Judit Polgar

 

17. “Chess is ruthless: you’ve got to be prepared to kill people.” – Nigel Short

 

18. “Each outing is its own game. You roll on your game plan. It is a different chess match each time you go out there. I just try to be prepared.” – Jason Hammel

 

19. “Chess is not for timid souls.” – Wilhelm Steinitz

 

20. “All I want to do, ever, is play chess.” – Bobby Fischer

 

21. “Spying is like a game of chess: Sometimes you have to withdraw, sometimes you have to sacrifice one of your pieces to win – preferably a knight rather than a king or queen.” – John Rhys-Davies

 

22. “The truth of the matter is that chess is not the game of life because life does not ever happen the way you strategize and plan.” – Jason Reynolds

 

23. “I am still a victim of chess. It has all the beauty of art – and much more. It cannot be commercialized. Chess is much purer than art in its social position.” – Marcel Duchamp

 

24. “Once you’re a chess player, you spend a lot of time thinking about the game and you can’t get it completely out of your head.” – Magnus Carlsen

 

25. “Chess first of all teaches you to be objective.” – Alexander Alekhine

 

26. “I get more upset at losing at other things than chess. I always get upset when I lose at Monopoly.” – Magnus Carlsen

 

27. “In chess, you should be as cool as a cucumber.” – Yuliya Snigir

 

28. “Life is very much about making the best decisions you can. So I think chess is very valuable.” – Hikaru Nakamura

 

29. “Chess is mental torture.” – Garry Kasparov

 

30. “I think chess players are not always what you think them to be. Or maybe it’s our job to appear serious.” – Anish Giri

 

31. “Chess is changing. I hope chess is getting more popular, more spectacular.” – Alexandra Kosteniuk

 

32. “The great thing about chess is it’s a game for oneself. You don’t work on what you can’t control, you just work on yourself. And I think if more people did that, we’d all be a lot better off.” – Daniel Naroditsky

33. “Chess is an infinitely complex game, which one can play in infinitely numerous and varied ways.” – Vladimir Kramnik

 

34. “Chess taught me patience.” – Yuzvendra Chahal

 

35. “In poker, you want to play the weaker guys. In chess, it’s the opposite.” – Hikaru Nakamura

 

36. “Chess is a game of stimulation.” – Gza

 

37. “When you watch chess, you don’t see the four hours that the player spends preparing for a match ahead of time.” – Hikaru Nakamura

 

38. “My problem with chess was that all my pieces wanted to end the game as soon as possible.” – Dave Barry

 

39. “I believe that the true beauty of chess is more than enough to satisfy all possible demands.” – Alexander Alekhine

 

40. “Whoever sees no other aim in the game than that of giving checkmate to one’s opponent will never become a good Chess player.” – Max Euwe

 

41. “I was world champion. For me, chess is my life. It is everything.” – Anatoly Karpov

 

42. “For me art and chess are closely related, both are forms in which the self finds beauty and expression.” – Vladimir Kramnik

 

43. “In chess, everyone’s accepted. That’s what’s great about it. You can be a little bit different. You can be an oddball.” – Hikaru Nakamura

 

44. “I want to show how rich chess is and what kind of history it has, through culture, literature, and education.” – Judit Polgar

 

45. “I consider myself to be a genius who happens to play chess.” – Bobby Fischer

 

46. “Chess can be described as the movement of pieces eating one another.” – Marcel Duchamp

 

47. “Political analysis is full of chess metaphors, reflecting an old tradition of seeing games as models of physical and social reality.” – Dominic Cummings

 

48. “People are governed with the head; kindness of heart is little use in chess.” – Nicolas Chamfort

 

49. “Chess is a game where all different sorts of people can come together, not a game in which people are divided because of their religion or country of origin.” – Hikaru Nakamura

50. “My mother and father met while playing chess, so I’ve always had a fondness for the game. If it weren’t for chess, I might not be here.” – Dorothy Dunnett

 

51. “Life is not always like chess. Just because you have the king surrounded, don’t think he is not capable of hurting you.”- Ron Livingston

 

52. “With chess, it was almost this palpable electricity that I felt. You’re totally in control of your own fate. There’s no luck factor. It’s you and the pieces.” – Daniel Naroditsky

 

53. “I learned that fighting on the chessboard could also have an impact on the political climate in the country.” – Garry Kasparov

 

54. “I barely know what my plans are for tomorrow, but I hope chess will remain a major part of my life.” – Anish Giri

 

55. “Chess for me is not a game, but an art. Yes, and I take upon myself all those responsibilities which an art imposes on its adherents.” – Alexander Alekhine

 

56. “Chess is so inspiring that I do not believe a good player is capable of having an evil thought during the game.” – Wilhelm Steinitz

 

57. “You can’t win the chess match if you don’t have enough pieces.” – Stephon Marbury