Chess Wisdom
Useful, profound, and amusing nuggets of wisdom from history's greatest chess players, thinkers, and others. Many of them are self-explantory, some less so. If you'd like to dialogue about any of them just use the form on the Contact page on this website and get in touch. Also check back to see new nuggets every week.
"Chess is so inspiring that I do not believe that a good player is capable of having an evil thought during a game."
Wilhelm Steinitz, World Champion, 1886-1894
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"The pin is mightier than the sword."
Fred Reinfeld, Renowned chess author
"Even a poor plan is better than no plan at all."
Mikhail Chigorin, Russian Chessmaster of the late 19th / early 20th centuries
"When you see a good move sit on your hands and look for a better one."
​Emanuel Lasker, World Champion, 1894-1921
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"You may learn more from a game that you lose than from a game that you win."
Jose Raul Capablanca, World Champion, 1921-1927
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"Only the player with the initiative has the right to attack."
Wilhelm Steinitz, World Champion, 1886-1894
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​"Strategy requires thought, tactics require observation."
Maw Euwe, World Champion, 1935-1937
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"If your opponent offers you a draw, try to work out why he thinks he's worse off."
Nigel Short, World Champion Challenger, 1993
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"My main objective was to get playable positions. Not to come under any great pressure from the beginning."​
Magnus Carlsen, World Champion, 2013-2023
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"The hardest thing to win is a won game."
Emanuel Lasker, World Champion, 1884-1921
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"Chess is the art of analysis."
Mikhail Botvinnik, World Champion, 1948-1963 (with a few 1-year breaks here and there
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"Never play to win a pawn when your development is yet finished."
Aron Nimzowitsch, Renowned Chessmaster and Thinker, 1920's / 1930's