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Quotations About Chess

Quotations About Chess

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"I hate this goddamn game!!" -my roommate, after she loses.

"I've always had a natural talent for piece coordination." -my roommate, after she wins.

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"My left is weakened. My right is broken. The situation is excellent. I'm on the attack."
Field Communiqué to Headquarters, Marshal Foch (French Commander, 1851-1929)


My favorite from newbs:
"Been a helluva long time since I've played"
Followed by:
"No , really, I used to be good at this game".

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Originally posted by Bob Kramer
When I'm White, I win because I'm White.
When I'm Black, I win because I'm Bogolyubov.
Who said that?

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Originally posted by wolfgang59
Who said that?

Lol. Bogoljubov perhaps?

1 edit
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Read this in Ilya Odessky's book Play 1b3!

"It is never to late to resign"

I suppose that isn't be best quote to get people to buy the book. :d

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Originally posted by Eladar
Read this in Ilya Odessky's book Play 1b3!

"It is never to late to resign"

I suppose that isn't be best quote to get people to buy the book. :d
Of course using the correct too would help too ;D


Originally posted by wolfgang59
Who said that?
I don't know who said this but it makes sense:
...most openings named after animals are bad...

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Bird, Elephant, Dragon... Any others?

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Originally posted by tvochess
Bird, Elephant, Dragon... Any others?
* Black Mustang Defense 1.Nf3 Nc6;
* Bullfrog Gambit 1.d4 Nf6 2.g4;
* Canard Opening 1.d4 Nf6 2.f4;
* Clam Variation 1.e4 e5 2.d3;
* Crab Opening 1.a4 e5 2.h4;
* Elephant Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5;
* English Orangutan 1.c4 Nf6 2.b4;
* English Rat 1.d4 d6 2.c4 e5;
* Fried Fox Variation 1.e4 f6 2.d4 Kf7;
* Giraffe Attack of the Vienna Game 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Bc5 3.Qg4;
* Great Snake 1.c4 g6;
* Halibut Gambit of the English Opening 1.c4 b5;
* Hawk Defense 1.d4 c5 2.d5 Nf6 3.Nf3 c4;
* Hedgehog a pawn formation adopted usually by Black that can arise from several openings;
* Hippopotamus Defence a name for various chess opening systems in which Black moves a number of his pawns to the third rank (usually a6, b6, d6, e6, g6, h6);
* Kangaroo Defense 1.d4 e6 2.c4 Bb4+;
* Kingfisher Gambit of the Dutch Defense 1.d4 f5 2.Nc3 d5 3.e4;
* Lizard Attack of the Dunst Opening 1.Nc3 d5 2.e4 d4 3.Nce2;
* Lobster Gambit of the Latvian Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.g4;
* Medusa Gambit 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g5;
* Monkey's Bum of the Modern Defense
1.e4 g6 2.Bc4 Bg7 3.Qf3 e6 4.d4 Bxd4 5.Ne2 Bg7 6.Nbc3;
* Mosquito Gambit of the Englund Gambit 1.d4 e5 2.dxe5 Qh4;
* Orangutan Opening 1.b4;
* Porcupine Variation 1.c4 f5 2.e4 fxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.g4;
* Raptor Attack of the Trompowsky Attack 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 Ne4 3.h4;
* Rat Defence 1.d4 d6;
* Scorpion-Horus Gambit of the Caro-Kann Defence
1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d3 dxe4 4.Bg5;
* Sicilian Pterodactyl 1.e4 g6 2.Nf3 Bg7 3.d4 c5;
* Snail Variation of the Old Benoni Defense 1.d4 c5 2.d5 Na6;
* Snake Variation of the Benoni Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 Bd6;
* Tortoise Opening 1.e4 e5 2.Bd3;
* Vulture Defense 1.d4 c5 2.d5 Nf6 3.c4 Ne4;
* Wasp Variation of the Elephant Gambit
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nxe5 dxe4 4.Bc4 Qg5;
* Whale Opening 1.e4 e5 2.c4;
* Wild Bull Defense 1.e4 Nh6;

2 edits
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"Playing chess is not a matter of life and death. It is much more important than that! "

Said by me, and probably many others before me.

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"You don't have to join both the abstinence program and the chess club. When you join the chess club, the abstinence part takes care of itself." -some tv show

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No fool can play chess but only fools do-german proverb

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Here is a quote from Ilya Odessky about what happens when you study a great man's game and try to put the concepts you 'learnt' into practice.

He, the great man, played against, if not a super-grandmaster, then a good grandmaster anyway. And you are playing just an ordinary master, maybe even a candidate master. Yet how come your opponent saw and played this strong move that the grandmaster didn't see? And what are you now supposed to play against this unexpected surprise? And immediately, all the you thought you had learnt, absorbed and understood-they go straight out the window. The position is not what you studied, the pieces are on different squares, and the subtleties of the other position that you studied do not apply in this one. And the result, you can feel, will certainly not be the same. And after the game, you experience events like a cold shower- twice. First, when you sign the scoresheet, and then again, when you realise that you understand nothing, and will never, ever be able to play like the great man.

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The human element, the human flaw and the human nobility - those are the reasons that chess matches are won or lost.

Viktor Korchnoi

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