Great chess quotes

[Frank Dixon]

Re: Great chess quotes

Asked why he avoided 1.P-K4, Grandmaster Ernst Grunfeld replied, "I never make a mistake in the opening." :)

[Frank Dixon]

Re: chess and politics quote

"This little man has taught all of us how to play chess." (Aron Nimzowitsch, 1886-1935, speaking about former World Champion Wilhelm Steinitz, who essentially founded the positional school of chess. Nimzowitsch himself made many vital contributions.)

[Nigel Hanrahan]

chess and politics quote

Pepe Escobar, who writes for Asia Times and a variety of publications around the globe, recently quoted American historian William Engdahl about a joke going around Moscow these days:

So here’s a popular joke in Moscow nowadays, as told by William Engdahl. Putin is back in the Kremlin after his meeting with Obama in New York. He tells an aide he invited Obama for a game of chess. And then he tells it how it works: “It’s like playing with a pigeon. First it knocks over all the pieces, then it shits on the board and finally struts around like it won.”

Ouch. That's gotta hurt. See "Moscow Doubles Down on Washington", etc.

[Frank Dixon]

Re: Great chess quotes

"I have known many chess Masters, but only one chess genius: Capablanca." :) (Emanuel Lasker 1868-1941, World Champion 1894-1921; he lost the 1921 title match to Capablanca.)

[Frank Dixon]

Re: Great chess quotes

"It's always best to sacrifice your opponent's pieces." :) (GM Savielly Tartakower, 1887-1956, perhaps the wittiest chess person of all time!)

[Frank Dixon]

Re: Great chess quotes

"Paul Morphy could have given Wilhelm Steinitz pawn-and-move." (Henry Bird, English Master, 1830-1908).

Irreverant trash-talking isn't just a 21st century phenomenon, as the above quote makes clear! :)

Bird's statement has some merit, but only when discussing the relative playing strengths of Morphy and Steinitz BEFORE 1860. By then, Morphy, born in New Orleans in 1837, was essentially retired from serious chess, after defeating Adolf Anderssen, theretofore considered the world's strongest player, convincingly, at their match held in Paris. Steinitz, born in Prague in 1836, was just beginning his ascent to the top; he would become the first official world champion in 1886, after defeating Johannes Zukertort in a match held in three U.S. cities. Steinitz was among the top five from the early 1860s until a few years before his death in 1900. So far as can be determined, Morphy and Steinitz never faced each other over the board, while Bird faced both players.

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Great chess quotes

I don't know who the moniker 'OBIT' belongs to, but he had this gem at the Bogdanovic vs Planinc 'Notable Game':

Feb-06-09 OBIT: Planinc always plays like Tal on acid.

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1296917

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Great chess quotes

Great Chess Quotes

October 5, 2015

The World Cup Baku 2015 Tiebreak Round has finished between Sergey Karjakin and Peter Svidler. Both players were exhausted playing six rapid games today. For most, it was a heart-stopping final. The commentators said that there was an ambulance parked outside of the tournament hall during the event in case anyone should have to be rushed to the Emergency Ward.

To some, it was not really chess but a blunderfest not worthy of the game. One said: Chess is supposed to be a game of thought not a gladiatorial lottery. Another: Well, it’s either something like this or spinning a roulette wheel/tossing a coin.

The champion though was David Robertson on the EC Forum:

Dismal lack of imagination. FIDE needs to set up one of its world-famous Commissions to explore alternatives. Here's a few:

* mud-wrestling
* spaghetti-eating
* smashing one another with inflated pig's bladders

My proposal: a bout of urtication
_______

OED - The flogging or pricking of a benumbed part or paralytic limb with green nettles, so as to restore sensation, etc.

[Frank Dixon]

Re: Great chess quotes

"I have only three words to say to you, Herr Lasker: 'Check and mate'." Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch, addressing Dr. Emanuel Lasker, on the eve of their 1908 World Championship match, won convincingly by Lasker.

There is a fascinating pre-history here. Tarrasch, six years older than Lasker, came to world-class prominence first, in 1889, when he won at Breslau; Lasker won a secondary tournament there at the same time. The two Masters were both German. Tarrasch turned down a chance in 1892 for a World Championship match against champion Wilhelm Steinitz, as he claimed he was too busy with his medical practice. Steinitz then faced Russian Mikhail Chigorin, winning a close struggle. While Steinitz was still World Champion, in 1893, Lasker, by then a rising star, challenged Tarrasch to a match, and was refused in humiliating terms. Lasker then made his way to the United States, where he proceeded to raise funds for a challenge to Steinitz for the World Championship. Steinitz accepted, and lost the match, a surprising result to most. Lasker held the title for a record 27 years, until 1921, when he lost to Cuban J.R. Capablanca.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Great chess quotes

Great Chess Quotes

October 1, 2015

My number one problem in typing up chess reports is Ian Nepomniachtchi’s surname. Evidently I am not the only one:

Chess by the Numbers - My spell check wants me to change "Nepomniachtchi" to "Kleptomaniac".

I found that amusing and worth sharing.

[Frank Dixon]

Re: Great chess quotes

"Karpomanes." GM Boris Spassky (1937--), World Champion 1969-1972, describing then-FIDE President Florencio Campomanes' alleged preference for GM Anatoly Karpov.

[Frank Dixon]

Re: Great chess quotes

"Tactics is what you do when there is something to do. Strategy is what you do when there is nothing to do." GM Savielly Tartakower (1887-1956)

[Frank Dixon]

Re: Great chess quotes

"The opponent can only capture one piece at a time." :) GM Mikhail Tal, explaining his sacrificial style.

[Frank Dixon]

Re: Great chess quotes

"The move 1.e4 is so not bad in itself." GM Mikhail Tal, 1936-1992, World Champion 1960-61.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Great chess quotes

Great Chess Quotes

From the English Chess Forum

PigGate

Posted by Gerard Killoran Wed. Sept. 30, 2015

The British Chess Magazine, Volume 25 1905 p.70-72 carries a report of the 100-board match between Croydon and The Rest of Surrey held on Saturday January 14th 1905 in the Public Hall, Thornton Heath.

Board 21 for The Rest of Surrey was Mr. W. P. Pigg and Board 20 for Croydon was Mr. C. H. Bacon. Nearly a great match-up.