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Notebook","funding_links":[],"categories":[],"sub_categories":[],"readme":"## Chess :: Maxims and Software Tools\n\n- Cross-platform (Linux, Mac, Windows) **random chess quote**:\n  https://git.io/chess_quote.py compatible with Python 2.7 and 3 series.\n\n- Linux bash script for random chess quote(s): https://git.io/chess-quote\n  supports *multiple* quotes per call and regular expression for filtration.\n\n- Linux bash script to get and browse latest games from players at Lichess.org: \n  https://git.io/lich-game supports both rated and casual games.\n\n\n## Chess insights conveyed by quotes and maxims\n\nPlease add to our collection at https://git.io/chess by making a [pull request].\nYou can vote on submissions at [pulls] by adding a :+1: to any pull request.\nThe [editor] will merging it when votes exceed **14**.\n\nAlso join our chat at [Gitter] to share your wisdom.\n[![Join the chat at https://gitter.im/rsvp/chess](https://badges.gitter.im/rsvp/chess.svg)](https://gitter.im/rsvp/chess?utm_source=badge\u0026utm_medium=badge\u0026utm_campaign=pr-badge\u0026utm_content=badge)\n\n\n* A bad plan is better than none at all.\n* A beginner should play neither Queen's Gambit nor French Defense, but instead, open games.\n* A bold opening can unnerve even the most steely opponent.\n* A champion is afraid of losing, everyone else is afraid of winning.\n* A change in the character of the play will influence your psychological mood.\n* A chess player is a frivolous man who cares more about attaining his goal than the goal in itself.\n* A clever player not only wins, but excels at winning with ease.\n* A combination is a forced variation with a sacrifice.\n* A combination seeks to refute false values which leads to an unexpected reassessment.\n* A defeatist attitude inevitably leads to disaster.\n* A defense is skillful if your opponent does not know what to attack.\n* A draw can be obtained by three-fold repetition, but also by one-bad move.\n* A draw can be obtained not only by repeating moves, but also by one weak move.\n* A draw in theory just means equal in battle, so fight on!\n* A gambit opening brings reputation of being a dashing player at the cost of losing.\n* A good plan incorporates many little plans.\n* A good player creates his own luck.\n* A good sacrifice may not be necessarily sound but should leave your opponent dazed and confused.\n* A great chess player is not a great man, for he leaves the world as he found it.\n* A great chess player usually has a very good memory.\n* A knight and queen complement each other, and often are superior to a bishop and queen.\n* A knight entrenched in enemy territory is worth a rook.\n* A knight on the rim is dim.\n* A knight on the rim is grim.\n* A man who will take back a chess move will pick a pocket.\n* A man's wealth, ease, leisure, children, books, which should help him win, often checkmate him.\n* A master knows when to panic.\n* A master looks at every move he would like to make, especially the impossible ones.\n* A master must envisage himself as a cross between an ascetic monk and a beast of prey.\n* A master often considers fewer alternatives than an amateur, this is understanding.\n* A master senses the critical moments in a game.\n* A modest little move may embarrass your opponent more than the biggest threat.\n* A passed pawn increases in strength as the number of pieces on the board diminishes.\n* A passion for sacrifices is part of a chess player's nature.\n* A pawn unprotected by another pawn is on the brink of death.\n* A pawn, exposed to attack and difficult to defend, is weak.\n* A pawn, separated from his fellows, will seldom make a fortune.\n* A pawn, when separated from his fellows, will seldom make a fortune.\n* A pinned piece is not for the taking.\n* A plan is made for only a few moves, not for the whole game.\n* A plan is the sum of strategic operations executed following ideas arising from positional demands.\n* A player constantly improves his understanding of chess with experience.\n* A queen's sacrifice always rejoices the heart.\n* A rook and queen will always checkmate a naked king.\n* A rook in front of a passed pawn has some explaining to do.\n* A rook on the seventh rank is sufficient compensation for a pawn.\n* A sacrifice is best refuted by accepting it.\n* A singular attack by a solo piece demonstrates a plan to die.\n* A surprised chess player is half beaten.\n* A sustained initiative is worth some material.\n* A vivid memory, concentration, imagination, and a strong will are mandatory.\n* A well-played game should practically be decided during the middlegame.\n* A win by an unsound combination, however showy, fills me with artistic horror.\n* A wing attack is best met by a counterattack in the center.\n* Absolutely no takebacks: take your lumps, face up to consequences.\n* Activating the worst-placed piece is often the most reliable way of improvement.\n* After 1. d4 there are more opportunities for richer play.\n* After a bad middle game, there is hope for the endgame, but then, the moment of truth has arrived.\n* After a mistake, calm yourself and reassess the position.\n* Age brings wisdom to some men, and to others chess.\n* Aggression is the key: one has to be merciless.\n* All conceptions in the game of chess have a geometrical basis.\n* All masters have on occasion played a magnificent game, only to lose by a stupid mistake.\n* All that matters on the chessboard is good moves.\n* Always check, for it could be mate.\n* Always put the rook behind the pawn, except when it is incorrect to do so.\n* Always study your opponent's last move.\n* An attack is skillful if your opponent does not know what to defend.\n* An emotional stake in the game will make you work harder, and remember more.\n* An hour's history of two minds is well told in a game of chess.\n* An inaccurate move in the endgame is luxury which costs a victory.\n* An innovation does not need to be ingenious, but it must be worked out in great detail.\n* An isolated pawn spreads gloom all over the chessboard.\n* An ounce of common sense can outweigh a ton of variations.\n* Analysis of the most varied positions builds up a player's knowledge and intuition.\n* Analysis, together with a complete concentration, forms a chess player.\n* Analyze your games for mistakes until you no longer make them.\n* Anchor at least one pawn in the center and give it solid support.\n* Apart from blunders, there is nothing more ruinous than routine mechanical development.\n* Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.\n* Appear where you are not expected.\n* Approaching victory, do not rush, spend extra time on your important decision.\n* As a relaxation from the severe pursuits of life, chess deserves high commendation.\n* As black, play to equalize.\n* As for a marathon runner, perseverance and stamina are necessary for a chess player.\n* As in a first-rate short story, the plot and counter-plot should lead up to a striking finale.\n* As in life, mastery is attained only if you deal with your mistakes and defeats.\n* As in life, there are no take-backs: so think before you move.\n* As in life, today's bliss may be tomorrow's poison.\n* As long as an opening is reputed to be weak it can be played.\n* Assume your opponent will play like a machine, but if he falters, punish him.\n* Attack the base of a pawn chain.\n* Attack their weaknesses, and emerge to their surprise.\n* Attack when you have the superior game, or else: lose your advantage.\n* Attack where the enemy is unprepared.\n* Attackers may regret bad moves, but it is worse to forever regret a passed opportunity.\n* Attacking two weaknesses simultaneously will wear out the defense.\n* Avoid checking your opponent, unless it improves your attack.\n* Avoid fighting unless the position is crucial.\n* Avoid moving the same piece twice in the opening.\n* Avoid piece exchanges when you control more squares.\n* Avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak.\n* Avoidance of mistakes is the beginning, as it is the end, of mastery in chess.\n* Be extremely subtle, to the point of formlessness.\n* Be patient in times of crisis.\n* Be patient while calculating.\n* Be quick, but do not hurry without full development.\n* Be the chess player, not the chess piece.\n* Be the harshest critic of your own wins.\n* Be well enough prepared so that preparation does not play a role.\n* Be where your enemy is not.\n* Bear in mind the outlines of a possible future ending.\n* Begin with either e4 or d4, thus releasing two pieces.\n* Best by test: 1. e4.\n* Black should play to win instead of just steering for equality.\n* Blitz chess kills your ideas.\n* Blitz chess rots the brain just as surely as alcohol.\n* Blunders are ever present on the board, just waiting to be made.\n* Boredom leads to complacency and mistakes.\n* Botvinnik-Kasparov rule for mastery: Thoroughly analyze your own games.\n* Break a bind to free your pieces, even if it costs a pawn.\n* By playing chess, we may learn: first, Foresight; second, Circumspection; third, Caution.\n* By trying to win at all costs, expect to lose from a riposte.\n* Calculate while waiting for your opponent to move.\n* Capture of your opponent's King is the ultimate, but not the first, object of the game.\n* Castle because you must or because you want to, never just because you can.\n* Castle early and often.\n* Centralize your pieces to give them power.\n* Chance is practically eliminated in chess, when played between masters.\n* Chess appeals to those who seek that success which life has denied them.\n* Chess can be a matter of vanity.\n* Chess demands total concentration.\n* Chess has been elevated into an art form, but it is simply human nature: a fight.\n* Chess has trailed only the military and pornography in exploiting new technology.\n* Chess is 36% percent psychology.\n* Chess is 99% tactics.\n* Chess is a battle between your aversion to thinking and your aversion to losing.\n* Chess is a cold bath for the mind.\n* Chess is a game which reflects most honor on human wit.\n* Chess is a matter of delicate judgement: know when to punch and how to duck.\n* Chess is a meritocracy.\n* Chess is a part of culture, thus if a culture is declining then chess will also decline.\n* Chess is a rare art where composition takes place simultaneously with performance.\n* Chess is a sport, a violent sport.\n* Chess is a test of wills.\n* Chess is an art form where creativity prevails over other factors.\n* Chess is an infinitely complex game which one can play in infinitely numerous ways.\n* Chess is difficult: it demands slavery work, zealous research, and serious reflection.\n* Chess is everything: art, science, and sport.\n* Chess is life, and every game is a new life.\n* Chess is like alcohol or a drug: I have to control it, or it could overwhelm me.\n* Chess is like war on a board.\n* Chess is meditation on combinatorics and geometric proof.\n* Chess is mental torture.\n* Chess is not 99% tactics, but tactics will take up 99% of your time.\n* Chess is not a game of speed, it is a game of speech through actions.\n* Chess is not for the faint-hearted, it can absorb a person entirely.\n* Chess is not for the timid.\n* Chess is not relaxing, for it is stressful even if you win.\n* Chess is one long regret.\n* Chess is played with the mind and not with the hands!\n* Chess is psychologically brutal.\n* Chess is really 99% calculation.\n* Chess is refined and improved by experience.\n* Chess is ruthless: you have to be prepared to kill people.\n* Chess is so beautiful, one can waste an entire lifetime.\n* Chess is so rich in meaning that it can be both tragedy and comedy.\n* Chess is something clever for fools to waste their time.\n* Chess is the art of analysis.\n* Chess is the art which expresses the science of logic.\n* Chess is the gymnasium of the mind.\n* Chess is the only game greater than its players.\n* Chess is the struggle against error.\n* Chess is the triumph of the intellect over lack of imagination.\n* Chess levels rank: title, wealth, politics, religion -- all are forgotten across the board.\n* Chess makes man wiser and clear-sighted.\n* Chess mastery essentially consists of analyzing chess positions accurately.\n* Chess must be the most permanently pleasurable drug in the world.\n* Chess pieces are an alphabet shaping thoughts, expressing their beauty abstractly like a poem.\n* Chess poses an inexact problem, similar to those which must be solved in everyday life.\n* Chess probably originated as a symbolic representation of a war game between two kingdoms.\n* Chess problems: invention, conciseness, complexity, and splendid insincerity.\n* Chess shackles the mind such that the inner freedom of the very strongest must suffer.\n* Chess strength in general and chess strength in a specific match are not same thing.\n* Chess teaches you to sit calmly and to think about a good idea and to create better ones.\n* Chess trains you to think objectively when you are in trouble.\n* Chess would be laughable, were it not so serious.\n* Chess, unlike life, has rules.\n* Child prodigies have been known in only: mathematics, music, and chess.\n* Choose a battlefield that gives you the best chance of success.\n* Choose your move carefully, in chess as in life.\n* Combinations are the poetry of the game, they are to chess what melody is to music.\n* Combinations with a queen sacrifice are among the most striking and memorable.\n* Complicated tactical play favors the side with sounder position.\n* Computer chess destroys the beauty and romance of chess, for the game can be calculated.\n* Concentrate on forcing moves.\n* Concentrate on material gains.\n* Confidence is very important, even pretending to be confident.\n* Conform to their tactics until you can act upon a favorable opportunity.\n* Connect your rooks as soon as you can.\n* Continue using a certain opening, if the consequences suit your style.\n* Control the initial excitement you feel when you see something that looks good.\n* Control your feelings, be as cold as a machine.\n* Controlling more than half of the squares confers a distinct advantage.\n* Courage or cowardice depends on circumstances; strength or weakness on dispositions.\n* Daring ideas, like advancing pawns, may be beaten, but they start a winning game.\n* Decide on candidate moves and look at them each in turn.\n* Deeply study endgames for they rely on technique rather than the imagination.\n* Depending on intuition is a losing proposition.\n* Develop a new piece with each move in the opening.\n* Develop knights before bishops.\n* Develop, before your pawns challenge opposing pawns.\n* Devour the games of the masters.\n* Disciplined thinking will improve your concentration.\n* Discovered check is the dive-bomber of the chessboard.\n* Disturbance in the camp indicates authority is weak.\n* Do not allow your opponent to distract you.\n* Do not attack unless you have superior position.\n* Do not be afraid of losing, be afraid of playing a game and not learning something.\n* Do not be intimidated by higher ratings.\n* Do not bring out your queen too early.\n* Do not chase pawns at the expense of development.\n* Do not fall in love with the endgame to the exclusion of entire games.\n* Do not indulge in chess to the detriment of more serious avocations.\n* Do not let little details distract you from the bigger picture.\n* Do not move pawns in front of your castled king.\n* Do not sacrifice unless something can be gained.\n* Don't over think routine moves.\n* Double-check your analysis.\n* Doubled immobile pawns are a weakness, but they offer half-open files for rooks.\n* Drawing conclusions about your weaknesses can provide a great stimulus to further growth.\n* During a game a player lives on his nerves, and at the same time he must be perfectly composed.\n* During unforced good time, anticipate how events will develop, and take the necessary measures.\n* Early queen moves are disastrous because she is susceptible to panic attacks.\n* Endgames should be studied and mastered unto themselves.\n* Epic games are valuable, not for their moves, but for their manner of thinking.\n* Errors are caused by time pressure, discomfort, tension, distractions, and excessive caution.\n* Even a poor plan is better than no plan at all.\n* Even the best experience severe disappointments due to ignorance of the best lines.\n* Even the laziest king flees wildly in the face of double check.\n* Every battle is won before it's ever fought.\n* Every chess master was once a beginner.\n* Every chess player should exercise: A sound mind in a sound body.\n* Every move creates a weakness.\n* Every move should either interfere with your opponent's plans, or further your own plans.\n* Every move should have a purpose.\n* Every pawn is a potential queen.\n* Every pawn move is a life decision.\n* Excellence at chess is one mark of a scheming mind.\n* Exchange your bad pieces, and let them remain with your opponent.\n* Exchange your opponent's blockading pieces to make room for passed pawns to march.\n* Exchange your opponent's defending pieces to make room for your pieces to attack.\n* Exercise patience with your pawns.\n* Failing to open the center at the right moment is a common error.\n* Failure to castle makes your king vulnerable, and prevents the rooks from protecting each other.\n* Fewer pawn islands for more life.\n* Finding the opponent's dispositions will lead to victory.\n* First principle of attack: do not let the opponent develop.\n* First restrain, next blockade, lastly destroy.\n* Fischer almost never has any bad pieces, for he exchanged them.\n* Focus.\n* For a game, chess is too serious, yet for seriousness, too much of a game.\n* For every door the computers have closed, they have opened a new one.\n* Force your opponent to reveal himself, then find his vulnerable spots.\n* Fortune favors the brave.\n* French Defense requires patience while defending, and waiting to counterattack.\n* Games in progress are never drawn, perhaps they are equal.\n* Get the knights into action before both bishops are developed.\n* Given castling on opposite-sides, attack where your pawn chain is pointing.\n* Given two developing alternatives, select the more aggressive threatening move.\n* Given two opportunities to capture pawns, make the move towards the center.\n* Good attacks win games, but good defense wins championships.\n* Good offense and good defense both begin with good development.\n* Good players develop a tactical sense of what is likely and what is not worth calculating.\n* Good positions don't win games, good moves do.\n* Great results can be achieved with small forces.\n* Greatness: the ability to take a risk on a dangerous move at a critical moment.\n* Greatness: trading off pawn structure, and even material, for dynamic use of the pieces.\n* HAL 9000 to astronaut Frank Poole (2001): I'm sorry, Frank, I think you missed it.\n* Half the calculated variations are superfluous, but no one knows in advance which half.\n* Haste is never more dangerous than when you feel victory is within your grasp.\n* Haste is the great enemy.\n* Having a pair of bishops is often sufficient compensation for weak pawns.\n* Having good strategies in playing chess is often a good indication of being focused in life.\n* He who analyzes blitz is stupid.\n* He who does not know tactics cannot appreciate its benefits.\n* He who has a slight disadvantage plays more attentively, inventively, and boldly.\n* He who wishes to attack should first tally the costs.\n* Healthy pawns get boosted superiority in the endgame.\n* Help your pieces so they can help you.\n* Hit 'em where they ain't.\n* However hopeless the situation may appear, one can always stubbornly resist.\n* I beat the guy by making moves that are most unpleasant for him and his style.\n* I do not believe in psychology, I believe in good moves.\n* I do not play chess, I fight at chess, I aim to respond to the demands of each position.\n* I knew he was a chess champion because it took him twenty minutes to pass the salt.\n* I prefer to lose a really good game than to win a bad one.\n* If a man delays castling, files will open up against him and rooks will dominate the seventh rank.\n* If a mistake occurs, there is no need to mope, find a new plan to fit the new situation.\n* If a ruler does not understand chess, how can he rule over a kingdom?\n* If chess is a passion, it is a rewarding one.\n* If chess is life, it is a sad one.\n* If chess was a vast jungle, computers are the chainsaws of an insensitive logging company.\n* If enemy forces are united, separate them.\n* If ignorant of both your enemy and yourself, you certainly will perish.\n* If strategy was a block of marble, then tactics are the chisel in creating works of chess art.\n* If the center is blocked, you are playing the wrong opening.\n* If the defender gives up the center, then every possible attack will follow.\n* If the opening is unknown to you, concentrate on developing moves.\n* If the opposing king is exposed, a pawn is worth sacrificing to activate your rook.\n* If the position is hopeless, look for dirty tricks.\n* If you accept losing, you cannot win.\n* If you are short on time, keep calm, do not get flustered.\n* If you cannot win, make sure you do not lose.\n* If you do have a center, then you really have something to worry about.\n* If you do not know what to do, find your worst piece and look for a better square.\n* If you don't win, it's not a great tragedy.\n* If you get overly tired from preparations, you will not have enough energy for the tournament.\n* If you know something about your opponent, steer to his weaknesses.\n* If you make a mistake, do not let your opponent see what you are thinking.\n* If you must accept weak pawns, make sure you are compensated.\n* If you reinforce everywhere, you shall be weak everywhere.\n* If you sacrifice material, make sure that initiative is enduring, or has greater gain later.\n* If you want to succeed, you must brave the risk of failure.\n* If your king is under attack, don't worry about losing a pawn on the queen's side.\n* If your opponent has a bad temper, seek to irritate him.\n* If your opponent has not yet castled, seek a pretext for an offensive on each move.\n* If your opponent offers you a draw, figure out why he thinks he is worse off.\n* Ignore your opponent's threat whenever you can do so with impunity.\n* In a convergence, contrast the numbers of attackers and defenders.\n* In a gambit you give up a pawn for the sake of getting a lost game.\n* In blitz games, rely more on your intuition than analytical calculation.\n* In blitz, the knight is stronger than the bishop.\n* In chess, as in life, a man is his own most dangerous opponent.\n* In chess, as in life, prime opportunity strikes only once.\n* In classic endgames the King is brought up as soon as possible, even if there was no need to hurry.\n* In life, as in chess, our own pawns are an obstruction.\n* In life, unlike chess, the game continues after checkmate.\n* In open games, quickly develop the pieces and bring the king to safety.\n* In order to improve your game, you must study the endgame.\n* In the early game rooks are defensive, but later must become offensive.\n* In the middlegame, the king is merely an extra, but in the endgame he is a star actor.\n* In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.\n* Inferior positions are the easiest to play.\n* Invincibility comes from defense, possibility of victory from attack.\n* It has been said that life is not long enough for chess, but that is life's fault.\n* It is always better to sacrifice your opponent's men.\n* It is better to lose a really good game than to win a bad one.\n* It is better to study a worse line well than to reproduce a better computer line.\n* It is difficult for a crippled pawn majority to create a passed pawn.\n* It is necessary to attack where your opponent is weak and you are strong.\n* It is no time to be playing chess when your house is on fire.\n* It is not a move, even the best move, that you must seek, but a realizable plan.\n* It is not acceptable to lose a beautiful game.\n* It is not enough to be a good player, you must also play well.\n* It is not the best move that you must seek, but a realizable plan.\n* It is only necessary to see one move ahead as long as you find the best one.\n* It is only the enemy queen that your king cannot directly attack.\n* Just look one move ahead: the best one.\n* Keep the opening simple, but play the middlegame with such brilliance that the game is decisive.\n* Keep torturing with threats until, exhausted and exasperated, he finally makes a losing mistake.\n* Keep your plans flexible.\n* Knights perform best when given strong support.\n* Know with ease when you can or cannot get there first.\n* Know your strengths, and limitations.\n* Knowing your opponent enables you to take the offensive.\n* Knowing yourself enables you to maintain the defensive.\n* Knowledge of tactics is the foundation of positional play.\n* Lack of patience is probably the most common reason for a draw which should have been won.\n* Lack of patience is probably the most common reason for losing a game.\n* Learn from your draws and especially your defeats.\n* Leave the pawns alone, except for center and passed pawns.\n* Let the perfectionist play postal chess.\n* Let the perfectionist play postal correspondence.\n* Let your main objective be victory, not lengthy campaigns.\n* Life is a kind of chess, with struggle, competition, good and ill events.\n* Life is like a game of chess, for it changes with each move.\n* Life is too short for chess.\n* Like basketball, move around and probe, then attack cracks in the defense.\n* Liquidate backward and isolated pawns.\n* Long analysis, wrong analysis.\n* Look at the whole board.\n* Look through the eyes of your pieces.\n* Look to pawn structure to drive your plan.\n* Losing your objectivity almost always means losing the game.\n* Luck quantified: how often your opponent fails to punish your blunders.\n* Maintain positional tension, rather than dissipating it too soon.\n* Make certain all your pieces are defended.\n* Make only one ill-considered move, and your opponent's wildest dreams becomes reality.\n* Make your decision, then live or die with it.\n* Making excuses for losing will never help you to win.\n* Man is masterful over a machine, so long as he assigns its goals.\n* Many calculations will lead to victory.\n* Many men, many styles: what is chess style but the intangible expression of the will to win.\n* Many won games have been lost due to overconfidence.\n* Mastery essentially consists of analyzing chess positions accurately.\n* Methodical thinking is more useful in chess than inspiration.\n* Minimize distractions.\n* Mistakes are inevitable, so get in the habit of learning from them.\n* Mistakes are there to be made.\n* Mistakes in a game make it more memorable, for you have suffered over each of them.\n* Mistakes usually come in bunches.\n* Mistrust is the most necessary characteristic of a chess player.\n* Most book variations have no value because they are mistaken or contain fallacious assumptions.\n* Most combinations are inspired by the player's memories of earlier games.\n* Move to create an advantage.\n* Move your piece in the worst plight, unless you discern an advantage by attacking.\n* My favorite victory is when it is not even clear where my opponent made a mistake.\n* Mystify, mislead, and surprise the enemy.\n* Never bring the queen out too early.\n* Never count on your opponent to make a mistake.\n* Never feel sorry for your opponent.\n* Never forget that the king can be a fighting piece.\n* Never underestimate your opponent.\n* Never venture, never win!\n* No chess grandmaster is normal, they only differ in their madness.\n* No matter how bad one is, there is always somebody worse.\n* No matter how good one is, there is always somebody better.\n* No pawn breaks without resources to deal with them.\n* No pawn exchanges, no file opening, no attack.\n* No price is too great for the scalp of the enemy king.\n* Not all artists are chess players, but all chess players are artists.\n* Nothing excites jaded grandmasters more than a theoretical novelty.\n* Nothing is more important than the fight for the center.\n* Nothing that will teach you more than a trashing by a strong player or machine.\n* On the chessboard, lies and hypocrisy do not last long.\n* One bad move nullifies forty good ones.\n* One cannot possibly know all about chess.\n* One day you give your opponent a lesson, the next day he gives you one.\n* One does not have to play well, it is sufficient to play better than your opponent.\n* One lost game will teach you more than ten wins.\n* One must make every effort to combat the thoughts and will of the opponent.\n* One shall learn the art of self-control.\n* Only a good bishop can be sacrificed, a bad bishop can only be lost.\n* Only attack squares which are inadequately defended.\n* Only the player with the initiative has the right to attack.\n* Openings merely teach you openings, while endgames will teach you chess.\n* Openings teach you openings, but endgames teach you chess!\n* Opponent's big mistake: If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.\n* Opportunities arrive when least expected.\n* Opportunities multiply as they are seized.\n* Overcome that moment of panic when the scale of disaster is yet unknown.\n* Passed pawns must be pushed.\n* Pawn endings have a forced character, and they can be worked out conclusively.\n* Pawns are so small, almost insignificant, and yet they can depose kings.\n* Pawns are the soul of chess, they alone form the attack and defense.\n* Pawns not only create the sketch for the whole painting, they are the soil of any position.\n* Perfection has no style.\n* Physical stamina is sometimes more important than knowledge or analytical ability.\n* Pick competitions which best suit you.\n* Place your knight and bishop on the same colors to control more squares.\n* Place your pawns on the color opposite to your bishop.\n* Plan in a way that masks your real intent.\n* Plan your victory in relation to the opponent you are facing.\n* Planning an attack is the secret of defense.\n* Play a move you know how to refute.\n* Play lots of blitz to practice opening theory.\n* Play the opening like a book, the middle game like a magician, and the endgame like a machine.\n* Play to control the center, whether in the classic or hypermodern style.\n* Play your best chess by postal correspondence.\n* Playing against a machine, the question is not about winning, but whether you will survive.\n* Playing against computer is like playing against an idiot who beats you everytime.\n* Playing blitz chess, one can lose the habit of concentrating for several hours in serious chess.\n* Playing for complications should only be adopted when you cannot find a clear and logical plan.\n* Playing on both sides of the board is a great strategy.\n* Playing slowly during the early phase to grasp the basic requirements of each position.\n* Ponder and deliberate before making a move.\n* Positional play is preparation for combinations.\n* Positional players slowly take away your space, tie up your pieces, leaving you with nothing to do.\n* Positional sacrifices are more praise-worthy than those based on tactical exactitude.\n* Practice endings to master the intricacies of openings and middlegames.\n* Practice makes perfect.\n* Pretend to be inferior so that your opponent may grow arrogant.\n* Prevent your opponent from winning, then wait to deliver a counter-attack.\n* Psychology is the most important factor in chess.\n* Put your opponent in a position where he must make two moves in a row.\n* Rapid opening play will leave sufficient time for the middlegame.\n* React to a strong unexpected move by reassessing your position calmly.\n* Recall meaningful relations among the pieces, not just their distribution in space.\n* Recognize the unreality of their unreal threats.\n* Reinforcing every part, weakens every part.\n* Relentlessly attack pinned pieces, weak pawns, and the exposed king.\n* Religiously follow these maxims, except when it is incorrect to do so.\n* Remember to enjoy the game.\n* Revisit your errors, and work to make sure they do not occur again.\n* Rooks belong behind passed pawns.\n* Satisfaction can lead to a lack of vigilance, then to mistakes and missed opportunities.\n* Search for pieces which have no retreat, and see if they can be captured.\n* Secure the safety of the king by castling early, preferably kingside.\n* Secure your center before beginning a wing attack.\n* Seek to open lines and gain space.\n* Seize that which your opponent holds dear.\n* Seize the initiative whenever the opportunity presents itself.\n* Setbacks and losses are both inevitable and essential for improvement.\n* Shuffle around to see if your opponent makes a mistake.\n* Simplicity, rather than dynamic complications, perhaps is the wisest.\n* Since the passed pawn is a criminal, police surveillance is not sufficient.\n* Sit on your hands, think it through, then take action.\n* Some part of a mistake can be correct.\n* Some people have all the will in the world, but still cannot play good chess.\n* Sometimes we fear that which our opponent had never even considered.\n* Strategy requires thought, tactics require observation.\n* Strike while the iron is hot.\n* Strive for positions that make your opponent uncomfortable.\n* Study composed problems and endgames.\n* Study tactics primarily, endgames secondarily.\n* Studying your current weaknesses can provide great stimulus for future growth.\n* Success is gained by accommodating ourselves to the opponent's purpose.\n* Superior development increases in value relative to the game's openness.\n* Supreme excellence consists in breaking the opponent's resistance.\n* Tactical proficiency is the first requirement for mastery of the game.\n* Tactical trees conceal the strategic picture of the woods where one is likely to get lost.\n* Tactics flow from a superior position.\n* Take whatever your opponent gives, unless you see a good reason not to.\n* Take your time on those decisive moments.\n* Talent can be developed, but first find what you are good at.\n* Tell them nothing when their situation is gloomy.\n* That pawn gained by accepting the Queen's Gambit is illusory.\n* The aim on an open file is the intrusion into the seventh or eighth rank.\n* The art is in avoiding catastrophic losses in key battles.\n* The art of chess: ability to create and to control the tension of battle.\n* The beauty of a move lies not in its appearance but in the thought behind it.\n* The beauty of logic: in chess the best move is often the most beautiful.\n* The best defense is good attack.\n* The center is the Balkans of the chessboard: fighting there may break out at any time.\n* The chess engine reminds us to be humble in our self-assessment.\n* The chess master moves his opponent, and avoids being moved by him.\n* The chessboard explains the movement of time and the higher influences which control the world.\n* The defensive power of a pinned piece is only imaginary.\n* The difference between masters and amateurs is that masters know when to panic.\n* The double attack is the principle behind almost all tactics.\n* The endgame is probably where you need the most practice.\n* The essence of chess is thinking about what chess is.\n* The fervor to win is perhaps more important than playing good moves.\n* The first essential for an attack is the will to attack.\n* The game of chess eases our life's struggle.\n* The goal of most endgames is pawn promotion.\n* The goal of the opening is to get a decent middlegame.\n* The hardest game to win is a won game.\n* The hardest lesson to learn is to love your enemy.\n* The highest art lies in not allowing your opponent to show you what he can do.\n* The idea comes before the logical argument.\n* The joy in chess is an escape into complete absorption.\n* The main difficulty in making positional exchange sacrifices is psychological caution.\n* The masters distinguished two principal types of the Game: formal and psychological.\n* The middlegame is chess itself with all its attacks, defences, and sacrifices.\n* The middlegame provides the most decisive stage.\n* The moment that you let up is the time that you can be hit by the sucker punch.\n* The most important feature of the chess position is the activity of the pieces.\n* The most important feature of the chess position is the mobility of the pieces.\n* The most important role in pawn endings is played by the king.\n* The most powerful weapon in chess is to have the next move.\n* The move is there, but you must see it.\n* The object is to crush the opponent's mind.\n* The older I get, the more I value pawns.\n* The only way to refute a gambit is to accept it.\n* The opening and middle game must be studied in relation to the endgame.\n* The opening is the only phase that holds the potential for true creativity.\n* The opportunity to defeat the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.\n* The pin is mightier than the sword.\n* The pleasure of victory is greatly exceeded by the pain of defeat.\n* The power of doubled rooks is more than double of a single rook.\n* The power of hanging pawns is their mobility, their ability to create acute situations instantly.\n* The primary constraint on a piece's activity is the pawn structure.\n* The queen is the worst piece to block an enemy pawn.\n* The queen is too precious to simply win a pawn.\n* The rook belongs to the seventh rank.\n* The scheme of a game is played on positional lines, its decision effected by combinations.\n* The single most important thing in life is to believe in yourself.\n* The spot from where you intend to fight must be reinforced.\n* The strategist knows what to do when there is nothing to do.\n* The threat is greater than its execution.\n* The threat is stronger than the execution.\n* The threat you do not see is the one which will defeat you.\n* The victor has prepared himself, and waits to take the unprepared enemy.\n* The victor is prudent and waits for an impatient enemy.\n* The victor knows when to fight, but also when not to fight.\n* The way a man plays chess demonstrates his whole nature.\n* The winner of the game is the player who makes the next-to-last mistake.\n* The world is like a great chess game being played by the Gods where we are observers.\n* The worst calamities arise from hesitation.\n* Theoretically it is almost certain that the game is a draw.\n* There are more adventures on a chessboard than on all the seas of the world.\n* There are no heroes in chess.\n* There are no signposts, such as \"checkmate in 3,\" which will give alert.\n* There are no sound studies, only ones which have not been busted yet.\n* There are positions which must not be contested.\n* There are several varieties of weak pawns: isolated, doubled, too advanced, retarded.\n* There are some situations in chess where luck plays a part.\n* There is no remorse like the remorse of chess.\n* There is nothing more precious than the bishop pair.\n* There is only one mistake: over-estimating your opponent, all else is either bad luck or weakness.\n* There is only one real mistake: over-estimation of your opponent.\n* Think of a draw offer as an offer to remain ignorant of what you could have learned.\n* Think strategy while the opposing clock is ticking, but analyze tactics during your own turn.\n* Thoroughly understand the endgame.\n* Those who say they understand chess, understand nothing.\n* Though combinations are numerous, the number of ideas are limited.\n* To avoid losing a piece, many a person has lost the game.\n* To clearly see ahead, concentrate on forcing moves.\n* To improve your game you must study the endgame before everything else.\n* To know your enemy, you must become your enemy.\n* To play for a draw as White is a great crime against chess.\n* To play for a draw is simply a crime against chess.\n* To reach their full potential, bishops require open diagonals and attackable weaknesses.\n* To reach their full potential, rooks require open files and ranks.\n* To succeed, you need to be disciplined and adjust when circumstances change.\n* Towards the end, the king can be a powerful offensive and defensive piece.\n* Trade off your bad bishops.\n* Trade pieces when your pawn structure is more sound than your opponent's.\n* Trade your opponent's attacking pieces to break the attack.\n* Trade your passive pieces for your opponent's active pieces.\n* Train every day to stay in top shape, chess is a matter of daily training.\n* True sacrifice involves a change in risk requiring foresight and fantasy.\n* Try not to offer a draw which will send spectators into uncontrollable laughter.\n* Try to play blindfold games.\n* Turning chess into poker and hoping for a bluff is not advisable.\n* Two types of men: those who yield to circumstances and those who aim to control circumstances.\n* Under surging emotions we lose concentration and cease to objectively evaluate the board.\n* Understand the trade-off between structural weakness and dynamic strength.\n* Understanding is far more important than memory.\n* Understanding must be supported by memory.\n* Verify any published analysis before any reliance.\n* Wait for it: there is always a moment when your opponent will miss an opportunity.\n* Waste not resources on things which will not help you to win.\n* We learn the habit of hoping for a favorable chance.\n* We learn the habit of not being discouraged by present bad appearances in the state of our affairs.\n* We learn the habit of persevering in the secrets of resources.\n* Weak holes in the opponent's position must be occupied by pieces not pawns.\n* What is better than a passed pawn? A passed pawn on the edge.\n* What would chess be without silly mistakes?\n* When a combination cannot be obtained, build small advantages.\n* When ahead in material, trade pieces, not pawns.\n* When behind in material, trade pawns, not pieces.\n* When both queens are gone, your king becomes powerful.\n* When cramped, exchange pieces to free your game.\n* When exchanging pieces, the key is not always their value, but what is left on the board.\n* When in doubt, do anything but push a pawn.\n* When the game is over, the pawn and the king go back to the same box.\n* When there is unusual disparity in material, initiative often is the deciding factor.\n* When winning, offer a draw to a superior player only if it secures a big prize.\n* When you absolutely do not know what to do anymore, it is time to panic.\n* When you are behind, balance these two strategies: counter-attack and all-out defense.\n* When you don't know what to play, just wait for a wrong idea to enter your opponent's mind.\n* When you have the advantage, press on, else risk losing your edge.\n* When you lose, you really feel the weight of oneself.\n* When you see a good move, wait, then look for a better one.\n* Whether you prefer chess or sex depends on the position.\n* Whoever sees no other aim than checkmate will never become a good chess player.\n* Win with grace, lose with dignity.\n* Winning is not everything, but losing is nothing.\n* Winning just comes as a relief, while defeats will be crushing.\n* With perfect play, God versus God, chess is a draw.\n* Without error there can be no brilliancy.\n* Work hard to acquire the technique of rook endings.\n* World events can seem quite unimportant in comparison to a catastrophe on the chessboard.\n* Years of analysis and minutes of play are completely different.\n* Yet given equality in battle, sometimes a draw should be offered.\n* You can only improve if you love the game.\n* You can retreat pieces, but not the pawns, so always think twice about pawn moves.\n* You cannot win at chess if you are kind-hearted.\n* You have to force moves and take chances.\n* You must believe in yourself.\n* You must have confidence in yourself, and this confidence should be based on fact.\n* You need not play well, just help your opponent to play badly.\n* You shall see your mistake, just as you lift your finger off the piece.\n* You will have to lose thousands of games before becoming a decent player.\n* You will learn much more from a game you lost than from a game you won.\n* Your eyes on the wings, your mind on the center.\n* Your pawns in the center will keep enemy pieces away from the best squares.\n* Your playing deteriorates as your body does, since mind and body cannot be separated.\n* Your true ability is only measured only when things get tough.\n\n---\n\nShortcut to this page: https://git.io/chess | Revision date : 2018-01-25\n\n[chess]:        https://git.io/chess \"Shortcut to rsvp/chess\"\n[editor]:       https://rsvp.github.com \"Adriano rsvp.github.com\"\n[Gitter]:       https://gitter.im/rsvp/chess \"Gitter rsvp/chess\"\n[pulls]:        https://github.com/rsvp/chess/pulls \"Pulls for rsvp/chess\"\n[pull request]: https://help.github.com/articles/using-pull-requests/ \"Pull request\"\n[wiki]:         https://github.com/rsvp/chess/wiki  \"Wiki for rsvp/chess\"\n","project_url":"https://awesome.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/projects/github.com%2Frsvp%2Fchess","html_url":"https://awesome.ecosyste.ms/projects/github.com%2Frsvp%2Fchess","lists_url":"https://awesome.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/projects/github.com%2Frsvp%2Fchess/lists"}