Siegbert Tarrasch Quotes

I have always a slight feeling of pity for the man who has no knowledge of chess, just as I would pity the man who has remained ignorant of love. Chess, like love, like music, has the power to make man happy.

When you don't know what to do, wait for your opponent to get an idea; it is sure to be bad.

When you see a good move, sit on your hands and see if you can find a better one.

It cannot be too greatly emphasized that the most important role in pawn endings is played by the king.

A form of intellectual productiveness, therein lies its peculiar charm. Intellectual productiveness is one of the greatest joys - if not the greatest one - of human existence. It is not everyone who can write a play, or build a bridge, or even make a good joke. But in chess everyone can, everyone must be intellectually productive, and so can share in this select delight. I have always a slight feeling of pity for the man who has no knowledge of chess, just as I would pity the man who has remained ignorant of love. Chess, like love, like music, has the power to make men happy.

It is not enough to be a good player... you must also play well

First-class players lose to second-class players because second-class players sometimes play a first-class game

He who fears an isolated Queen's Pawn should give up Chess.

Chess, like love, like music, has the power to make men happy.

Every move creates a weakness.

One doesn't have to play well, it's enough to play better than your opponent

The future belongs to he who has the bishops.

I had a toothache during the first game. In the second game I had a headache. In the third game it was an attack of rheumatism. In the fourth game, I wasn't feeling well. And in the fifth game? Well, must one have to win every game?

Up to this point White has been following well-known analysis. But now he makes a fatal error: he begins to use his own head

Mistrust is the most necessary characteristic of the Chess player

Chess is a terrible game. If you have no center, your opponent has a freer position. If you do have a center, then you really have something to worry about!

Always put the rook behind the pawn.... Except when it is incorrect to do so.

I look one move ahead... the best!

I already came upon the world as a extraordinary human being; to my parents' great horror, I was equipped with a clubfoot which, however, did not hamper my rapid progress.

Weak points or holes in the opponent's position must be occupied by pieces not Pawns

Before the endgame, the Gods have placed the middle game.

White lost because he failed to remember the right continuation and had to think up the moves himself

If the defender is forced to give up the center, then every possible attack follows almost of itself.

As Rousseau could not compose without his cat beside him, so I cannot play chess without my king's bishop. In its absense the game to me is lifeless and void. The vitalizing factor is missing, and I can devise no plan of attack.

What is the object of playing a gambit opening?... To acquire a reputation of being a dashing player at the cost of losing a game