Emanuel Lasker Chess Quotes

When you see a good move, look for a better one

The game gives us a satisfaction that Life denies us. And for the Chess player, the success which crowns his work, the great dispeller of sorrows, is named 'combination'.

Do not permit yourself to fall in love with the end-game play to the exclusion of entire games. It is well to have the whole story of how it happened; the complete play, not the denouement only. Do not embrace the rag-time and vaudeville of chess.

By some ardent enthusiasts Chess has been elevated into a science or an art. It is neither; but its principle characteristic seems to be—what human nature mostly delights in—a fight.

On the chessboard lies and hypocrisy do not survive long. The creative combination lays bare the presumption of a lie; the merciless fact, culminating in a checkmate, contradicts the hypocrite.

I keep on fighting as long as my opponent can make a mistake.

Truth derives its strength not so much from itself as from the brilliant contrast it makes with what is only apparently true. This applies especially to Chess, where it is often found that the profoundest moves do not much startle the imagination.

You should keep in mind no names, nor numbers, nor isolated incidents, not even results, but only methods. The method produces numerous results

Against anyone of any ability, to win you needed to pursue many lines of thought rather than just one, to light small tactical fires all over the board (a skill I had noticed Emanuel Lasker had in abundance). But by playing with more imagination, you might also have to open yourself to the possibility of defeat. Greater complexity could mean greater danger: anyone unwilling to accept that risk was destined to chess mediocrity.