The tactician knows what to do when there is something to do; whereas the strategian knows what to do when there is nothing to do. – Gerald Abrahams

If the student forces himself to examine all moves that smite, however absurd they may look at first glance, he is on the way to becoming a master of tactics. – Purdy

Openings teach you openings.  Endgames teach you chess! – Stephan Gerzadowicz

You may learn much more from a game you lose than from a game you win. You will have to lose hundreds of games before becoming a good player. – Jose Capablanca

“. . . a new idea of which no one has conceived, or perhaps has been unable to practice; that is, good play of the pawns; they are the soul of chess: it is they alone that determine the attack and the defense, and the winning or losing of the game depends entirely on their good or bad arrangement.” – Francois Andre Danican Philidor, 1700’s

Stall, stall, and stall some more. Your opponent will be sure to get an idea. It will be sure to be rotten, and you will win. – Wilhelm Steinitz

Chess is 99 percent tactics. – Teichmann

The pawns are the soul of chess. – Philidor

It is not a move, even the best move, that you must seek, but a realizable plan. -Eugene Znosko-Borovsky

The lower rated player tends to think only of his own plans and so he misses what the opponent has in store. – Bent Larsen

Amateurs play for pieces, masters play for squares. – Unknown

Even a poor plan is better than no plan at all. – Mikhail Chigorin

You must take your opponent into a deep dark forest where 2+2=5, and the path leading out is only wide enough for one.  – Mikhail Tal

Chess is a matter of delicate judgment, knowing when to punch and how to duck. – Bobby Fischer 

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