Middlegame Quotes & Sayings

Without a path to redemption, a man would watch the world burn. With a measure of hope, the same man ...
Well. He would not be the same man, would he? — Zachary Jernigan

The king, which during the opening and middlegame stage is often a burden because it has to be defended, becomes in the endgame a very important and aggressive piece, and the beginner should realize this, and utilize his king as much as possible. — Jose Raul Capablanca

Agreeing to draws in the middlegame, equal or otherwise, deprives you of the opportunity to practice playing endgames, and the endgame is probably where you need the most practice. — Pal Benko

The most important feature of the Chess position is the activity of the pieces. This is absolutely fundamental in all phases of the game: Opening, Middlegame and especially Endgame. The primary constraint on a piece's activity is the Pawn structure — Michael Stean

Spring makes everything young again except man. — Charles Francis Richter

Be extraordinary in your excellence, if you like, but be ordinary in your display of it. — Baltasar Gracian

If you want to feel how utterly powerless you are apart from the living God, attempt especially the great work of proclaiming the unsearchable riches of Christ, and you will know, as you never knew before, what a weak, unworthy thing you are. Although — Charles Haddon Spurgeon

A player can sometimes afford the luxury of an inaccurate move, or even a definite error, in the opening or middlegame without necessarily obtaining a lost position. In the endgame ... an error can be decisive, and we are rarely presented with a second chance. — Paul Keres

Your only task in the opening is to reach a playable middlegame. — Lajos Portisch

It's amazing how far you're willing to go when someone believes in you — Katie Kacvinsky

Even in the heat of a middlegame battle the master still has to bear in mind the outlines of a possible future ending. — David Bronstein

If a chess statistician were to try and satisfy his curiousity over which stage of the game proved decisive in the majority of cases, he would certainly come to the conclusion that it is the middlegame that provides the most decisive stage. — Alexander Kotov

I detest the endgame. A well-played game should be practically decided in the middlegame. — Dawid Janowski

Blessed with Mom and Dad's remarkable genes, raised on big words and big, iconoclastic attitudes, Larry and I, before entering kindergarten, knew who we were, what we wanted, and how we would get there. — Dan Hill

In the middlegame, the king is merely an extra, but in the endgame, he is one of the star actors. — Aron Nimzowitsch

The great mobility of the King forms one of the chief characteristics of all endgame strategy. In the middlegame the King is a mere 'super', in the endgame on the other hand - on of the 'principals'. We must therefore develop him, bring him nearer to the fighting line. — Aron Nimzowitsch

You've got to have a good public education system so small-business owners, when they locate to an area, are confident their kids are getting the best education possible. I feel strongly about local control in school districts. — Jon Tester

The middlegame I repeat is chess itself, chess with all its possibilities, its attacks, defences, sacrifices, etc. — Eugene Znosko-Borovsky

Titled players appeared to be trotting out game after game in which the same old hoary opening sequences, memorized out to fifteen, twenty, or even more moves, were repeated endlessly. True novelties were becoming scarcer, and sometimes these 'opening' novelties didn't appear until well into the middlegame. (A master-level friend once proudly showed me a novelty he'd discovered at move twenty-seven of a very well-trodden chess opening, and it's said that even as far back as the 1950's Mikhail Botvinnik had some openings memorised past the thirtieth move). — Steve Lopez

Even though I hadn't read a word of it, I grew up hating 'Moby-Dick.' — Nathaniel Philbrick

Those who are free from common prejudices acquire others. — Napoleon Bonaparte

My forte was the middlegame. I had a good feeling for the critical moments of the play. This undoubtedly compensated for my lack of opening preparation and, possibly, not altogether perfect play in the endgame. In my games things often did not reach the endgame! — Boris Spassky

Bobby Fischer started off each game with a great advantage: after the opening he had used less time than his opponent and thus had more time available later on. The major reason why he never had serious time pressure was that his rapid opening play simply left sufficient time for the middlegame. — Edmar Mednis

It may be true that "expressing ourselves," giving free rein to our "natural" impulses, gives us momentary relief from our inner tensions, but we remain trapped in the endless circle of our usual habits. Such a lax attitude doesn't solve any serious problems, since in being ordinarily oneself, one remains ordinary. As the French philosopher Alain has written, "You don't need to be a sorcerer to cast a spell over yourself by saying 'This is how I am. I can do nothing about it. — Matthieu Ricard

Affection, like melancholy, magnifies trifles. — Leigh Hunt

Capablanca was among the greatest of chess players, but not because of his endgame. His trick was to keep his openings simple, and then play with such brilliance in the middlegame that the game was decided - even though his ooponent didn't always know it - before they arrived at the ending. — Bobby Fischer

I really feel like I'm going insane and want to rip my hair out of my head to cancel out the pain in my heart."~Cole — Kristin R. Campbell

In the middlegame one should not hesitate to advance a central passed pawn. — David Bronstein