Jose Raul Capablanca

An hour's history of two minds is well told in a game of chess.

A passed pawn increase in strength as the number of pieces on the board diminishes.

Chess books should be used as we use glasses: to assist the sight, although some players make use of them as if they thought they conferred sight

The great World Champions Morphy, Steinitz, and Lasker were past masters in the art of Pawn play; they had no superiors in their handling of endgames. The present World Champion has not the strength of the other three as an endgame player, and is therefore inferior to them.

Sultan Khan had become champion of India at Indian chess and he learned the rules of our form of chess at a later date. The fact that even under such conditions he succeeded in becoming champion reveals a genius for chess which is nothing short of extraordinary.

Chess is something more than a game. It is an intellectual diversion which has certain artistic qualities and many scientific elements.

The game might be divided into three parts, the opening, the middle-game and the end-game. There is one thing you must strive for, to be equally efficient in the three parts.

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.

To improve at chess you should in the first instance study the endgame.

The winning of a pawn among good players of even strength often means the winning of the game.

Endings of one rook and pawns are about the most common sort of endings arising on the chess board. Yet though they do occur so often, few have mastered them thoroughly. They are often of a very difficult nature, and sometimes while apparently very simple they are in reality extremely intricate.

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.

In order to improve your game you must study the endgame before everything else; for, whereas the endings can be studied and mastered by themselves, the middlegame and the opening must be studied in relation to the endgame.