With this mistake I deprived myself of the possibility to make a contribution to the treasury of chess art. (annotating his move 18. ...g4? versus Kortchnoi at Debrecen, Hungary in 1992) - Garry Kasparov
Apart from direct mistakes, there is nothing more ruinous than routine play, the aim of which is mechanical development. - Alexei Suetin
There is no doubt that the reason for my awful oversight was over-confidence that sapped my sense of danger. So that is where to look for the cause of bad blunders - in the exulting feeling of self-congratulation. - Alexander Kotov
I lost the match. I blame only myself for this. There were many opportunities to win. But I missed them, no one else. - on Lyons/New York World Championship Match with Kasparov - Anatoly Karpov
My opponents make good moves too. Sometimes I don't take these things into consideration. - Bobby Fischer
If you have made a mistake or committed an inaccuracy there is no need to become annoyed and to think that everything is lost. You have to reorientate yourself quickly and find a new plan in the new situation. - David Bronstein
The number of 'unneccessary' errors that have been committed on move 41 are legion. - Edmar Mednis
Haste is never more dangerous than when you feel that victory is in your grasp. - Eugene Znosko-Borovsky
To find the best moves great Masters, with years of experience, engage in laborious research, and the moves thus found are blindly repeated by amateurs without any attempt to fathom their real meaning and how and why they stand in their context. - Eugene Znosko-Borovsky
Avoidance of mistakes is the beginning, as it is the end, of mastery in chess. - Eugene Znosko-Borovsky
Haste, the great enemy. - Eugene Znosko-Borowski
The technical phase can be boring because there is little opportunity for creavivity, for art. Boredom leads to complacency and mistakes. - Garry Kasparov
I've seen - both in myself and my competitors - how satisfaction can lead to a lack of vigilance, then to mistakes and missed opportunities. - Garry Kasparov
To my surprise I found that when other top players in the precomputer age (before 1995, roughly) wrote about games in magazines and newspaper columns, they often made more mistakes in their annotations than the players had made at the board. - Garry Kasparov
One bad move nullifies forty good ones. - I.A. Horowitz
When chess masters err, ordinary wood pushers tend to derive a measure of satisfaction, if not actual glee. - I.A. Horowitz
What would Chess be without silly mistakes? - Kurt Richter
Of course, errors are not good for a chess game, but errors are unavoidable and in any case, a game without ant errors, or as they say 'flawless game' is colorless. - Mikhail Tal
Errors have nothing to do with luck; they are caused by time pressure, discomfort or unfamiliarilty with a position, distractions, feelings of intimidation, nervous tension, overambition, excessive caution, and dozens of other psychological factors. - Pal Benko
Typically, in the last round of open tournaments the level of play is markedly lower, the number of blunders higher. - Pal Benko
My favourite victory is when it is not even clear where my opponent made a mistake. - Peter Leko
The mistakes are there waiting to be made. - Savielly Tartakower
The winner of the game is the player who makes the next-to-last mistake. - Savielly Tartakower
The blunders are all there on the board, waiting to be made. - Savielly Tartakower
Some part of a mistake is always correct. - Savielly Tartakower
In chess, there is only one mistake: over-estimation of your opponent. All else is either bad luck or weakness. - Savielly Tartakower
Even the most distinguished players have in their careers experienced severe disappointments due to ignorance of the best lines or suspension of their own common sense. - Tigran Petrosian
As a rule, the more mistakes there are in a game, the more memorable it remains, because you have suffered and worried over each mistake at the board. - Victor Kortchnoi
It is unpleasant for the players, when the organizers arrange for play to take place in the morning. The games from such last rounds, in view of the large number of mistakes, are not fit for publication! - Victor Kortchnoi
Confidence is very important – even pretending to be confident. If you make a mistake but do not let your opponent see what you are thinking then he may overlook the mistake. - Viswanathan Anand
If a mistake or an inaccuracy occurs, there is no need to assume 'all is lost' and mope - one must reorient oneself quickly, and find a new plan to fit the new situation. - David Bronstein
Has he some psychological antipathy to realism? I am no psychologist, and cannot say. The fact remains that Euwe commits the most inexplicable mistakes in thoroughly favorable positions, and that this weakness has consistently tarnished his record. - Hans Kmoch