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Top 25 Mikhail Tal Quotes (2025 Update)

Mikhail Tal Quote: “If you wait for luck to turn up, life becomes very boring.”

1. “If you wait for luck to turn up, life becomes very boring.”

— Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Tal Quote: “There are two types of sacrifices: correct ones and mine.”

2. “There are two types of sacrifices: correct ones and mine.”

— Mikhail Tal

Featured in: Sacrifice Quotes, Chess Quotes

Mikhail Tal Quote: “Just as one’s imagination is stirred by a girl’s smile, so is one’s imagination stirred by the possibilities of chess.”

3. “Just as one’s imagination is stirred by a girl’s smile, so is one’s imagination stirred by the possibilities of chess.”

— Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Tal Quote: “Some sacrifices are sound; the rest are mine.”

4. “Some sacrifices are sound; the rest are mine.”

— Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Tal Quote: “First, how to sac my queen, then rook, then bishop, then knight, then pawns.”

5. “First, how to sac my queen, then rook, then bishop, then knight, then pawns.”

— Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Tal Quote: “I like to grasp the initiative and not give my opponent peace of mind.”

6. “I like to grasp the initiative and not give my opponent peace of mind.”

— Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Tal Quote: “Quiet moves often make a stronger impression than a wild combination with heavy sacrifices.”

7. “Quiet moves often make a stronger impression than a wild combination with heavy sacrifices.”

— Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Tal Quote: “When I asked Fischer why he had not played a certain move in our game, he replied: ‘Well, you laughed when I wrote it down!’”

8. “When I asked Fischer why he had not played a certain move in our game, he replied: ‘Well, you laughed when I wrote it down!’”

— Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Tal Quote: “Later, I began to succeed in decisive games. Perhaps because I realized a very simple truth: not only was I worried, but also my opponent.”

9. “Later, I began to succeed in decisive games. Perhaps because I realized a very simple truth: not only was I worried, but also my opponent.”

— Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Tal Quote: “In my games I have sometimes found a combination intuitively simply feeling that it must be there. Yet I was not able to translate my thought processes into normal human language.”

10. “In my games I have sometimes found a combination intuitively simply feeling that it must be there. Yet I was not able to translate my thought processes into normal human language.”

— Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Tal Quote: “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.”

11. “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

Mikhail Tal Quote: “Fischer is Fischer, but a knight is a knight!”

12. “Fischer is Fischer, but a knight is a knight!”

— Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Tal Quote: “For pleasure you can read the games collections of Andersson and Chigorin, but for benefit you should study Tarrasch, Keres and Bronstein.”

13. “For pleasure you can read the games collections of Andersson and Chigorin, but for benefit you should study Tarrasch, Keres and Bronstein.”

— Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Tal Quote: “Fischer is the greatest genius to descend from the chess heavens.”

14. “Fischer is the greatest genius to descend from the chess heavens.”

— Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Tal Quote: “It is difficult to play against Einstein’s theory -on his first loss to Fischer.”

15. “It is difficult to play against Einstein’s theory -on his first loss to Fischer.”

— Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Tal Quote: “I go over many games collections and pick up something from the style of each player.”

16. “I go over many games collections and pick up something from the style of each player.”

— Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Tal Quote: “Botvinnik’s right! When he says such things, then he’s right. Usually, I prefer not to study chess but to play it. For me chess is more an art than a science. It’s been said that Alekhine and I played similar chess, except that he studied more. Yes, perhaps, but I have to say that he played, too.”

17. “Botvinnik’s right! When he says such things, then he’s right. Usually, I prefer not to study chess but to play it. For me chess is more an art than a science. It’s been said that Alekhine and I played similar chess, except that he studied more. Yes, perhaps, but I have to say that he played, too.”

— Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Tal Quote: “Many Chess players were surprised when after the game, Fischer quietly explained: ‘I had already analyzed this possibility’ in a position which I thought was not possible to foresee from the opening.”

18. “Many Chess players were surprised when after the game, Fischer quietly explained: ‘I had already analyzed this possibility’ in a position which I thought was not possible to foresee from the opening.”

— Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Tal Quote: “I believe most definitely that one must not only grapple with the problems on the board, one must also make every effort to combat the thoughts and will of the opponent.”

19. “I believe most definitely that one must not only grapple with the problems on the board, one must also make every effort to combat the thoughts and will of the opponent.”

— Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Tal Quote: “Without technique it is impossible to reach the top in chess, and therefore we all try to borrow from Capablanca his wonderful, subtle technique.”

20. “Without technique it is impossible to reach the top in chess, and therefore we all try to borrow from Capablanca his wonderful, subtle technique.”

— Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Tal Quote: “As long as my opponent has not yet castled, on each move I seek a pretext for an offensive. Even when I realize that the king is not in danger.”

21. “As long as my opponent has not yet castled, on each move I seek a pretext for an offensive. Even when I realize that the king is not in danger.”

— Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Tal Quote: “I will not hide the fact that I love to hear the spectators react after a sacrifice of a piece or pawn. I don’t think that there is anything bad in such a feeling; no artist or musician is indifferent to the reactions of the public.”

22. “I will not hide the fact that I love to hear the spectators react after a sacrifice of a piece or pawn. I don’t think that there is anything bad in such a feeling; no artist or musician is indifferent to the reactions of the public.”

— Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Tal Quote: “The cherished dream of every chessplayer is to play a match with the World Champion. But here is the paradox: the closer you come to the realization of this goal, the less you think about it.”

23. “The cherished dream of every chessplayer is to play a match with the World Champion. But here is the paradox: the closer you come to the realization of this goal, the less you think about it.”

— Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Tal Quote: “I have always thought it a matter of honour for every chess player to deserve the smile of fortune.”

24. “I have always thought it a matter of honour for every chess player to deserve the smile of fortune.”

— Mikhail Tal

Mikhail Tal Quote: “Naturally, the psychological susceptibility of a match participant is significantly higher than a participant in a tournament, since each game substantially changes the over-all position.”

25. “Naturally, the psychological susceptibility of a match participant is significantly higher than a participant in a tournament, since each game substantially changes the over-all position.”

— Mikhail Tal

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