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A passed pawn increase in strength as the number of pieces on the board diminishes.
Jose Raul Capablanca
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Interpretation

What this quote means

In chess, a passed pawn becomes more powerful as the game progresses and fewer pieces remain.

This quote emphasizes the strategic advantage of a passed pawn in chess, illustrating that its strength and potential for promotion grow as the game reduces in complexity. This reflects a broader principle that sometimes, our advantages become more pronounced under certain conditions, reminding us of the value of patience and timing in achieving success.

Themes

PawnChessStrategySuccessAdvantage

In practice

Example use cases

During a chess tournament, a player quoted this to illustrate the importance of strategic positioning.

More from Jose Raul Capablanca

An hour's history of two minds is well told in a game of chess.
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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
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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.
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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.
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Chess is something more than a game. It is an intellectual diversion which has certain artistic qualities and many scientific elements.
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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.
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