--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When you play chess alone it's always…" description: "\"When you play chess alone it's always your move.\" — Charles Simic" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae2/charles-simic-9906_chess_when-you-play-chess-alone-it-s-always-yo_2885828.png" --- # When you play chess alone it's always your move. ![“When you play chess alone it's always your move.” quote by Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae2/charles-simic-9906_chess_when-you-play-chess-alone-it-s-always-yo_2885828.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae2/charles-simic-9906_chess_when-you-play-chess-alone-it-s-always-yo_2885828.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae2/charles-simic-9906_chess_when-you-play-chess-alone-it-s-always-yo_2885828.png) > “When you play chess alone it's always your move.” [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Playing chess alone means you are always responsible for your next move. **In simple terms:** Self‑reliance guides decisions. Key Takeaway Own your choices. Themes self‑reflection strategy solitude responsibility Mood contemplative motivational Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career planning - creative projects - life choices Key Concepts decision making personal growth Questions to Reflect On - How do you seek external input? - When is self‑reliance harmful? A Different Perspective Isolation can limit perspective. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Chess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chess/) [Moving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moving/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Play Chess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play-chess/) ## Related quotes > [I see myself used in terms of reading mismatches. If it's small, go inside. If it's big, come outside. 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Go play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-love/it-s-the-horsey-shape-piece-that-moves-in-an-l-shape-it-s-what-makes/) [Courtney Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-love/) > [I like to play chess with bald men in the park although it's hard to find 32 of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emo-philips/i-like-to-play-chess-with-bald-men-in-the-park-although-it-s-hard-to/) [Emo Philips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emo-philips/) > [“Deal me in. If they want to play checkers, we’ll play chess. Fuck them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-lehr/deal-me-in-if-they-want-to-play-checkers-we-ll-play-chess-fuck-them/) [Dick Lehr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-lehr/) > [“If u want to work in Corporate, then u should know how to play Chess.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honeya/if-u-want-to-work-in-corporate-then-u-should-know-how-to-play-chess/) [honeya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honeya/) > [When humans team up with computers to play chess, the humans who do best are not necessarily the strongest players. They're the ones who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/when-humans-team-up-with-computers-to-play-chess-the-humans-who-do/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [I play chess with the computer when I feel dull in my mind and after two games - 'out or win', I feel sharp…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronnie-screwvala/i-play-chess-with-the-computer-when-i-feel-dull-in-my-mind-and-after/) [Ronnie Screwvala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronnie-screwvala/) > [I love to play chess. The last time I was playing, I started to really see the board. I don't mean just seeing a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/forest-whitaker/i-love-to-play-chess-the-last-time-i-was-playing-i-started-to-really/) [Forest Whitaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/forest-whitaker/) > [Anyone who wishes to learn how to play chess well must make himself or herself thoroughly conversant with the play in positions where the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-kotov/anyone-who-wishes-to-learn-how-to-play-chess-well-must-make-himself/) [Alexander Kotov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-kotov/) > [As Rousseau could not compose without his cat beside him, so I cannot play chess without my king's bishop. In its absense the game…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegbert-tarrasch/as-rousseau-could-not-compose-without-his-cat-beside-him-so-i-cannot/) [Siegbert Tarrasch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegbert-tarrasch/) ## More by Charles Simic > [“Lyric poets are always corrupting the young, making them choke in self-pity and indulge in reverie. Dirty sex and direspect for authority is what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/lyric-poets-are-always-corrupting-the-young-making-them-choke-in-self/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [“There’s a book called “A Dictionary of Angels.” No one has opened it in fifty years, I know, because when I did, The covers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/there-s-a-book-called-a-dictionary-of-angels-no-one-has-opened-it-in/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [Poetry is an orphan of silence. The words never quite equal the experience behind them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/poetry-is-an-orphan-of-silence-the-words-never-quite-equal-the/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [“The truth is dark under your eyelids. What are you going to do about it? The birds are silent; there's no one to ask.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/the-truth-is-dark-under-your-eyelids-what-are-you-going-to-do-about/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [Wanted: a needle swift enough to sew this poem into a blanket.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/wanted-a-needle-swift-enough-to-sew-this-poem-into-a-blanket/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [In their effort to divorce language and experience, deconstructionist critics remind me of middle-class parents who do not allow their children to play in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/in-their-effort-to-divorce-language-and-experience-deconstructionist/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [“The ambition of much of today's literary theory seems to be to find ways to read literature without imagination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/the-ambition-of-much-of-today-s-literary-theory-seems-to-be-to-find/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [Poems are other people's snapshots in which we see our own lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/poems-are-other-people-s-snapshots-in-which-we-see-our-own-lives/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [“The Something" Here come my night thoughts On crutches, Returning from studying the heavens. What they thought about Stayed the same, Stayed immense and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/the-something-here-come-my-night-thoughts-on-crutches-returning-from/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [There are knives that glitter like altars In a dark church Where they bring the cripple and the imbecile To be healed. There's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/there-are-knives-that-glitter-like-altars-in-a-dark-church-where-they/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [“هندوانه بودای سبز بر پیشخوان میوه فروش لبخندش را گاز میزنیم و دندانهایش را تف میکنیم :: Watermelons Green Buddhas On the fruit stand. We eat the smile And spit out the teeth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/watermelons-green-buddhas-on-the-fruit-stand-we-eat-the-smile-and/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [Words make love on the page like flies in the summer heat and the poet is only the bemused spectator.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/words-make-love-on-the-page-like-flies-in-the-summer-heat-and-the/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [“The idea is to spin the wheel of metaphors and images until sparks of associations begin to fly for the reader.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/the-idea-is-to-spin-the-wheel-of-metaphors-and-images-until-sparks-of/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [Found objects, chance creations, ready-mades (mass-produced items promoted into art objects, such as Duchamp's "Fountain"-urinal as sculpture) abolish the separation between art and life.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/found-objects-chance-creations-ready-mades-mass-produced-items/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [The plain truth is we are going to die. Here I am, a teeny spec surrounded by boundless space and time, arguing with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/the-plain-truth-is-we-are-going-to-die-here-i-am-a-teeny-spec/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) [Explore all 69 Charles Simic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) ## More Chess quotes > [I have known many chess players, but among them there has been only one genius - Capablanca!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emanuel-lasker/i-have-known-many-chess-players-but-among-them-there-has-been-only/) [Emanuel Lasker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emanuel-lasker/) > [Real chessplayers think about chess more or less 24 hours a day. 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That's upsetting to a lot of people, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-rubin/the-election-of-trump-threw-the-chess-board-up-the-pieces-are-all/) [Dave Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-rubin/) > [Playing for complications is an extreme measure that a player should adopt only when he cannot find a clear and logical plan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-alekhine/playing-for-complications-is-an-extreme-measure-that-a-player-should/) [Alexander Alekhine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-alekhine/) > [“the shadows. “Why do you think they invented chess?” “He’s got you there,” said the captain, following Fletcher. Jake jogged slightly to catch up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-blake/the-shadows-why-do-you-think-they-invented-chess-he-s-got-you-there/) [Russell Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-blake/) > [ \[Photographer Julian Wasser\] had this great idea that I should play chess naked with Marcel Duchamp and it seem to be such a great… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-babitz/photographer-julian-wasser-had-this-great-idea-that-i-should-play/) [Eve Babitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-babitz/) > [Chess is a good mistress but a bad master.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-abrahams/chess-is-a-good-mistress-but-a-bad-master/) [Gerald Abrahams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-abrahams/) > [I am not some sort of freak. I might be very good at chess but I'm just a normal person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/magnus-carlsen/i-am-not-some-sort-of-freak-i-might-be-very-good-at-chess-but-i-m/) [Magnus Carlsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/magnus-carlsen/) > [Some sacrifices are sound; the rest are mine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-tal/some-sacrifices-are-sound-the-rest-are-mine/) [Mikhail Tal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-tal/) > [My parents were very supportive of my chess. When I got home after a game of chess, having missed school or something, they always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viswanathan-anand/my-parents-were-very-supportive-of-my-chess-when-i-got-home-after-a/) [Viswanathan Anand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viswanathan-anand/) > [Amberley excelled at chess - a mark, Watson, of a scheming mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/amberley-excelled-at-chess-a-mark-watson-of-a-scheming-mind/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [In high school, my sister went out with the captain of the chess team. My parents loved him... They figured that any guy that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-kiley/in-high-school-my-sister-went-out-with-the-captain-of-the-chess-team/) [Brian Kiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-kiley/) > [The King is a fighting piece. Use it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-steinitz/the-king-is-a-fighting-piece-use-it/) [Wilhelm Steinitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-steinitz/) [Browse all 2,003 Chess quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chess/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When you play chess alone it's always your move.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Simic" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/when-you-play-chess-alone-it-s-always-your-move/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Chess" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/when-you-play-chess-alone-it-s-always-your-move/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae2/charles-simic-9906_chess_when-you-play-chess-alone-it-s-always-yo_2885828.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae2/charles-simic-9906_chess_when-you-play-chess-alone-it-s-always-yo_2885828.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae2/charles-simic-9906_chess_when-you-play-chess-alone-it-s-always-yo_2885828.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When you play chess alone it's always your move.” — Charles Simic", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Charles Simic", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "When you play chess alone it's...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/when-you-play-chess-alone-it-s-always-your-move/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/when-you-play-chess-alone-it-s-always-your-move/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```