A man that will take back a move at chess will pick a pocket (Richard Fenton)

Chess is a sea in which a gnat may drink and an elephant may bathe (Indian proverb)

Chess is eminently and emphatically the philosopher's game (Paul Morphy)

Chess is a beautiful mistress (Bent Larsen)

Chess is a good mistress but a bad master (Gerald Abrahams)

Chess is beautiful enough to waste your life for (Hans Ree)

Chess is as elaborate a waste of human intelligence as you can find outside an advertising agency (Raymond Chandler)