Bùpà qiān zhāo qiǎo; jiù pà yī zhāo cuò.

不怕千招巧; 就怕一招錯。

Lit Do not worry about making a thousand clever moves; what [one has to] fear is one bad move.

Fig Even if you have made many clever moves before, one wrong move will ruin the whole game.

Note [Note: here zhāo refers to “moves” in Chinese chess; see also yī zhāo bùshèn below.]

Topics CAUTION Chinese_chess