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This page explains commonly used terms in chess in alphabetical order. Some of these have their own pages, like fork and pin. For a list of unorthodox chess pieces, see fairy chess piece; for a list of terms specific to chess problems, see chess problem terminology; for a list of chess related games, see chess variants.
| Contents: | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
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A
Absolute pin
- A pin against the king, called absolute because the pinned piece cannot legally move as it would expose the king to check. See relative pin.
Active
- Describes a piece that is able to move or control many squares. See also passive.
Adjournment
- Suspension of a chess game with the intention to continue at a later occasion. See Sealed move.
Adjudication
- The process of a strong chess player deciding on the outcome of an unfinished game. This practice is now uncommon in over the board events, but does happen in online chess when one player refuses to continue after an adjournment.
Adjust or j'adoube
- To adjust the position of a piece on its square without being required to move it. Adjustment can only be done when it is the player's move and the adjustment is preceded by saying "I adjust" or "j'adoube".
Advanced pawn
- A pawn that is on the opponent's side of the board (the fifth rank or higher). An advanced pawn may be weak if it is overextended, lacking support and difficult to defend, or strong if it cramps the enemy by limiting his mobility. An advanced passed pawn that threatens to promote can be especially strong.
Alekhine's gun
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Alekhine's gun, as played in Alekhine-Nimzowitsch 1930
- A formation in which a queen backs up two rooks on the same file.
Algebraic notation
- The standard way to record a chess game using alphanumeric codes for the squares.
Amateur
- A person who does not earn a living through chess. The distinction between professional and amateur is not very important in chess as amateurs may win prizes, accept appearance fees, and earn any title including World Champion. In the 19th century, "Amateur" was sometimes used in published game scores to conceal the name of the losing player in a Master vs. Amateur contest. It was thought to be impolite to use a player's name without permission, and the professional did not want to risk losing a customer. See also NN or N.N.
Analysis
- Study of a position to determine best play for both sides.
Annotation
- Commentary on a game using a combination of written comments, chess symbols or notation.
Antipositional
- A move or a plan that is not in accordance with the principles of positional play. Antipositional is used to describe moves that are part of an incorrect plan rather than a mistake made when trying to follow a correct plan. Antipositional moves are often pawn moves, since pawns cannot move backwards to return to squares they have left.
Anti-Sicilians
- Variations that White uses against the Sicilian Defense (1.e4 c5) other than the most common plan of 2.Nf3 followed by 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 (the Open Sicilian). Some Anti-Sicilians include the Alapin Variation (2.c3), Moscow Variation (2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+), Rossolimo Variation (2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5), Grand Prix Attack (2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 and now 5.Bc4 or 5.Bb5), Closed Sicilian (2.Nc3 followed by g3 and Bg2), Smith-Morra Gambit (2.d4 cxd4 3.c3), and Wing Gambit (2.b4).
Arbiter
Armageddon
- A game which White must win to win the match, but which Black only needs to draw to win the match. White has more time than black: the discrepancy can vary, but in FIDE World Championships, White has six minutes, while Black only has five. Typically used in playoff tie-breakers where shorter blitz games have not resolved the tie.
Artificial castling
- Refers to a maneuver of several single moves by the king and a rook where they end up as if they had castled.
Attack
- An assault, either short-term (e.g., after 1.e4 Nf6, Black is attacking White's pawn on e4) or long-term, for example in the form of a sustained mating attack against the enemy king or a minority attack against the opponent's queenside pawn structure. See defence.
Automaton
- A self-operating chess-playing machine. Popular attractions in the 18th and 19th centuries, most of these devices were hoaxes under the control of a human player. The most famous chess-playing automaton was The Turk.
B
B
- Symbol used for the bishop when recording chess moves in English.
Back rank
- A player's first rank (the one on which the pieces stand in the initial array); White's back rank is Black's eighth rank and vice versa.
Back rank mate
- A checkmate delivered by a rook or queen along a back rank in which the mated king is unable to move up the board because the king is blocked by friendly pieces (usually pawns) on the second rank.
Backward pawn
- A pawn that is behind the pawns of the same color on the adjacent files and that cannot be advanced with the support of another pawn.
Bad bishop
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White has a bad bishop, Black has a good bishop (Evans 1967:66).
- A bishop which is hemmed in by the player's own pawns.
Battery
- An arrangement of two pieces in line with the enemy king on a rank, file, or diagonal so that if the middle piece moves a discovered check will be delivered. The term is also used in cases where moving the middle piece will uncover a threat along the opened line other than a check.
BCF
- British Chess Federation, the former name of the English Chess Federation. See ECF.
BCM
- An abbreviation for the British Chess Magazine.
BCO
- An abbreviation sometimes used for the chess opening reference Batsford's Chess Openings. The second edition is often called BCO-2. Cf. ECO and MCO.
Bind
- A strong grip or stranglehold on a position that is difficult for the opponent to break. A bind is usually an advantage in space created by advanced pawns. The Maróczy Bind is a well-known example. See also Squeeze.
Bishop
see bishop
Bishops on opposite colors
- A situation in which one side has only its light-squared bishop remaining while the other has only its dark-squared bishop remaining. In endgames, this often results in a draw if there are no other pieces (only pawns), even if one side has one or two pawns extra, since the bishops control different squares (see opposite-colored bishops endgame). In the middlegame, however, the presence of opposite-colored bishops imbalances the game and can lead to mating attacks, since each bishop attacks squares that cannot be covered by the other.
Bishop pair
- In open positions, two bishops (on opposite colors) are considered to have an advantage over two knights or a knight and a bishop. (In closed positions knights may be more valuable than bishops.) The player with two bishops is said to have the bishop pair.
Bishop pawn
- A pawn on the bishop's file, i.e. the c-file or f-file.
Black
- The designation for the player who moves second, even though the corresponding pieces, referred to as "the black pieces," are sometimes actually some other (usually dark) color. Similarly, the dark-colored squares on the chessboard are often referred to as "the black squares" even though they often are not literally black. See also White, First-move advantage in chess.
Blindfold chess
- A form of chess in which one or both players are not allowed to see the board.
Blitz chess
- A fast form of chess (Blitz being German for lightning) with a very short time limit, usually 3 or 5 minutes per player for the entire game. With the advent of electronic chess clocks, it is often the case that the time remaining is incremented by 1 or 2 seconds per move.
Blockade
- A strategic placement of a minor piece directly in front of an enemy pawn, where it restrains the pawn's advance and gains shelter from attack. Blockading pieces are often overprotected.
Blunder
- A very bad move, an oversight (indicated by "??" in notation).
Board
- See chessboard.
Book draw
- An endgame position known to be a draw with perfect play. The name reflects that traditionally the analysis has been found in the chess endgame literature, but in simplified positions (currently six pieces or fewer) computer analysis in an endgame tablebase can be used.
Book move
- An opening move found in the standard reference books on opening theory. A game is said to be "in book" when both players are playing moves found in the opening references. A game is said to be "out of book" when the players have reached the end of the variations analyzed in the opening books or if one of the players deviates with a novelty (or a blunder).
Book win
- An endgame position known to be a win with perfect play. The name reflects that traditionally the analysis has been found in the chess endgame literature, but in simplified positions (currently six pieces or fewer) computer analysis in an endgame tablebase can be used.
Break
- A pawn advance or capture that opens up a blocked position.
Breakthrough
- Destruction of a seemingly strong defense, often by means of a sacrifice.
Brevity
- (chiefly British) See Miniature.
Brilliancy
- A spectacular and beautiful game of chess, generally featuring sacrificial attacks and unexpected moves. Brilliancies are not always required to feature sound play or the best moves by either side.
Brilliancy prize
- A prize awarded at some tournaments for the best brilliancy played in the tournament.
Bronstein delay
- A time control method with time delay, invented by David Bronstein. When it becomes a player's turn to move, the clock waits for the delay period before starting to subtract from the player's remaining time.
Bughouse chess
- A chess variant played with teams of two or more.
Bullet chess
- A form of chess in which each side has 1 minute to make all their moves.
Bye
- A tournament round in which a player does not have a game, usually because there are an odd number of players. A bye is normally scored as a win (1 point), although in some tournaments a player is permitted to choose to take a bye (usually in the first or last round) and score it as a draw (½ point).
C
Caïssa
- The goddess of chess, occasionally invoked to indicate luck or good fortune: "Caissa was with me".
Calculate
- To carefully plan a series of moves while considering possible responses.
Candidate move
- A move that seems good upon initial observation of the position, and that warrants further analysis.
Candidates Match
- A knockout match in the Candidates Tournament.
Candidates Tournament
- A tournament organised by the FIDE, the third and last qualifying cycle of the World Chess Championship. The participants are the top players of the interzonal tournament plus possibly other players selected on the basis of rating or performance in the previous candidates tournament. The top ranking player(s) qualify(ies) for the world championship.
Capped piece
- A certain piece with which one player tries to deliver checkmate. When the capped piece is a pawn, it is called a pion coiffé (French for capped pawn). Playing with a capped piece is a handicap in chess.
Capture
- Remove the opponent's piece or pawn from the board by taking it with one's own piece or pawn. Except in the case of an en passant capture, the capturing piece or pawn does so by occupying the same square that the captured piece or pawn occupied.
Castling
- A special move involving both the king and one rook. Its purpose is generally to protect the king and develop the rook. Castling on the kingside is sometimes called castling short and castling on the queenside is called castling long; the difference is based on whether the rook moves a short distance (two squares) or a long distance (three squares).
Casual game
- See friendly game.
Category tournament
- The category of a tournament is a measure of its strength based on the average FIDE rating of the participants. The category is calculated by rounding up the number (average rating − 2250)/25. So each category covers a 25 point rating range, starting with Category 1 which spans ratings between 2251 and 2275. A Category 18 tournament has an average rating between 2676 and 2700.
CC
- An abbreviation sometimes used for correspondence chess.
Centralization
- Moving a piece or pieces toward the center of the board. In general, pieces are best placed in or near the center of the board because they control a large number of squares and are available for play on either flank as needed. Because of their limited mobility, knights in particular benefit from being centralized. There are several chess aphorisms referring to this principle: "A knight on the rim is dim" (or "grim" instead of "dim") and "A knight on the side cannot abide."
Centre/Center
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Center squares are marked by "X"
- The four squares in the middle of the board.
Central pawn
- A pawn on the king's file or queen's file, i.e. on the d-file or e-file.
Cheapo
- Slang for a primitive trap, often set in the hope of swindling a win or a draw from a lost position.
Check
- An attack on the king. The attacked king is said to be in check.
Checkmate
- A position in which a player's king is in check and the player has no legal move (i.e cannot move out of check). A player whose king is checkmated loses the game.
Chessboard
- This is the chequered board used in chess. It consists of 64 squares (eight rows and eight columns) arranged in two alternating colors (light and dark). Similar boards are also known as checkerboards.
Chess clock
- A device made up of two adjacent clocks and buttons, keeping track of the total time each player takes for his or her moves.
Classical
- An opening system geared towards forming a full pawn center. See also Hypermodern.
Clock move
- A timed game is played clock move if a move is completed only when the clock has been pressed. It is therefore possible to touch one piece, but then decide to move another piece. This way of playing is common in casual games, in favour of touch move.
Closed game
-
- A position with few open lines (files or diagonals), generally characterized by interlocking pawn chains, cramped positions with few opportunities to exchange, and extensive maneuvering behind lines. Such a position may later become an Open game. See also Positional play.
- A chess opening that begins with the moves 1.d4 d5. See also Open game and Semi-open game.
Closed file
- A file on which black and white both have a pawn.
Closed tournament
- A tournament in which only invited or qualifying players may participate, as opposed to an open tournament. Also called an invitational tournament.
Coffeehouse
- Adjective used to describe a move, player, or style of play characterized by risky, positionally dubious play that sets traps for the opponent. The name comes from the notion that one would expect to see such play in skittles games played in a coffeehouse or similar setting, particularly in games played for stakes and/or blitz chess. The Blackburne Shilling Gambit is a typical example of coffeehouse play.
Color
- The white or black pieces.
Combination
- A clever sequence of moves, often involving a sacrifice, to gain the advantage. The moves of the other player are usually forced, i.e. a combination does not give the opponent too many possible lines of continuation.
Compensation
- An imbalanced equivalent return, for example sacrificing material for development or trading a bishop for three pawns.
Connected pawns
- Refers to two or more pawns of the same color on adjacent files. See also isolated pawns.
Connected passed pawns
- Passed pawns on adjacent files. These are considered to be unusually powerful (often worth a minor piece or rook if on the sixth rank or above and not properly blockaded) because they can advance together. Also see connected pawns.
Connected rooks
- Two rooks of the same color on the same rank or file with no pawns or pieces between them. Connected rooks are usually desirable. Players often connect rooks on their own first rank or along an open file. cf. Doubled rooks.
Control of the centre/center
- Having one or more pieces that attack any of the four centre squares; an important strategy, and one of the main aims of openings.
Cook
- An unintended solution of a chess problem. The term may also be used more generally to refer to a refutation to published analysis.
Correspondence chess
- This is chess played at a long time control by various forms of long-distance correspondence, usually through a correspondence chess server, through email or by the postal system. Typically, one move is transmitted in every correspondence.
Corresponding squares
- Squares of reciprocal (or mutual) Zugzwang often found in king and pawn endgames. Also known as related squares.
Counterattack
- An attack that responds to an attack by the other player.
Countergambit
- A gambit offered by Black, for example the Greco Counter Gambit, usually called the Latvian Gambit today (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5?!); the Albin Countergambit (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5); and the Falkbeer Countergambit (1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5). An opening need not have "countergambit" in its name to be one; for instance, the Benko Gambit (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5), Englund Gambit (1.d4 e5?), the Budapest Gambit (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5), the Blackburne Shilling Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4?!) and many lines of the Two Knights Defense (e.g. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 and now 4...Bc5!? (the Wilkes-Barre Variation or Traxler Counter-Attack), 4...Nxe4?!, 4...d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5+ c6 (the main line), 4...d5 5.exd5 Nd4 (the Fritz Variation), and 4...d5 5.exd5 b5 (the Ulvestad Variation)) are all examples of countergambits.
Counterplay
- Active maneuvering by the player in an inferior or defensive position.
Cover
- To protect a piece or control a square. For example, to checkmate a king on the side of the board, the five squares adjacent to the king must all be covered.
Cramped
- A position with limited mobility.
Critical position
- A position that is of key importance in determining the soundness of an opening variation. If one side can demonstrate an advantage in a critical position, the other side must either find an improvement or else abandon that variation as inferior.
Cross-check
- A cross-check is a check played in reply to a check, especially when the original check is blocked by a piece which itself either delivers check or reveals a discovered check from another piece.
Crosstable
- An arrangement of the results of every game in a tournament in tabular form. The names of the players run down the left side of the table in numbered rows. The names may be listed in order of results, alphabetically, or in pairing order, but results order is most common. The columns are also numbered, each one corresponding to the player in the same numbered row. Each table cell records the outcome of the game between the players on the intersecting row and column, using 1 for a win, 0 for a loss, and ½ for a draw. (In a double round-robin tournament each cell contains two entries, as each pair of players plays two games alternating white and black.) Every game is recorded twice, once from the perspective of each player. The diagonal cells that correspond to the player playing himself are marked with a * or other symbol as they are not used. For examples see Hastings 1895 chess tournament, Nottingham 1936 chess tournament, and AVRO tournament.
D
Dark squares
- The 32 dark-coloured squares on the chessboard, such as a1 and h8. A dark square is always located at a player's left hand corner.
Dark-square bishop
- One of the two bishops that moves on the dark squares, situated in c1 and f8 in the initial position.
Dead draw
- A drawn position in which neither player has any realistic chance to win. A dead draw may refer to a position in which it is impossible for either player to win (such as insufficient material), or it may refer to a simple, lifeless position which would require a major blunder before either side would have a chance to win.
Decoy
- This is a chess tactic used to lure a piece to an unfavourable square.
Defence
- (1) A move or plan which tries to meet the opponent's attack; (2) an opening played by Black, for example the Scandinavian Defence, King's Indian Defense, English Defense, etc.
Deflect
- To cause a piece to move to a less suitable square. Typically used in the context of a combination or attack, where the deflected piece is critical to the defence.
Demonstration board
- A large standing chess board used to analyse a game or show a game in progress. Johann Löwenthal invented the demonstration board in 1857.
Descriptive notation
- An old system of recording chess moves, used primarily in the English and Spanish speaking countries through the 1970s or 1980s. Now replaced by the standard algebraic notation.
Desperado
-
- A piece that seems determined to give itself up, typically either to bring about stalemate
- A piece to sell itself as dearly as possible in a situation where both sides have hanging pieces.
Develop
- In the opening, moving a piece from its original square to make it more active. To redevelop a piece means to move it to a better square after it has already been developed.
Diagonal
- A line of squares of the same colour touching corner to corner, along which a queen or bishop can move.
Discovered attack
- An attack made by a queen, rook or bishop when another piece or pawn moves out of its way.
Discovered check
- A check delivered by a piece when another piece or pawn has moved out of its way.
Domination
- A situation whereby capture of a piece is unavoidable despite it having wide freedom of movement. Usually occurs in chess problems.
Double attack
- Two attacks made with one move: these attacks may be made by the same piece (in which case it is a fork); or by different pieces (a situation which may arise via a discovered attack in which the moved piece also makes a threat). The attacks may directly threaten opposing pieces, or may be threats of another kind: for instance, to capture the queen and deliver checkmate.
Double check
- A check delivered by two pieces at the same time. A double check necessarily involves a discovered check.
Doubled pawns
- A pair of pawns of the same color on the same file.
Doubled rooks
Draw
- A game that ends without victory for either player. Most drawn games are draws by agreement. The other ways that a game can end in a draw are stalemate, threefold repetition, the fifty-move rule, and insufficient material. A position is said to be a draw (or a drawn position) if either player can, through correct play, eventually force the game into a position where the game must end in a draw, regardless of the moves made by the other player. A draw is usually scored as ½ point, although in some matches only wins are counted and draws are ignored.
Drawing line
- An opening variation that commonly ends in a draw, for example 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc6 Nf6 4.Bb5 Nd4 5.Nxd4 exd4 6.e5 dxc3 7.exf6 Qxf6 8.dxc3 Qe5+ 9.Qe2 Qxe2+, a line in the Rubinstein Variation of the Four Knights Game. See Collection of drawing lines at chessgames.com. Often such a variation is played because one or both players is/are eager to draw the game.
Drawing weapon
- An opening line that a player plays with the intent of drawing the game. This may or may not be a line commonly thought of as a drawing line. In high-level chess and correspondence chess, a player well-versed in opening theory may even use as a drawing weapon a sharp opening that has been analyzed to a drawn position in a number of lines, such as the Marshall Attack in the Ruy Lopez, and the Sveshnikov and Poisoned Pawn variations of the Sicilian Defense. One example of the successful employment of a drawing weapon was the 2000 World Chess Championship match between Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik. In that match, Kramnik used the Berlin Defense to the Ruy Lopez as a drawing weapon with great effect. Kramnik drew all four games with that opening, drew all the rest of his games as Black, and won two games as White, with no losses.
Duffer
- A weak chess player, also referred to as a "fish", "patzer" or "woodpusher."
Dynamism
- A style of play in which the activity of the pieces is favoured over more positional considerations, even to the point of accepting permanent structural or spatial weaknesses. Dynamism stemmed from the teachings of the 'Hypermodern movement' and challenged the dogma found in more classical teachings, such as those put forward by Wilhelm Steinitz and Siegbert Tarrasch.
E
ECF
- The English Chess Federation (ECF) is the governing chess organisation in England and is one of the federations of the FIDE. It was known as British Chess Federation(BCF) until 2005 when it was renamed.
ECO
- The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings, a standard and comprehensive chess opening reference. Also a classification system (ECO code) for chess openings that assigns an alphanumeric code from A00 to E99 to each opening.
Elo rating system
- The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of chess players, named after the Hungarian Arpad Elo. Since 1970 FIDE publishes quarterly an international chess rating list using the Elo system.
En passant
- ("in the act of passing"; derived from French) The rule that allows a pawn that has just advanced two squares to be captured by a pawn on the same rank and adjacent file. The pawn is therefore taken as if it had only m