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Deep Blue game 6: May 11 @ 3:00PM EDT | 19:00PM GMT        kasparov 2.5 deep blue 3.5
 

Chess Glossary

[A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [Z]

Adjudication
Sometimes in amateur events, games not finished within a specified time period are adjudicated by a strong player who determines the outcome of the game. This practice has fallen out of fashion and has been replaced by 'sudden death'

Advanced Pawn
This term describes a pawn which has passed the central meridian of the board (between the fourth and fifth ranks).

Advantage
A player whose position is considered objectively better is said to have the advantage.

Algebraic Notation
The form of chess notation by using a combination of letters and numbers - a to h and 1 to 8 - which denote the 64 squares on a board.

Analysis
The detailed study of a position.

Annotation
Published commentary on a chess game.

Announced Mate
It was once the practice to loudly proclaim an inevitable checkmate. Now it is considered very poor form and is not permitted by the rules of chess. In any event, it is unwise to make such pronouncements - one might turn out to be wrong and subject to great embarrassment.

Arbiter
Chess does not have referees or umpires, it has Arbiters for the enforcement of the rules, and Directors for the organisation of tournaments (a distinction recognized in America).

Attack
A threat against an enemy piece.

B
Abbreviation for bishop.

Back rank mate
A checkmate carried out by a queen or a rook on the first or eighth rank.

Backward pawn
A pawn which cannot be guarded by a pawn, or which cannot advance to such a position.

Bad Bishop
If a bishop is hemmed in by pawns, and therefore has limited mobility, it is considered bad.

Bare King
A king which has none of its army (pieces) left.

BCO
Batsford Chess Openings, the standard one-volume reference work on opening strategy.

Bishops of opposite color
A situation where each side has only one bishop left and those bishops travel on squares of the opposite color. The significance of this situation is that it often brings about a drawn endgame, even if one side has extra pawns.

Blindfold Chess
Chess played without sight of the board. Some players have been able to take on dozens of opponents simultaneously in this fashion.

Blitz
Another name for rapid, or lightning chess.

Blockade
The blocking of a pawn or pawns by a piece or pieces.

Blunder
A very bad move. A typical excuse for a game one has lost is "He didn't outplay. I simply blundered". Such excuses are not considered good form

Book
Often taken to stand for the current theoretical opinion. A book move is a move which is expected to be played, based on recent chess articles or theoretical manuals.

Brilliancy Prize
A prize given for the most exciting game, or most artistic combination.

Bust
The refutation of an opening strategy or combination.

Candidate move
One of a number of possible realistic moves. there may be a number of legal moves available but only moves that can achieve something positive within the framework of the current game can be called candidate moves.

Castling
A move in which the king and a rook move simultaneously and the only move where the king is allowed to move more than one square. It may only be carried out if neither the king nor the rook concerned have not previously moved at any time in the game and provided the king and none of the squares involved are currently under direct attack by an opposing piece. However, when castling the rook can immediately give check as a result of the move should the opposing king be on e1 or e8, as appropriate, and there are no other pieces on the e-file. Castling kingside with the White pieces takes the king from e1 to g1 while the rook from h1 moves to e1, replacing the king. Castling queenside takes the king from e1 to c1 while the rook from a1 moves to e1. Castling with the Black pieces is self-evident from the foregoing explanation. Once this move has been employed in a game the pieces involved resume their normal moving powers and castling cannot be repeated even if the pieces resume their original positions.

Casual game
A non-tournament encounter.

Centre
Squares d4, d5, e4 and e5 - the four squares in the very centre of the board.

Check
When the king is directly attacked. The game is lost unless the king can be moved our of check, or another piece can be placed between the king and the attacking piece, or the attacking piece can be captured.

Checkmate
If the king is in check and there is no legal move that can get him out of check (see check) he is checkmated and the game is lost.

Chess Clock
A timing device used in tournament play, After making a move, a player depressed the button on his side of the device which stops his timer and starts that of his opponent. Beginners are often intimidated by chess clocks but one quickly adjusts to their use, without which many games could drag on for days.

Composition
One of the most artistic aspects of chess is the composition, which is an artificial position composed by a problemist. There are many rules governing the creation of a composition, one of the most important of which is that only a single solution is allowed.

Connected pawns
Pawns which can protect or be protected by a pawn on an adjacent file. Connected passed pawns are considered most valuable in the endgame.

Control
A player controls a square by occupying or by having more pieces which can occupy it with a single move than his opponent.

Correspondence Chess
Chess played by post or by electronic transmission.

Demonstration Board
A large display used to show games in progress, or analysis, to an audience.

Descriptive Notation
An antiquated form of notating a chess game, employed in the English- and Spanish-speaking worlds to some extent. It has almost disappeared from contemporary use, but there is much great literature written using it, so it is worthwhile to learn it. A typical example is 1. P-K4 (1. pawn to King four) for 1. e4.

Development
The art of bringing out one's forces.

Diagram
A pictorial representation of a chess position.

Discovered check
A check delivered by a piece whose line of attack has previously been blocked by a member of the same side which has moved away on the given move.

Double attack
An attack against two enemy pieces at the same time. If a single piece is attacking two enemy pieces, it is a fork.

Doubled pawns
Two pawns of the same colour on the same file. These are generally considered a liability.

Draw
A game in which neither side wins. Draws can occur by mutual agreement or in accordance with specific rules of chess, such as stalemate.

Drawn position
A position in which normal play would lead to an outcome in which neither side wins.

ECO
Encyclopedia of Chess Openings, the standard multi-volume reference work on opening strategy.

Endgame
The last stages of a game, involving few pieces, usually without queens for either side.

Endings
Another name for the Endgame.

En Passant
(In passing) A special pawn capture which can only be effected once by each side in a game. If, for example, Black has a pawn on his fifth rank (say e4) and White, taking advantage of the facility to move a pawn two squares forward on its first move, moves (say) d2-d4, Black can capture this pawn - but only on the very next move - placing the capturing pawn on d3.

En prise This is said of a piece (other than the king) which is under attack.

Exchange
The capture of pieces belonging to both sides during the course of a few moves. (See also Winning the Exchange).

Fianchetto
An Italian term, now in general use, to describe the positioning of a bishop in the penultimate square of the long diagonal (ie White's b2, g2, Black's b7, g7).

File
The row of squares from the first rank to the last, ie a1-a8 is the a-file.

Flank
The a, b, c, f, g and h files.

Forced move
A move which must be made lest the player lose material or even be checkmated.

Gambit
A sacrifice in the opening.

Grandmaster
A very strong chess player. The title of Grandmaster is awarded by the World Chess Federation (FIDE).

Hole
A square that cannot be guarded by one's own pawns. Holes can become outposts for knights.

International Arbiter
A referee at international chess events.

International Master
An internationally recognised chess expert. This title is immediately below that of Grandmaster.

Isolated pawn
A pawn is said to be isolated when there are no pawns of the same army on adjoining files. Generally, isolated pawns, or isolani's, are considered to be weak.

J'adoube
This is a legal way of announcing that one is going to adjust the pieces without making a move.

K
Abbreviation for king.

Kibitzer
A spectator at a chess tournament.

King
A chess piece.

Kingside
The e to h files

Laws of Chess
The official rules of the game as governed by the World Chess Federation (FIDE).

Legal move
A move made in accordance with the Laws of Chess.

Line
A general term used for a rank, file or a diagonal.

Majority
A player has a pawn majority when he has more pawns on one side of the board than his opponent.

Major piece
A queen or a rook.

Master
A title awarded by National Federations affiliated with the World Chess Federation.

Mate
Short for checkmate.

Material
Any chess piece or pieces other than the king.

Middlegame
The portion of the game between the opening and the endgame.

Minor piece
A bishop or a knight.

Minority attack
An advance by a small number of pawns against a greater number.

Move
A turn of play, or what one does on it.

N
Abbreviation for knight

Notation
Methods of recording moves.

Odds
A method of using a handicap in chess. Rook-odds means that one player removes a rook before the start of the game. Pawn-and-move odds means that one player removes a pawn and also takes the Black pieces, thereby allowing the opponent to move first.

Open file
A file which is not occupied by any pawns.

Opening
The first part of a game, up to point where play deviates from known patterns.

Opposition
A relationship between enemy kings in the endgame.

Outpost
A hole in the enemy position which can be occupied by a minor piece, or sometimes by a rook.

Overloading
Giving a piece more duties (usually in defence) than it can cope with.

P
Abbreviation for a pawn.

Passed pawn
A pawn which has no enemy pawns ahead of it on the same or adjacent file.

Perpetual check
A situation where one player can give check to the enemy king indefinitely, resulting in a draw.

Piece
Generally this term refers to a queen, rook, knight or bishop.

Pin
A special chess tactic.

Position
A term to describe any arrangement of chess pieces on a chessboard.

Positional
As opposed to tactical play, positional play has more to do with moving pieces into advantageous position than with direct attacks or winning of material.

Promotion
When a pawn reaches the eighth rank it can be promoted to a knight, bishop, rook or queen.

Prophylaxis
The art of setting up a defence before an attack is actually launched.

Q
Abbreviation for a queen.

Queen
A chess piece.

Queening square
The square on the eighth rank on which a pawn may be promoted.

Queenside
The a to d files

R
Abbreviation for a rook

Rank
A horizontal row of squares

Recapture
If a player responds to the opponent's capture of one of his pieces by capturing the enemy piece involved, he is said to have recaptured the piece.

Resign
To give up a game.

Rook
A chess piece.

Sacrifice
A move which gives up material in order to gain some positional or tactical advantage.

Score sheet
The piece of paper on which moves are recorded.

Simplification
The reduction of pieces on the board through exchanges.

Skewer
A chess tactic.

Skittles
Informal chess games.

Strategy
A long term plan.

Swindle
A combination played by a player who has a `lost' game - usually involving a trap which the opponent could avoid but doesn't - and the `lost' game is saved.

Tactics
Short term manoeuvres which have specific goals.

Tempo
A measurement of time as it pertains to chess. To waste a tempo is to take two moves to get a piece to a square which it could have reached in a single move. For example, moving a pawn from a2-a3-a4instead of directly from a2-a4.

Text
A word used to imply orthodoxy (also see Book)

Time limit
Most games in chess tournaments are played at specific rates of play, the most common being 40 moves by each player in two hours each.

Transposition
A single position can sometimes be reached by a variety of paths. Play transposes into a given variation when a position is reached via a route other than the one given in standard reference works. For example 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Ng1-f3 is a normal series of moves, but 1.Ng1-f3 e7-e5 2. e2-e4 would be a very strange transpositional path since 2. Nf3xe5 was a possible alternative.

Trap
A situation where a superficially tempting move is left available for an unwary opponent. If he takes the bait it usually results in an advantage - even a win - for the player who set the trap.

Unorthodox opening
An opening which is not commonly seen in Grandmaster play.

Unsound
A term used to describe a failed stratagem or tactic.

Variation
A series of moves based on, but differing from, a standard position.

Waiting Move
A move that, while not achieving anything positive, does not weaken the position.

Weak square
A square which cannot be guarded by a pawn and upon which an enemy piece can be placed to his advantage.

Wing
A flank.

Winning the Exchange
A term used to describe a situation in which a minor piece is traded for a major piece.

Zugzwang
An uncomfortable position in which one would be in no difficulty were it not for the fact that one has to make a move in a situation where all legal moves lead to trouble.

Zwischenzug
A move played in response to a capture which is not a recapture, but which forces the opponent to make a reply which cannot avoid eventual capture. Most Zwischenzugs are checks.


  
Related Information

      Chess basics:
A guide to the fundamental aspects of the game including rules and moves.

 
      Chess glossary:
Definitions of the terms and phrases used in the game

 
      Chess pieces:
Tidbits of trivia from the world of chess

 
      Chess links:
Entertainment, education and reference material on the net.

 
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