Unusual Chess Words

Edward Winter

Circumrotatory chess: ‘... much practice in matches of this kind has made him very proficient in circumrotatory chess.’ City of London Chess Magazine, June 1875, page 130.

Conversation game: ‘There will shortly commence a conversation game between some New York players and members of the Williamsburgh Club.’ The Albion, 19 March 1870, page ?

Counter-check: ‘Is the word counter-check a legitimate Chess-term? If so, what writer on the game has used it?’ Chess Monthly, May 1861, page 137.

Dilemma: Obsolete term for fork. See page 128 of Chess Facts and Fables.

Enigma: ‘A termination of a game; an end-position, not represented upon a diagram, but written out.’ Chess Monthly, October 1858, page 297.

Masque game: ‘It has also been announced that the last-mentioned Club will give a masque game upon a ball-room floor ...’ The Albion, 19 March 1870, page ?

Pedaneous chess: ‘We believe this was the first occasion of his undertaking pedaneous chess ...’ City of London Chess Magazine, August 1875, page 196.

Problemistically: ‘Although he has not been very active problemistically since the Westminster Gazette column disappeared the problem world is poorer for his loss.’ BCM, January 1933, page 44 (obituary of J. Schumer).

Sacs-back: ‘For the next half-dozen moves a cardinal consideration is the efficacy of possible “sacs-back” on d5.’ Playing to Win by J. Plaskett (London, 1988), page 66.

Simultanee: ‘The simultanee should keep an eye on the rate of progress of the single player ...’ BCM, April 1943, page 74.

Zugzwanger: ‘A typical “Zugzwanger.”’ How to Win in the Middle Game of Chess by I.A. Horowitz (New York, 1955), page 108.

Zwischenfehler: ‘For a move such as Black’s 25th we offer the term Zwischenfehler.’ E. Winter, C.N. 2784, 20 October 2002. (See page 61 of A Chess Omnibus.)

Acknowledgment: Jerry Spinrad (conversation game and masque game – see C.N. 4226).

Information on earlier instances of any of the above words will be gratefully received, as will citations for similar words.

Latest update: 2 January 2007

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