Chess terminology

This page is a glossary of terms you may find in chess.

Note: this page is adapted from Wikipedia's glossary of chess

A

• absolute pin: A pin against the king. The piece being pinned cannot move out of the way because it would expose their king to check.
• active piece: A piece with many possible moves, or that threatens a number of squares.
• adjournment: Suspension of a chess game with the intention to continue it later.
• adjudication: Evaluation of an unfinished game as a win or draw.
• advanced pawn: A pawn on the opponent's side of the board
• advantage: A position which gives black or white a better chance to win.
• Alekhine's gun: A special type of battery where a queen backs up two rooks on the same file.
• Algebraic notation: The standard notation for chess moves.
• analysis: Study of a chess position to determine which player has a better chance of winning.
• annotation: Written commentary on a game of chess using words or symbols (like ! or ?)
• announced mate: The practice of announcing "mate in (a number)" when the player believes they can force a checkmate in that number of moves.
• anti-pair: a pair of bishops on the same color of square (achieved by promoting a pawn to a bishop).
• antipositional: A move that is not in accordance with positional play.
• Anti-Sicilian: A type of opening variation that white uses against the Sicilian Defense.
• arabian mate: A checkmate where a rook and knight trap the opposing king in a corner.
• Armageddon game: A chess game where white has more time than black but black wins if there is a draw.
• artificial castling: a series of moves that have the same result as castling but do not actually involve castling.
• attack: An action that threatens the capture of an opponent's piece.
• attraction: The sacrifice of a major or minor piece to force the opponent king to abandon the defense of its square
• automaton: A machine that plays chess.

B

• back rank: A player's first rank
• back-rank mate: A checkmate where the mated king is blocked from moving out of its back rank by friendly pieces.
• back-rank weakness: A situation where a player is constantly in danger of a back-rank mate.
• backward pawn: A pawn that is behind all pawns of the same color on the adjacent files and cannot be safely advanced.
• bad bishop: a bishop that is hemmed in by pawns of the same color.
• bare king: A situation when a king is a player's only piece.
• Basque chess: A type of competition with two boards, where each player plays white on one and black on the other. Each board has its own clock.
• battery: An arrangement involving two pieces in a rank, file, or diagonal, usually in line with the enemy king.
• big pawn: A bishop stuck behind two of its own pawns and defending them.
• bind: A position that is difficult for the opponent to break.
• bishop pair: A player with two bishops on opposite color squares is said to have the bishop pair.
• bishops on opposite colors: a situation where one player has one bishop on a white space, and the other has one bishop on a black space, so they cannot capture each other.
• black squares: The squares that are darker are called black.
• "Black" / black pieces: The player who goes second is designated "Black" and gets the darker-colored pieces.
• blindfold chess: a chess game where one or both players cannot see the pieces.
• blind pigs: A pair of rooks on the opponent's second row are called "pigs", and "blind pigs" if they cannot deliver checkmate.
• blitz chess: A game of chess with a very short time limit.
• blockade: The placement of a piece directly in front of an opponent pawn.
• blocked position: A position where both players are constrained from making progress.
• blunder: A very bad move; an oversight. Notated by two question marks ("??").
• Boden's Mate: A checkmate delivered by two bishops on crossing diagonals.
• book draw: an endgame position known to be a draw with perfect play.
• book move: a move found in standard reference books on opening theory
• book win: an endgame position known to be a win with perfect play.
• break: a move that gains space and therefore freedom of movement, or the opening of a blocked position by the advance or capture of a pawn.
• breakthrough: penetration of the opponent's position, or destruction of a defense, often using a sacrifice.
• brilliancy: a game that contains a spectacular strategic idea, combination, or original plan.
• brilliancy prize: a prize sometimes awarded for the best played brilliancy.
• Bronstein delay: a type of time control where the timer has a delay before it starts subtracting time.
• bughouse chess: a chess variant played with four players at two boards.
• building a bridge: building a path for the king by defending against check
• bullet chess: an extremely fast chess game, with each player only having 1 minute.
• bye: a round in a tournament where the player does not play because there are an odd number of players.

C

• calculate: To plan a series of moves and consider possible responses
• candidate move: A move that, upon initial observation of the position, seem to warrant further analysis.
• can-opener: The plan of attacking a kingside, sometimes a fianchetto position, by advancing the h-pawn with the intention of opening a file near the defender’s king.
• capped piece: A piece with which one intends to deliver checkmate.
• capture: A move to the space of an opponent piece to remove that piece from the board
• castling: A special move in which both the king and the rook are moved. The king moves two squares towards the rook, which moves into the space the king passed through
• castling into it: A castling move that results in the king being more danger than it previously was in.
• castling kingside/short Castling with the rook on the king's side.
• castling queenside/long Castling with the rook on the queen's side.
• centralization: Moving a piece towards the center of the board.
• center: The four squares in the middle of the board: d4, d5, e4, and e5
• central/center pawn: The pawn on the king or queen's file.
• cheapo/cheap shot: A slang term for a primitive trap used in an attempt to gain the advantage (or equality).
• check: An attack on the king from an enemy piece. The player in check must get out of check by moving the king, capturing the checking piece, or blocking the line of attack.
• checkmate: A situation where the king is in check and can't get out. The player in checkmate loses.
• chess blindness: The failure to notice a good move or danger that is normally considered obvious.
• chessboard: The board used in chess. Consists of 64 squares of alternating colors in an 8-by-8 grid.
• chess clock: A device used to time chess games. It consists of two clocks, one for each player. On each player's turn, the other player's clock pauses.
• chessman: The movable pieces on a chessboard. This includes pawns, which are not included in some definitions of "piece".
• chess set: The set of the 16 black pieces, 16 white pieces, and a chessboard used to play chess.
• chess variant: A chess-like game that uses a different board, pieces, or rules than normal chess.
• Chess960: A chess variant where the placement of the pieces in the first row is randomized.
• chop wood: Slang for the capture or exchange of pieces.
• classical: "Classical" may refer to:
  • A style of play oriented around forming a full pawn center
  • A game using longer time control.
• clearance: Removal of a piece from a square, rank, file, or diagonal so another piece may use it.
• clock move: A game style where a move is complete only when the clock button is pressed.
• clock time: Time (consumed or remaining) on a chess clock.
• closed file: A file where both players have pawns.
• closed game: A game with few open lines.
• coffeehouse: A risky move that sets up traps for the opponent.
• color: The color of a space or piece.
• combination: A sequence of moves, often involving a sacrifice, to gain an advantage.
• compensation: That which is gained in return for a sacrifice or some other action.
• computer move: A move that seems to be more likely to be played by a computer than a human.
• connected passed pawns: Passed pawns of the same color on adjacent files.
• connected pawns: Pawns of the same color on adjacent files.
• connected rooks: Two rooks of the same color on a rank or file with no pieces between them.
• consolidation: The improvement of a player's position by the reposition of one or more pieces to better square(s).
• control: When a player’s piece or pieces guard a square, squares, a file, or a rank in such a way that the territory can be advantageously used.
• control of the center: Having one or more pieces that attack the center squares.
• cook: In chess compositions, an unintended duplicate solution, or a refutation.
• correspondence chess: Chess played over long distances by mail/email or on a server.
• corresponding squares: A pair of squares such that when a king moves into one square, the opponent's king is forced to occupy the other to hold the position.
• counterattack: An attack in response to an attack by the opponent.
• countergambit: A gambit offered by Black.
• counterplay: An aggressive action by the defending side.
• country move: A disparaging term for a move considered unsophisticated.
• cover: To protect a piece or control a square.
• cramped: Having limited mobility in a position.
• critical position: The moment in a game or opening when the advantage shifts towards one player or towards equality.
• cross-check: A check played in reply to a check.
• crosstable: An arrangement of the results of every game in a tournament in tabular form.
• crush: Slang for a quick win, especially an overwhelming attack against weak play.

D

• dark-square bishop: A bishop on one of the darker squares
• dark square: One of the 32 darker squares of the board
• dead draw: A situation where neither player could realistically win.
• decoy: A tactic of luring an enemy piece to a square where it could be attacked
• defense: A move used to prevent or counter an attack. An opening by Black may also be called a defense.
• deflect: A tactic of luring an enemy piece away from a good square
• demonstration board: A large standing board used to analyse a game or show a game in progress
• descriptive notation: A notation used to describe chess moves. It is no longer popular.
• desperado: A piece that seeks to be captured for compensation
• development: Movement of pieces to positions where they can be more active
• diagonal: A line of squares that touch at the corners.
• discovered attack: An attack that is revealed by moving a piece out of the line of attack.
• discovered check: A discovered attack on the king, putting it in check.
• domination: A situation where a piece has many squares to move to, but all of them are under attack.
• double attack: Two attacks made at once, either one piece attacking two pieces, or a discovered attack where the piece moving out of the way also becomes a threat.
• double check: Two attacks on a king made at once.
• doubled pawns: Two pawns of the same color on the same file.
• doubled rooks: Two rooks on the same rank or file with no pieces between them.
• draw: A game that ends without either player winning. A game can be drawn by stalemate, or by agreement between two players.
• draw death: A hypothetical situation where players become so good that they can never lose, making every game between them a draw.
• drawing line: An opening variation that often ends with a draw.
• drawing weapon: A sequence of moves in the opening with the intent of causing a draw.
• drawish: A position or game that is likely to end in a draw.
• draw odds: A type of handicap where one player wins in case of a draw.
• draw offer: A proposal to end a game by agreement.
• dynamism: A type of play which favors the activity of pieces over more positional considerations.

E

• eat: Slang for "capture"
• edge: A small but meaningful advantage
• Elo rating system: A system for calculating the relative skill level of chess players.
• endgame: The third and last phase of the game, where there are few pieces remaining.
• endgame tablebase: A database of endgames with a small number of pieces.
• en passant: A special move where a pawn moves to the square an enemy pawn had just passed through moving two spaces, capturing the enemy pawn.
• en prise: A piece exposed to a material-winning capture by the opponent.
• epaulette mate: A checkmate where the king is blocked on both sides by rooks of the same color.
• equalize: To reach a position where the players have equal chances of winning, called "equality".
• exchange: The trade of two pieces by capture, usually those of equal value. Also, the advantage of a rook over a knight or bishop is called an exchange; the player who captures a rook for a minor piece is said to have "won the exchange".
• exchange variation: A type of opening with an early voluntary exchange.
• exhibition: A chess game played in public.
• expanded center: Any of the sixteen squares in a 4x4 square centered around the center of the board.
• exposed king: A king lacking the pawns to shield it from an enemy attack.

F

• family fork: A knight's fork that attacks both the king and queen.
• fast chess: A game of chess with a faster time control than normal.
• fianchetto: To develop a bishop to the largest diagonal on the board.
• fifty-move rule: If no capture or pawn move is made, either player may claim a draw.
• file: A column of the chessboard.
• fingerfehler: A move caused by accidentally touching the wrong piece or moving to the wrong square.
• first board: In team chess, the player who is assigned to face the toughest opponent.
• first-move advantage: The slight (by most accounts) advantage that the player who moves first has.
• Fischer delay: A type of time control where the delay is added to a player's time when it is his turn to move.
• flag: A part of an analog chess clock that indicates when the minute hand passes the hour.
• flank: The files a, b, c, f, g, and h.
• flank opening: An opening played by White typified by movement from one or both flanks.
• flight square: A square where a piece can move to to avoid attack.
• Fool's mate: The shortest possible chess game ending in a checkmate.
• forced mate: A sequence of moves leading to an unpreventable checkmate.
• forced move: The only good move a player can make.
• forfeit: Loss of the game by breaking the rules.
• fork: An attack on two or more pieces at the same time.
• fortress: An endgame position that is impossible to penetrate.
• friendly game: A game that is not part of a match, tournament, or exhibition. Time controls are not usually used.

G

• gambit: A sacrifice (usually of a pawn) to gain an advantage of space or time in the opening
• game score: A record of a game, recorded using a notation.
• gardez: It used to be common, or even required, to say "gardez" when attacking the opponent's queen, similar to "check," but it has since fallen out of use.
• "God": A hypothetical player who plays perfectly.
• good bishop: A bishop that is on the opposite color of squares from nearby friendly pawns.
• grandmaster draw: A game that is quickly drawed by agreement.
• Greek gift sacrifice: A sacrifice of a bishop against a castled king to initiate a mating attack.

H

• half-open file: A file with only one color of pawn.
• handicap: An advantage given to the weaker player to increase his or her chance of winning.
• hanging: Unprotected and exposed to capture.
• Harry: A nickname for the pawn in the h rank.
• hole: A place in or near a player's territory that cannot be controlled by a pawn.
• home rank: A player's first rank (1 for White or 8 for Black), where their rooks, knights, bishops, king, and queen start.
• Horwitz bishops: Two bishops on opposite colored squares that occupy adjacent diagonals.
• human move: A move that a human would normally make.
• Hutton pairing: A pairing technique for matching teams of players where each player only has to play one game.
• hypermodernism: A style of play that prefers controlling the center with pieces from the flanks as opposed to occupying it directly with pawns.

I

• illegal move: A move that is not allowed by the rules of chess
• illegal position: A position that is not allowed by the rules of chess, or one that is the result of an illegal move.
• imbalance: A difference between the positions of the players where each has their own advantages.
• inaccuracy: A move that may not be the best
• increment: The amount of time added to the chess clock before or after a player's move.
• Indian Defense: A type of opening.
• Initiative: The ability to make attacking moves and control the course of play. It is an aspect of time.
• insufficient material: A type of endgame where neither player has sufficient material to force checkmate.
• internet chess server: An internet server where users can play, discuss, and view chess over the internet.
• interpose: To move a piece between an attacking piece and its target, preventing the attack.
• intuition: A way of thinking where strategy is not calculated, but just chosen because it simply appears to be good.
• irregular: An opening that does not have the characteristics of a "normal" opening.
• isolani: A pawn in the d-file with no pawns of the same color in adjacent files.
• Italian bishop: A white bishop developed to c4, or a black bishop developed to c5.

J

• j'adoube: French for "I Adjust". Said when adjusting a piece. Pronounced [ʒa.dub].

K

• key square: An important square; more specifically, a square which will give a player an advantage if that player's king occupies it.
• kibitz: A comment on a chess game in progress that is intended to be heard by the players
• kick: To force a piece to move by attacking it.
• king bishop/knight/rook: The bishop, knight, or rook that is on the same side as the king in the start
• king hunt: A sustained attack on the king to chase it away from its position and force checkmate.
• king pawn: The pawn that starts on the e-file
• king pawn opening: An opening which starts with the king's pawn being moved.
• kingside: The e, f, g, and h files.
• king walk: A series of consecutive king moves to move the king to a safer square
• knight pawn: In the start, the pawn on the b or g file
• knight's tour: A puzzle where one must tour a chessboard using knight moves.
• knockout tournament: A tournament played in multiple rounds, when the players are paired up to play against each other, and the winner of each game advances to the next round, and it repeats until one player is left; that player is the winner.
• Kotov syndrome: a phenomenon where a player is under pressure by time to think of a move, and decides a move quickly and without much thought.
• Kriegspiel: A variant where players can only see one piece. The game is monitored by an umpire who sees both boards and dictates what moves are legal and when a piece is captured. It requires three chess sets.
• Kt: An old abbreviation for Knight, which is now used almost exclusively in chess puzzles where unorthodox pieces are present.