NAME

Chess - Glossary

SYNOPSIS

A glossary of chess terms.

DESCRIPTION

GLOSSARY

active

A piece is active when it is able to participate in guards and attacks.

algebraic notation

A board location notation in which the ranks are numbered from 1 (white's home rank) to 8 (black's home rank), and the files are lettered from `a' (queen's rook's file) to `h' (king's rook's file), and spaces are denoted by their file letter followed by their rank number.

army

Collectively, a player's chessmen.

attack

TODO

back rank

The rank containing the king's home space.

backward

Toward the player's back rank.

See also: forward.

battery

Two or more pieces supporting each other on the same line.

bishop

A species of chessman. Due to the way it moves, it always remains on the same color space as its home.

black

One of the two colors of chess spaces, pieces, and players.

See also: color, white.

board

The playing surface for the game. Comprised of an 8 by 8 square lattice of equal-sized square spaces. The rows are called ranks, and the columns are called files. The spaces are alternately black and white as one moves up a file, or across a rank. The space at the intersection of the first rank and the first file (conventionally, the lower-left space on the board) is black.

capture

When a piece is moved to a space occupied by an enemy chessman, the previous occupant is captured, and removed from play.

castle

A special move involving the king and one of the rooks. Also, an informal alternate name for a rook.

See: castle long, castle short, rook.

castle long

Castling involving the king's rook.

castle short

Castling involving the queen's rook.

castling on opposite wings

When one player castles short and the other castles long.

centerl

The four central spaces, at the intersection of ranks 4 and 5 and files d and e.

check

A guard against the opposing king.

See also: checkmate, double check, exposed check.

checkmate

Trapping the opposing king. The word `mate' comes from a word meaning `to kill'.

See also: check, trap.

chessclock

The special clock used in timed chess games.

chessman, chessmen

The name given to the objects that are moved around on the board during a game of Chess.

clock

Short for chessclock.

See: chessclock.

color

Refers not to the actual color of things, but to the fact that there are two distinct kinds of each, and these are given the names `black', and `white'.

See also: black, white.

combination

A sequence of forced moves leading to advantage.

correspondence chess

Chess played by postal or electronic mail.

demolition

Destruction of the pawn structure protecting the hostile king's by way of a sacrifice.

descriptive notation

See: English Descriptive Notation.

development

Moves that activate chessmen.

diagonal

The conceptual equivalent to a rank or file, but rotated 45 degrees. As ranks and files are to rooks, diagonals are to bishops. The long diagonals are the two diagonals that connect opposite corners of the board.

diagonal battery

A battery on a diagonal involving the queen and a bishop.

discovered check

TODO

double check

The piece that moves ends up guarding the king, but its movement also exposes check by another piece as well.

See also: check, exposed check.

doubled pawns

Two pawns of the same color on the same file.

doubled rooks

A battery of two rooks.

draw

See: stalemate

en passant

French for `in passing'. A special pawn capture rule.

en pris

French for `in take'. When a chessman is threatened.

endgame

TODO

enemy

See: opponent.

English Descriptive Notation

An older notation where the files are referred to by side of the board (queen's or king's) along with the type of piece on the home rank at the beginning of the game (rook, knight, bishop). The ranks are referred to by the names 1 to 8 as with algebraic notation, but the counting is relative to the home rank of the player. So, each space will have two names: one when referred to by black, and another when referred to by white.

exchange

TODO

exposed check

When check is achieved indirectly. Most commonly, the piece that moves ends up in a position such that it guards the enemy king. But, if instead, the piece that moves gets out of the way so that some other piece guards the king, check has been exposed.

See also: check, double check.

fianchetto

When a bishop moves from its home onto one of the long diagonals.

flag

The time forfeit indicator on the chessclock.

forced mate

A forcing sequence leading up to checkmate.

forced move

When there is only one legal move possible. For example, when the king is in check, and there is only one way to remedy it. Sometimes also used to refer to a weaker situation when there is only one ``good'' move. For example, when the Queen is threatened and there is only one way to neutralize the threat.

forward

Toward the enemy's back rank.

See also: backward.

four-move checkmate

Another name for scholar's mate.

gambit

An opening involving a pawn sacrifice.

Gruenfeld Defense

TODO

Gruenfeld Gambit

A chessman sacrificed by Black in the Gruenfeld Defense.

guard

A piece guards an enemy piece when the enemy piece is in a space that could be reached by it in the next move, without regard for the possibility that the piece under consideration may in reality be pinned in its current location.

Also, a piece can guard a friendly piece so that if the guarded piece is captured, the guarding piece can capture back.

See also: pin, threat.

half-open line

A line with no friendly pawn that does have an enemy pawn.

handicap

TODO.

home

The initial space of a piece.

invasion square

TODO

isolated pawn

A pawn which does not have any neighboring friendly pawns.

king

A species of chessman. The only one that may not be captured (because if it is not permitted to even be guarded, much less threatened, and as soon as it is not possible to remove such a guard or threat--called checkmate--the game is over).

kingside

On the half of the board containing the king's home. Files `e' to `h'.

See also: queenside.

knight

A species of chessman. The only one that can jump over other pieces.

Legall's Mate

A pattern that arises when one side sacrifices the Queen to checkmate with one bishop and two knights.

line

A rank, file, or diagonal.

line segment

A contiguous portion of a line. Maximally, an entire line; minimally a single space.

luft

A square left open in front of the king to prevent checkmate on the home rank.

major pieces

Queens and rooks.

man

Short for chessman.

mate

From the Persion mat (death).

See: checkmate.

material

Another name for chessmen.

mating attack

An attack that could leat to checkmate.

middlegame

TODO

minor pieces

Knights and bishops.

move

A white ply followed by a black ply. Sometimes used to refer to a ply itself, when the ply is an occupation rather than a capture.

See also: ply, occupy.

neutralize

A guard or threat can be neutralized by one of three direct methods: (i) capture the offending enemy piece; (ii) interpose another piece; or (iii) move the piece away to a safe location. An indirect method is to create a greater threat for the opponent.

obstruction

TODO

occupy

When a ply results in a chessman ending up in a space that did not already contain an enemy chessman, the piece occupies the space.

See also: capture.

open file

A file containing no pawns of either color.

open line

A line containing no pawns of either color.

open rank

A rank containing no pawns of either color.

opening

The first moves in the game, where the focus is usually on the development of the pieces.

opponent

White is the opponent of black and vice-versa.

passed pawn

A pawn for which its file is free of enemy pawns and the two neighboring files are free of enemy pawns forward of its rank. No longer can it be blocked or captured by enemy pawns (unless another capture brings an enemy pawn onto one of these ranks).

pawn

A species of chessman. The pawn is the only chessman that moves and captures in distinct ways.

pawn duo

Two friendly pawns in the same rank and neighboring files.

perpetual check

TODO

piece

A chessman that is not a pawn. Sometimes, the word `piece' is used in place of `chessman'. Usually context makes it clear which is meant.

pin

A chessman is pinned when it is not legal for it to move from its current location. Usually this is caused by an enemy piece being placed such that moving the chessman would expose the king to a guard by the enemy.

Also used to refer to a weaker case when it is not desirable to lose the more valuable piece behind it.

play

See ply.

ply

One play in a Chess game.

promotion

When a pawn reaches the back rank of the opponent, it is promoted to any other piece than a pawn or king.

queen

A species of chessman.

queenside

On the half of the board containing the queen's home. Files `a' to `d'.

See also: kingside.

rook

A species of chessman. Can participate in castling with the king.

sacrifice

A purposeful loss of a chessman in the interest of gaining some other advantage.

safe

A square which is not guarded by the enemy.

scholar's mate

Mate in four moves using the queen and bishop. Also called scholar's mate and four-move checkmate. One way it could be played is:

    1. e4     e5
    2. Bc4    h6?
    3. Qh5    a5??  Could also be 3. Qf3  ...
    4. Qxf7#

The particular moves of black are not important, just that they don't interfere with white's line of play.

shepherd's mate

Another name for scholar's mate.

Sicilian Defence

An asymetrical answer to White's 1. e4. First played in Palermo in the 1500's.

space

A board location that may be empty or contain a single chessman.

square

See space.

stalemate

When the player to move has no legal move, but is not in check, it is stalemate.

TODO: Other ways: repetition, etc.

starting rank

See: home rank

tempo

TODO

tie

See: stalemate

time control

TODO: traditional, sudden-death

tournament

TODO

trap

A piece is trapped when it is threatened and the threat cannot be neutralized. Also, a series of moves by one player leading to an unfavorable position for the opponent.

See also: neutralize.

turn

See move.

unblocked lines

A line segment containing no chessmen.

unit

Another name for a chessman.

variation

TODO

white

One of the two colors of chess spaces, pieces, and players.

See also: color, black.

win an exchange

When an enemy rook is captured at the loss of a knight or a bishop.

zeitnot

German term for a situation in which a player has little time to consider his plies due to time control.

zugzwang

From the German `compulsion to move'. A player foregoes immediate capture of compensating material for that just lost, and instead creates a larger threat the enemy must respond to, eventually achieving material (and perhaps positional) compensation.

Also, when every possible move worsens one's position.

zwischenzug

German for an in-between move.

AUTHOR

Gregor N. Purdy (gregor@focusresearch.com).

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

Copyright (C) 1999-2006 Gregor N. Purdy. All rights reserved.

This program is free software. You may redistribute and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl iteself.