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Chess

Definition: Chess

Chess

Noun

1. Weedy annual native to Europe but widely distributed as a weed especially in wheat.

2. A game for two players who move their 16 pieces according to specific rules; the object is to checkmate the opponent's king.

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "chess" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1374. (references)

 

Specialty Definition: Chess

DomainDefinition

Computing

Chess A two-player game with perfect information. Usenet newsgroup: news:rec.games.chess. See also Internet Chess Server. (1995-03-25). Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing.

Dream Interpretation

To dream of playing chess, denotes stagnation of business, dull companions, and poor health.
To dream that you lose at chess, worries from mean sources will ensue; but if you win, disagreeable influences may be surmounted. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted ....

Literature

Chess Called by the Hindus cheturanga (the four angas)- i.e. the four members of the army- viz. elephants, horses, chariots, and foot-soldiers; called by the ancient Persians chetrang. The Arabs, who have neither c nor g, called it shetranj, which modern Persians corrupted into sacchi, whence the Italian scacchi, German schach, French echec, our chess. (See page 242, Checkmate ). Source: Brewer's Dictionary.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Specialty Definition: Chess

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

A typical Staunton-design set and clock (Larger version)

Chess (the "Game of Kings") is a board game for two players, which requires 32 chesspieces (or chessmen) and a board demarcated by 64 squares. Gameplay does not involve random luck; consisting solely of strategy, (see also tactics, and theory). Chess is one of humanity's more popular games; it is has been described not only as a game, but also as both art and science. Chess is sometimes seen as an abstract wargame; as a "mental martial art".

The number of legal positions in chess is estimated to be between 1043 and 1050, and the game-tree complexity approximately 10123, while there are 0 (=(stale)mate) to 218 possibilities per move. Chess is played both recreationally and competitively in clubs, tournaments, on-line, and by mail (correspondence chess).

Many variants and relatives of chess are played throughout the world; amongst them, the most popular are Xiangqi (China) and Shogi (Japan), both of which come from the same historical stem as chess.

History

Chess originated from the Indian game Chaturanga, about 1400 years ago. However many countries make claims to have invented it. It reached Russia via Mongolia, where it was played at the beginning of the 7th century. From India it migrated to Persia, and spread throughout the Islamic world after the Muslim conquest of Persia. It was introduced into Spain by the Moors in the 10th century, where a famous games manuscript covering chess, backgammon, and dice named the Libro de los juegos, was written under the sponsorship of Alfonso X of Castile during the 13th century. Chess reached England in the 11th century, and evolved through various versions such as Courier.

By the end of the 15th century, the modern rules for the basic moves had been adopted (from Italy): pawns gained the option of moving two squares on their first move and the en passant capture therewith; bishops could move arbitrarily far along an open diagonal (previously being limited to a move of exactly two squares diagonally) while losing the ability to jump over the intervening square, and the queen was allowed to move arbitrarily far in any direction, making it the most powerful piece. (Before, she could only move one square diagonally.) There were still variations in rules for castling and the outcome in the case of stalemate.

These changes collectively helped make chess more open to analysis and thereby develop a more devoted following. The game in Europe since that time has been almost the same as is played today. The current rules were finalized in the early 19th century, except for the exact conditions for a draw.

The most popular piece design, the "Staunton" set, was created by Nathaniel Cook in 1849, endorsed by a leading player of the time Howard Staunton, and officially adopted by FIDE in 1924.

Staunton styled himself the first World Champion of Chess in the 1850s; however he avoided matches against the strongest competitors of his day, most notably American genius Paul Morphy. The first player to stake a widely recognized claim to being World Champion was Wilhelm Steinitz in 1866.

The title "Grandmaster" was created by Russian Tsar Nicholas II who first awarded it in 1914 to five players after a tournament he had funded in Saint Petersburg.

The World Chess Federation (FIDE) was founded in 1924. When the reigning World Champion Alexandre Alekhine died in 1946, FIDE took over the function of organizing World Championship matches. Before that time, sitting champions had been somewhat capricious in determining against whom and on what terms they would accept a challenge match. FIDE also assumed the role of awarding the titles Grandmaster and International Master, as well as eventually assigning numerical ratings to players.

In 1993, in the middle of a cycle of matches to determine the World Champion, Garry Kasparov and Nigel Short broke with FIDE to organize their own match for the title. They complained of corruption and a lack of professionalism within FIDE, and formed a competing Professional Chess Association. Since then there have been two simultaneous World Champions and World Championships: one extending the Steinitzian lineage in which the current champion plays a challenger in match format (a series of many games); the other following FIDE's new format of a tennis-style elimination--or "Knockout"--tournament with dozens of players competing.

Once considered only a curiosity, computer chess programs have risen in ability to the point where they can seriously challenge human grandmasters.

Kasparov, then ranked number one in the world, played a six-game match against IBM's chess computer Deep Blue in 1996. Deep Blue shocked the world by winning the first game in Deep Blue - Kasparov, 1996, Game 1, but Kasparov convincingly won the match by winning 3 games and drawing 2. The six-game rematch in 1997 was won by the machine which was subsequently retired by IBM. In October, 2002, Vladimir Kramnik drew in an eight-game match with the computer program Deep Fritz. In 2003, Garry Kasparov drew both a six-game match with the computer program Deep Junior in February, and a four-game match against X3D Fritz in November.

In May 2002, several leaders in the chess world met in Prague and signed a unity agreement which intended to ensure the crowning of an undisputed world champion before the end of 2003, and restore the traditional cycle of qualifying matches by 2005. The semifinalists for the 2003 championship were to be Ruslan Ponomariov vs. Gary Kasparov, and Vladimir Kramnik vs. Peter Leko. The former match, organised by FIDE, had been scheduled to take place in Yalta beginning on September 18, 2003, but was called off on August 29 after Ponomariov refused to sign his contract for it. There is a proposal that Kasparov will instead play a match in 2004 against the winner of the next FIDE knock-out world championship. The Kramnik-Leko match was originally to be held in Budapest, but funding collapsed and it was called off. As of December 2003, there are no reported plans for the match, and it is not clear whether it will ever go ahead.

At one time, chess games were recorded using Descriptive chess notation, a somewhat clumsy notation that takes more space, more time to say, and more time to explain than its replacement, algebraic chess notation. Portable Game Notation (PGN) is the most common standard computer-processable format for recording chess games, and is based on algebraic chess notation.

Subject overview

See also: Chess problems, ELO rating system

For secondary uses of the word "chess" see

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Chess."

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Chess (musical)

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Warning: Spoilers follow

Chess is a musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, formerly of ABBA. The story involves a romantic triangle between two players in a world chess championship, and a woman who manages one and falls in love with the other.

Following the pattern of Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, an original cast album was recorded and released in 1984, before any stage production was underway. A single from the album, "One Night in Bangkok," sung by Murray Head, was an unlikely top-40 hit.

Chess premiered in London's West End in 1986 and played for three years. A radically-rewritten Broadway version opened in 1988 to poor reviews and closed in just eight weeks. It is occasionally produced by regional theatrical companies in the US, sometimes merging elements from both versions.

A third version, in Swedish, premiered in Stockholm, Sweden in February 2002 and ran through June 2003.

The Studio Album

Principal Cast

Songs

Plot Synopsis

Act 1
The world chess championship is being held in the northern Italian town of Merano. The brash American champion relishes the crowd's affection, while his Russian challenger and Molokov, his second (actually a KGB agent), watch with curiosity and disdain on TV. The opening ceremony features an arbiter insisting on holding the proceedings together, US and Soviet diplomats vowing their side will win, and marketers just looking to make a buck. The American storms out of a rules meeting, leaving his second, Florence, in an argument with the Arbiter and the Russians. She later scolds him, but he insists that she, a child emigre who escaped Hungary during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, should support him. Instead, she reflects that "nobody's on nobody's side". The first game of the match goes badly, with dirty tricks nearly evolving into a brawl. A meeting to smooth things over goes badly and strands the Russian and Florence together, where they quickly develop feelings for one another. As the matches continue, the American flounders and blames Florence, who leaves him. The Russian wins the championship, then defects to the west. Answering reporters' questions about his loyalties, his "Anthem" declares that "my only borders/lie around my heart."

Act 2
A year later, the Russian is set to defend his championship in Bangkok, Thailand. The American is already there, chatting up locals about the nightlife. Florence and the Russian are now lovers, and worry about the situation. Molokov, meanwhile, has trained a new protege to challenge the Russian. The American interviews the Russian on TV and makes obvious attempts to rattle him, even declaring that the Russian's wife is being allowed to leave the USSR to attend the match. She and Florence both reflect on their relationships with him. The American goes to the Russian with information about Florence's long-lost father, claiming that instead of being a hero as she believed, he was instead a collaborator. The Russian, and later Florence, dismiss him, unwilling to hear what he has to say. He reflects on his life and his obsession with chess as a way to escape an unhappy childhood. In the deciding game of the match, The Russian manages an exceptional victory, and realizes that it may be the only success he can achieve - Svetlana castigates him for wallowing in the crowd's empty praise. Both ackowledge they are doomed to care only for themselves. Later, he and Florence reflect on their story that seemed so promising, and how they "go on pretending/ stories like ours/ have happy endings."

The Broadway Cast Album

Principal Cast

Songs

Plot Synopsis

The American version has different settings and a completely different Act 2. In particular, the entire show is about one chess tournament, not two. Act 1 handles the first part of the tournament, which is held in Bangkok, while Act 2 handles the conclusion, and is held in Budapest. The Russian is named Anatoly Sergievsky, while the American is Freddie Trumper. In addition to Florence, Freddie has a business agent named Walter, who constantly tries to enlist Freddie for commercials and endorsements, but Freddie has no interest in making money...only in winning the tournament.

Act 1
The world chess championship is being held in Bangkok. At a press conference, the brash American challenger, Freddie Trumper, relishes the crowd's affection, while the current Russian champion, Anatoly Sergievsky, and Molokov, his second, watch with curiosity and disdain. During the match Freddie accuses Anatoly of receiving outside help via the flavor of yogurt he is eating, and Freddie storms out, leaving his second, Florence, in an argument with the Arbiter and the Russians. She later scolds him, but he insists that she, a child emigre who escaped Hungary during the 1956 uprisings, should support him. A meeting to smooth things over goes badly and strands the Russian and Florence together, where they quickly develop feelings for one another. Freddie was supposed to attend, but got sidetracked by the night life, and arrived very late to see Anatoly and Florence holding hands. When he later accuses her of conspiring against him, she reflects that "nobody's on nobody's side", and decides to leave him. As the matches continue, the American flounders, finishing Act 1 with 1 win and 5 losses...one more loss will cost him the tournament. Anatoly surprises everyone by his defection at the end of Act 1. Answering reporters' questions about his loyalties, his "Anthem" declares that "my only borders/lie around my heart."

Act 2

Eight weeks later, everyone is in Budapest to witness the conclusion of the tournament. Florence is elated to be back in her hometown of Budapest, but dismayed that she remembers none of it, not even what happened to her Father, since he had to leave her in 1956. Molokov offers to help and starts 'investigating' Florence's father's fate. As Anatoly and Florence listen to a local Hungarian choir, he meets three friends from his hometown, which pleases Anatoly, but local CIA operatives are suspicious...why would the Soviets allow people to leave Russia just to see a friend? Even Svetlana, Anatoly's wife, has been flown into Budapest to see her defecting husband. She wishes the best for Anatoly, and decides not to inform him that as a result of his defection, Svetlana lost their apartment, her brother was denied access to medical school, Anatoly's own brother has also been forced to move to a smaller apartment, and back in Moscow Anatoly has been falsely accused of embezzling...all information Anatoly learns from Molokov. Molokov no longer has an 'official' role, and is officially in Budapest merely because of his love of chess. Unofficially, he badly wants Anatoly back and has no hesitation in exerting pressure or veiled threats. He also makes an ally in Freddie's agent, Walter, for unknown reasons. These threats strain Anatoly's relationship with Florence, and she shares her Anatoly-related woes with Svetlana. The threats also degrade Anatoly's ability to play chess, so that Freddie starts winning games until they are tied 5-5...the next game will decide the match. Freddie reminisces his childhood to a sexy female reporter, and eagerly anticipates winning the match, being totally oblivious to Anatoly's troubles. Molokov then informs Florence that they have found her father and they can see him tonight! While she does not remember her father, and she does not recognize herself as the baby in the photo her father shows her, he still convinces her through a Hungarian lullabuy. As the scene rises on the final game, Anatoly is missing, and no one sympathizes...there have been so many shenanigans in the tournament that no one wants to hear any more excuses. All are prepared to concede the match to Freddie when Anatoly wanders in and proceeds to play. He has not slept all night. During the game he realizes that despite all the family that he has brought harm to, by his defection, he cannot hurt his true love, Florence, by depriving her of her father. He chooses to recant his defection, and makes a tactical error. Freddie immediately takes advantage of the blunder and proceeds to win the game...and the tournament, becoming the new world champion. Anatoly returns to Moscow a broken man. Florence is waiting for her father so they can leave for America when she is approached by Walter. He confesses to her that the old man is not her father and her father is most likely dead. It seems that the Soviets struck a deal with Walter, a secret CIA agent, that if they managed to get Anatoly back, they would release a captured American spy. Their initial attempts at getting Anatoly back, by using Svetlana, and other family members had failed, and they had finally succeeded by using Florence. As the curtain closes, Florence has left Freddie, been lost by Anatoly, and lost the father she never had, and she realizes that her only borders lie around her heart.

The "Chess In Concert" Album

This is a recording of a concert performance (not a full stage production) in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1994. The songs and lyrics are largely identical to the studio album, with the addition of "Someone Else's Story" (from the Broadway version) and "The Soviet Machine".

Principal Cast

Songs

The 2002 Stockholm Version

Principal Cast

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Chess in Europe

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

The exact location, time and method of the entry of chess into western Europe is unknown, however linguistic evidence suggest that it was almost certainly obtained from the Arabs.

However the earliest western evidence of chess is dated to the eleventh century at the very earliest, still a signifcant time after the arabs themselves had discovered chess. Given that prior to eleventh century the arabs had substantial settlements in Spain, France and Italy knowing that our version of chess came from the arabs has not helped in identifying the entry point.

Philogical evidence points to an earlier date than archeological and literary evidence currently suggests, indicating that the game entered Europe perhaps as early as 900 AD.

See also

References

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Origins of chess

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

The origins of chess is one of the most controversial areas of board gaming history. While it is generally thought that chess originated from India, the evidence for this theory is weak, although stronger than the evidence for most other theories.

The countries which, at one time or the other, have been associated with invention of chess have included China, India, Egypt, Greece, Assyria, Persia, Arabia, Ireland and Uzbekistan.

The earliest evidence for chess is the middle-Persian epic Karnamak-i-Artakhshatr-i-Papakan which mentioned the hero as being skilled at chess (more details at Chess in early literature), this work is dated with some reserve at 600 CE, the work could be as early as 260 CE and as late as 1000 CE. The earliest evidence which we can date with some certainty is in early arabic chess literature dating from the early 9th century.

Although no strong evidence exists, it is commonly speculated that the game entered Persia during the reign of Khusraw I Nûshîrwân (531-578CE).

Many of the early works on chess gave a legendary history of the invention of chess, often associating it with Nard (a game of the Tables variety like Backgammon) however only limited credence can be given to these. Even as early as the tenth century Zakaria Yahya commented on the chess myths, "It is said to have been played by Aristotle, by Yafet Ibn Nuh (Japhet son of Noah), by Sam ben Nuh (Shem), by Solomon for the loss of his son, and even by Adam when he grieved for Abel". In one case the invention of chess was attributed to Moses (by the rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra 1130 CE).

Theories of the origin of chess

India

Ireland

The main claim for Irish origin is the claim that 2 chess tables were bequested in the will of Cathair Mor who died in 153 CE. The Celtic game of fidchell is believed to be a battle game (as opposed to a hunt game like tafl or brandub) like chess, and possibly a descendant of the Roman game ludus latrunculorum.

External links

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Pawn (chess)

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

"The pawns are the soul of chess." - Philidor

The pawn is the weakest and most numerous piece in the game of chess, representing infantry, or more particularly pikemen. Each player begins the game with eight pawns, one on each square of his second rank. In algebraic notation the white pawns start on a2, b2, c2, ..., h2, while the black pawns start on a7, b7, c7, ..., h7. Pawns are differentiated by the files in which they currently stand, for example one speaks of "white's f-pawn". Sometimes, however, pawns are still referred to using descriptive notation, e.g. "white's king's bishop's pawn".

Pawn movement

Pawns are unusual in movement and use. Unlike all the other pieces, pawns may not move backwards. Normally the pawn moves by advancing a single square, but the first time each pawn is moved from its initial position, it has the option to advance two squares. Pawns may not use the initial two-square advance to jump over an occupied square. In the diagram at left, the pawn on c4 may move to c5, while the pawn on e2 may move to either e3 or e4.

Pawn capture

Unlike other pieces, the pawn does not capture in the same way as it moves. A pawn captures diagonally, one square forward and to the left or right. In the diagram to the right, the white pawn may capture either the black rook or the black knight. Any piece directly in front of a pawn, friend or foe, blocks its advance.

En passant capture

An even more unusual move is the en passant capture. This arises when a pawn uses its initial-move option to advance two squares instead of one, and in so doing passes over a square that is attacked by an enemy pawn. That enemy pawn, which would have been able to capture the moving pawn had it advanced only one square, is entitled to capture the moving pawn "in passing" as if it had advanced only one square. The capturing pawn moves into the empty square over which the moving pawn moved, and the moving pawn is removed from the board. In the diagram at left, the black pawn has just moved c7 to c5, so the white pawn may capture it by moving from d5 to c6. The option to capture en passant must be exercised on the move immediately following the double-square pawn advance, or it is lost and may not be made later.

Finally, a pawn that advances all the way to the opposite side of the board (the opposing player's first rank) is promoted to another piece of that player's choice. The pawn is immediately (before the opposing player's next move) replaced by a queen, rook, bishop, or knight of the same color. Promotion is often called "queening", because the piece chosen is nearly always a queen. When some other piece is chosen, it is known as underpromotion.

In practice, a promoted pawn is often replaced with a piece previously captured, because standard chess sets do not come with additional pieces. The choice of promotion, however is not limited to captured pieces. It is perfectly acceptable to have, say, three knights, or two or more queens simultaneously in play. In fact, game eleven of the 1927 world championship match between Jose Raul Capablanca and Alexander Alekhine featured four queens on the board. When extra pieces are not available, a second queen is often indicated by an inverted rook.

Strategy

Pawns are the source of nearly all of the strategic depth of chess. If pieces are temporarily badly placed, they can be regrouped more favorably. A poorly placed pawn, in contrast, cannot retreat to a more favorable position, it can only advance further.

Locked pawn chains

Because pawns capture diagonally and can be blocked from moving straight forward, opposing pawns often become locked in diagonal chains of two or three, where each player controls squares of one color. In the diagram at left, black and white have locked their d- and e-pawns.

Generally speaking, the pawn structure determines the strategic flavor of a game. In the diagram at left, white has a long-term space advantage. White will have an easier time than black in finding good spaces for his pieces, particularly with an eye to a kingside attack. Black, in contrast, suffers from a "bad bishop" on c8, which is prevented by his own pawns from finding a good square and/or helping out on the kingside.

On the other hand, white's pawns are somewhat over-extended and vulnerable to attack. Black can undermine the white pawn chain with an immediate c7-c5 and perhaps a later f7-f6. An advanced piece, when attacked, has the option of retreating, but far advanced pawns are sitting targets.

Black's d5 pawn is isolated

Pawns on adjacent files are strong, because they can support each other in attack and defense. A pawn which has no friendly pawns in neighboring files is isolated. The square in front of an isolated pawn may become an enduring weakness. Any piece placed directly in front not only blocks the advance of that pawn, but can't be driven away by other pawns.

In the diagram at right, black has an isolated pawn on d5. If all the pieces except the kings were removed, the weakness of d4 might prove fatal to black in the endgame. In the middle game, however, black has slightly more freedom of movement than white, and may be able to trade off the isolated pawn before an endgame ensues.

White's a4 pawn is passed

A pawn which can't be blocked or captured by enemy pawns in its advance to promotion is passed. In the diagram at left, white has a passed pawn on a4. Black's pawn on g7 is not a passed pawn, because it has to get by white's h2 pawn before it can be promoted. Because endgames are almost always won by the player who can promote a pawn first, having a passed pawn is often decisive.

The diagrammed position might appear roughly equal, because each side has a king and five pawns, and the positions of the kings are about equal. In truth, white has a won game merely on the strength of his passed pawn, no matter who makes the first move.

Black has doubled c-pawns

Sometimes, due to captures, a player may end up with two pawns in the same file, which are then called doubled pawns. Doubled pawns are substantially weaker than pawns which are side by side, because they can't defend each other, and the front pawn blocks the advance of the back one. In the diagram at right, black is playing at a strategic disadvantage due to his doubled c-pawns. A chessplayer should not cling too firmly to this rule of thumb: there are situations where doubled pawns are the source of a positional advantage, although it can of course be converted to a disadvantage later on.

Even weaker than doubled pawns are pawns which are doubled and isolated. A single piece or pawn in front of doubled isolated pawns blocks both of them, and cannot be easily dislodged.

It is rare for a player to have three pawns in a file, i.e. tripled pawns, but it does happen in real games. Depending on the position, tripled pawns may be more or less valuable than two pawns which are side by side.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Pawn (chess)."

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Abbreviations & Acronyms: Chess

The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted.
EntrySourceExpressionField

CHESS

EnglishCommunity Health and Environmental Surveillance SystemN/A

CHESS

FrenchConseil des hautes écoles spécialisées suissesEducation

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

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Synonyms: Chess

Synonyms: cheat (n), chess game (n). (additional references)

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Synonyms within Context: Chess

ContextSynonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).

Amusement

Chess, draughts, checkers, checquers, backgammon, dominos, merelles, nine men's morris, go bang, solitaire; game of fox and goose; monopoly; loto;

Deviation

Sidling; Verb: knight's move at chess.

Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

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Crosswords: Chess

English words defined with "chess": all important, all the time, all-important, Anatoli Karpov, Anatoli Yevgenevich Karpov ♦ bad, bishop, black, Bobby Fischer, Boris Spassky, Boris Vasilevich Spassky, Brome grass ♦ capture, castle, check, checkmate, chess club, chess master, chess match, chess move, chess piece, chess player, chess set, chessboard, chessman, Cramp bone, crucial ♦ day in and day out, deadlocked, develop, development ♦ end game, endgame, essential ♦ first step, Fischer, fork, furthermore ♦ gambit, Gary Kasparov, Gary Weinstein, grandmaster ♦ illegal, impress, initiative, International Grandmaster ♦ Karpov, Kasparov, Korchnoi ♦ man, match, mate, moreover ♦ of the essence, open, opening, opening move, oppose, opposite ♦ patzer, piece, pin, pit, play off ♦ queen ♦ Rescue grass, Robert James Fischer ♦ shogi, Spassky, stalemate, stalemated, strategic ♦ The Adversary, To see how the squares go ♦ Viktor Korchnoi, Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi ♦ what is more, white. (references)
Specialty definitions using "chess": 8 queens ♦ ADAM ♦ CDL ♦ Deep Blue ♦ game of skill, game of thought ♦ IBM 1620, Internet Chess Server ♦ knight's tour ♦ n queens ♦ Other Interests ♦ spoken chess ♦ voice chess ♦ YOUNG-ADULT LIBRARIAN. (references)

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Modern Usage: Chess

DomainUsage

Screenplays

Chess. Now there's a game of kings (The Shawshank Redemption; writing credit: Frank Darabont)

Chess team Alan Harris (Clerks.; writing credit: Kevin Smith)

It's like chess, you sacrifice a few pieces, and before you know it--checkmate (WMAC Masters; writing credit: Alfred Kahn; Carlin West)

Let's play chess! (Blazing Saddles; writing credit: Andrew Bergman; Mel Brooks)

We're in the Crime Club, which is kind of like the Chess Club (Buffy the Vampire Slayer; writing credit: Doreen Spicer)

Lyrics

The best thing would be for me to leave Taco Bell and hit up Chess King (Murder Murder (Remix) *; performing artist: Eminem)

So many awards I can start a Grammy chess board (Freakin It; performing artist: Will Smith)

Clever

Old folks say, "when I'm finally holding all the cards, why does everyone decide to play chess. (references; author: unknown)

Movie/TV Titles

The Chess Queen (1916)

On the Chess Board of Fate (1914)

The Old Chess Players (1912)

A Game of Chess (1912)

Virtual Chess 64 (1998)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Commercial Usage: Chess

DomainTitle

Books

  • The Kids' Book of Chess/Book and Kids' Chess Set (reference)

    (more book examples)

  

Periodicals

  

Theater & Movies

  

Music

  

High Tech

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Image Slideshow: Chess

Photos:
Chess

More pictures...

Illustrations:
Chess

More pictures...

Computer Images:
Chess

More pictures...

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Photo Album: Chess

ThumbnailDescription & CreditThumbnailDescription & Credit

Shown is a picture of games: dice, checkers, jacks, chessmen and a chess board. Credit: Linda Bartlett (photographer).

Man playing chess with grim reaper. Credit: Library of Congress.

The chess players, after painting by Thomas Eakins. Credit: Library of Congress.

Interlochen, Michigan. National music camp where 300 or more young musicians study symphonic music for eight weeks each summer. Boys playing chess. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

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Digital Photo Gallery: Chess
 

"Chess Anyone" by Justin Waskovich
Commentary: "A very large chess board."		"Chess 5" by Per Hardestam
Commentary: "Chesspieces whith long cast shadows."

Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers.

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Familiar Quotations: Chess

AuthorQuotation

Sebastien-Roch Nicolas De Chamfort

People are governed with the head; kindness of heart is little use in chess.

Soren Kierkegaard

I feel as if I were a piece in a game of chess, when my opponent says of it: That piece cannot be moved.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Use in Literature: Chess

TitleAuthorQuote

Les Miserables

Hugo, Victor

It was like a game of chess played from a distance and silently

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Non-Fiction Usage: Chess

SubjectTopicQuote

Civil Liberties

Afghanistan

At various times, the Taliban banned certain traditional recreational activities, such as flying kites and playing chess. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

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Spoken Usage: Chess

SpeakerPhrase(s)

Dennis Miller

Somalia has suffered factional strife for so long, you can actually buy four completely different civil war chess sets.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Usage Frequency: Chess

"Chess" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 87.53% of the time. "Chess" is used about 496 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)
Parts of SpeechPercentUsage per
100 Million Words		Rank in English
Noun (singular)87.53%43513,223
Noun (proper)6.04%3063,341
Lexical Verb (infinitive)3.22%1687,710
Lexical Verb (base form)3.02%1590,616
Noun (common)0.2%1339,140
                    Total100.00%496N/A

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Name Usage Frequency: Chess

The following table summarizes the usage of "chess" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified.
NameUsage/GenderUsage per 100
million Persons		Rank in USA
ChessLast name1,00012,250
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Expressions: Chess

Expressions using "chess": beat smb. at chess ♦ chess addict ♦ chess club ♦ chess game ♦ chess master ♦ chess match ♦ chess move ♦ chess piece ♦ chess player ♦ chess set ♦ chess tournament ♦ correspondence chess ♦ downy chess ♦ game of chess ♦ internet Chess Server ♦ japanese chess ♦ knight's move at chess ♦ move in chess ♦ play chess ♦ soft chess ♦ spoken chess ♦ upright chess ♦ voice chess ♦ win at chess. Additional references.

Hyphenated Usage

Beginning with "chess": Chess-apple, chess-board, chess-boards, chess-game, chess-intelligent, chess-man, chess-men, chess-piece, chess-player, chess-players, chess-playing.

Ending with "chess": speed-chess, super-chess.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Chess

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.
 
ExpressionFrequency
per Day		ExpressionFrequency
per Day

chess

20,261

chess download free

254

chess game

2,413

online chess game

240

online chess

1,954

computer chess

236

play chess

1,326

chess opening

225

chess set

1,282

chess master 9000

184

chess rule

888

chess move

180

yahoo chess

786

internet chess club

165

chess free

682

chess game download

159

chess master

629

chess table

157

free chess game

602

instant chess

143

chinese chess

525

free chess downloads

138

chess download

506

chess clock

136

battle chess

499

yahoo game chess

129

chess strategy

491

virtual chess

129

play chess online

409

free chess game download

127

chess boards

393

java chess

119

internet chess

392

playing chess

112

chess piece

335

email chess

111

chess board

298

3d chess

110

free online chess

284

chess downloads

107
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translation: Chess

Language Translations for "chess"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.

Afrikaans

  

skaak. (various references)

   

Albanian

  

shah (check, chequers, shah). (various references)

   

Arabic 

  

‏البرومس عشب (cheat), ‏شطرنج. (various references)

   

Asturian

  

axedrez. (various references)

   

Bulgarian 

  

шахмат, шах (check, shah). (various references)

   

Cebuano

  

ahedres. (various references)

   

Chinese 

  

棋 . (various references)

   

Czech

  

šachy (chess set). (various references)

   

Danish

  

skak (game of chess). (various references)

   

Dutch

  

schaakspel (game of chess), schaak. (various references)

   

Esperanto

  

ŝako. (various references)

   

Faeroese

  

talv. (various references)

   

Farsi 

  

شطرنج . (various references)

   

Finnish

  

shakkipeli, shakki. (various references)

   

French

  

échecs (chessmen), échec (check). (various references)

   

Frisian

  

skaakspul. (various references)

   

German

  

schach (check). (various references)

   

Greek 

  

σκάκι (game of chess). (various references)

   

Hebrew 

  

שחמט, אשקוקה. (various references)

   

Hungarian

  

sakkjáték, sakk (check). (various references)

   

Indonesian

  

catur. (various references)

   

Italian

  

scacco (check, Square). (various references)

   

Japanese Kanji 

  

西洋将棋 , チェーン店 (a check, celesta, chain, chain store, chair, chairman, Chechin, Chechnia, checker, checker-player, checkers, check-in, check-in counter, checkmate, check-out, checksum, Chernobyl, cherry, chess match, Czech Republic, Czechoslovakia). (various references)

   

Japanese Katakana 

  

チェス , せいようしょうぎ. (various references)

   

Korean 

  

교판. (various references)

   

Macedonian

  

shah. (various references)

   

Manx

  

feeal. (various references)

   

Norwegian

  

sjakk. (various references)

   

Pig Latin

  

esschay.(various references)

   

Portuguese

  

xadrez (check, cheque, grating). (various references)

   

Provencal

  

escacs. (various references)

   

Romanian

  

şah (check, padishah, shah). (various references)

   

Russian 

  

шахматы шахматный, шахматы, оконная рама (window frame). (various references)

   

Samoan

  

mu. (various references)

   

Scottish

  

feòirne. (various references)

   

Serbo-Croatian

  

šah (gambit, shah). (various references)

   

Spanish

  

ajedrez. (various references)

   

Swedish

  

schack (check). (various references)

   

Turkish

  

satranç, köprü tahtası. (various references)

   

Turkmen 

  

kьюt. (various references)

   

Ukrainian

  

шахи, віконна рама (window, window frame), поміст (bridging, dais). (various references)

   

Vietnamese 

  

cờ. (various references)

   

Welsh

  

gwyddbwyll. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Derivations & Misspellings: Chess

Derivations

Words beginning with "chess": chessboard, chessboards, chesses, chessman, chessmen. (additional references)

Words ending with "chess": archduchess, duchess. (additional references)

Words containing "chess": archduchesses, duchesses. (additional references)


Misspellings

"Chess" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: chassy, chauss, cheas, chebs, checs, chees, Cheezus, chers, chese, chesh, chesst, chessy, cheze, chezes, chezs, Chis, choiss, chossy, chosx, chres, chs, chse, cless, Echecs, Ochses, scheiss. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

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Rhyming with "Chess"

# of Phoneme MatchesPronunciationWord(s) rhyming with "chess" (pronounced khe"s)
2-e" sabs, acquiesce, aggress, assess, bless, caress, coalesce, confess, convalesce, cress, depress, digress, dispossess, distress, dress, egress, ers, Es, ess, express, fess, finesse, fluoresce, guess, impress, ins, Jess, largesse, less, mess, Ness, nevertheless, noblesse, nonetheless, obsess, oppress, possess, press, profess, reassess, recess, redress, repossess, repress, stress, success, suppress, transgress, tress, undress, unless, yes.

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

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Anagrams: Chess

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Words within the letters "c-e-h-s-s"

-1 letter: cess, secs, shes.

-2 letters: ess, hes, sec, she.

-3 letters: eh, es, he, sh.

 Words containing the letters "c-e-h-s-s"
 

+1 letter: cashes, chases, chasse, chests, choses, coshes.

 

+2 letters: cashews, chaises, chaoses, chasers, chassed, chasses, cheeses, chesses, chisels, chooses, chouses, chowses, clashes, coshers, crashes, crushes, cuishes, duchess, eschars, eschews, hocuses, psyches, sachems, sachets, samechs, scathes, schemas, schemes, schleps, schmoes, scythes, seiches, sheuchs, tusches.

 

+3 letters: achiness, archness, borsches, calashes, cashiers, cashless, chadless, chamises, charases, chasseur, chastens, chastest, chastise, chausses, chemises, chemisms, chemists, chessman, chessmen, chiauses, chicness, chinless, chintses, choosers, choruses, chousers, choushes, clashers, cohoshes, cowsheds, crashers, creeshes, crushers, cushiest, dehisces, echoisms, echoless, encashes, enchases, escheats, flysches, hocussed, hocusses, hospices, kirsches, kitsches, mensches, muchness, orchises, pschents, putsches, rachises, richness, satchels, schappes, schemers, scherzos, schlepps, schmears, schmeers, schmoose, schnozes, schussed, schusser, schusses, scorches, scotches, scutches, searches, seviches, shackles, shackoes, shellacs, shickers, shockers, shoepacs, showcase, shuckers, sketches, slatches, slouches, smirches, smooches, smutches, snatches, snitches, soroches, speeches, spherics, stanches, starches, stenches, stitches, suchness, swatches, switches.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

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INDEX

1. Definition
2. Synonyms
3. Crosswords
4. Usage: Modern 		5. Usage: Commercial
6. Images: Slideshow
7. Images: Photo Album
8. Images: Digital Art 		9. Quotations: Familiar
10. Quotations: Fiction
11. Quotations: Non-fiction
12. Quotations: Spoken 		13. Usage Frequency
14. Names: Frequency
15. Expressions
16. Expressions: Internet 		17. Translations: Modern
18. Abbreviations
19. Acronyms
20. Derivations 		21. Rhymes
22. Anagrams
23. Bibliography


  

Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.