Chess Glossary
adjournment - When an over-the-board game is put on hold until the following day.
advantage - When one player has better odds on winning due to their opening moves.
attack - An attempt to gain an advantage in a game of chess by means of playing aggressively.
bad bishop - A bishop that is blocked by friendly pawns generally making it useless.
bishop pair - When both bishops survive till the end of the game.
blindfold - An expert player who can play multiple opponents without looking at the board.
blitz - A really fast game of chess played in 5 to 10 minutes.
blocked - When a pieces move is blocked by the other players pieces.
blunder - A piece moved in the wrong spot by mistake.
calculate - To plan out a series of moves in order to gain advantage over your opponent.
center - The four squares in the middle of the board.
cheapo - A clever tactic used to try to gain a stalemate when a player is losing.
checkmate - When a King cannot avoid capture.
draw - A common result in a game of chess where neither player wins.
ECO - The Encyclopedia of Chess Openings which is a collection of different chess openings.
Elo rating - A numerical measure of a chess player's strength.
EPD - Extended Position Description is a industry standard for describing chess positions.
equal chances - When you and your opponent both have equal changes to win.
exchange - When you sacrifice one chess piece for another of equal value.
FIDE - Federation International des Echecs.
fish - A bad chess player.
forced - A move which is required in order to take the king out of check.
fool's mate - The fastest possible checkmate in a chess game. 1.f4 e6 2.g4 Qh4#. See scholar's mate.
fortress - A chess position which has all it's pieces blocked and safe from attack.
gambit - A sacrifice of a chess piece to gain an advantage.
grandmaster - One who is highly rated at chess.
horse - A term used by children to refer to the knight.
howler - See blunder.
initiative - Taking control of the game first is said to be taking the initiative.
internet chess server - A computer which enables people to play chess online.
kibitzing - Commenting on a chess game in action and disturbing the players.
lose - A result in a game of chess when your opponent gets a checkmate.
mate - See checkmate.
material - A term for the chess pieces.
over-the-board - A term referring to a chess game played on an actual board rather then over the internet or mail.
passed pawn - A pawn which has passed the other players flank.
patzer - A very bad chess player.
PCA - Professional Chess Association.
PGN - Portable Game Notation. The standard way of representing a chess game's history.
pin - A tactical concept when a piece cannot or should not move because it shields another piece from capture.
plan - A type of strategy used to improve a position.
position - The current arrangement of chess pieces.
promotion - When a pawn reaches the eighth rank the player can replace that piece with any other piece. Most players generally take a second queen, however; any piece can be used.
queening a pawn - This occurs when you promote your pawn to a queen.
rank - The horizontal row of squares. Your main pieces generally start on first rank and pawns start at second rank.
rating - A type of score based on a players ability.
sacrifice - Giving up a piece on purpose to try to make your opponent move where you want them too.
scholar's mate - A type of strategy which leads to an early checkmate.
simul - When one person plays chess with two or more opponents at the same time.
skewer - A strategy involving a chess piece which could attack two or more pieces on a row.
stalemate - A tie game where one person has no legal moves left.
strategy - See tactic.
study - A term used when looking over the board trying to contemplate the next moves.
sudden death - A time when all remaining moves must be made or else a player will run out of time.
tactics - Another word for a strategy involving a short-term sequence of moves which could be threats or counter threats.
tempo - The average time that each player has used to move a piece.
time-control - A time limit which a player must be under when completing a set number of moves.
under-promotion - A word used when a player promotes his pawn to any piece other then the queen.
USCF - United States Chess Federation.
variation - Different ways of playing chess.
waiting move - When one player is waiting on another player to move even though no possible move can help their game at that point.
weakness - A weakness is anything that gives one person better odds over another. It could be a flaw in playing style, or even a player having a generally bad day.
win - A win is the main goal in chess. It is when one side has the other in a checkmate.
winning chances - The probability of one side winning over the other.
winning position - Any chess position which a player can easily win with accurate play.
whisper - A way off commenting on a chess game without the players hearing.
woodpusher - Generally a very bad chess player.
zugzwang - A word originally from Germany which means a compulsion to move. It's when a player wants to keep his current position but must follow turn.
zwischenzug - A word originally from Germany which means an in-between move. It's any move made prior to a forced move.