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Glossary of Chess Terms

# Check notation.

+ Checkmate notation.

++ Double checkmate notation.

? Bad move notation.

?? Very bad move notation.

algebraic notation A method for recording chess moves that uses the letters a–h to describe the board’s ranks and the numbers 1–8 to describe the board’s files. The letters K, Q, R, B, N describe each of the pieces. The notation Ng1-f3 describes the movement of the Knight from g1 to f3.

attack An aggressive move or set of moves aimed at winning material or delivering checkmate to the enemy King.

back rank mate A Rook or Queen checks the enemy King along the back rank, and the King’s escape is blocked by its own pawn.

bad Bishop A Bishop with limited mobility due to its own pawns being fixed on its color.

capture A capture is the movement of a piece onto the square occupied by an enemy piece. That enemy piece is immediately removed from the board.

castling The only move in chess that moves two pieces, the King and Rook, at the same time. The King moves two squares toward the Rook. The Rook is then moved to the other side of the King. To castle, the King and Rook must not have previously moved. You cannot castle out of, through, or into check.

center The squares d4, e4, d5, and e5 comprise the center. The squares immediately surrounding these four squares are sometimes included in the definition. In the opening phase of the game, both players often fight for control over these key squares.

check A check is a move that attacks a King. On the very next move, the King must end the attack, either by moving to a safe square, capturing the attacking piece, or by blocking the attack. Note that you are not required to say “check.”

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checkmate The end of a chess game occurs when there is an attack on a King (a check) from which there is no escape. Note that the King is not actually removed from the board.

correspondence chess A form of chess in which two players compete through the mail. Today, e-mail chess is becoming as or more popular than postal chess—the sending of post cards that contain chess moves.

diagonals The chessboard has alternating black and white squares. The white and black squares form diagonals that cut through the board. Some of the diagonals are longer than others. Placing a Bishop on the longest diagonals, for example the diagonal stretching from a1 through h8, can increase their scope.

discovered checks You move a piece, which exposes an attack from the piece behind it.

double check When moving a piece exposes a check from behind it, while the piece itself also gives check.

draw A completed chess game that has no winner. Both players can agree to a draw at any time. See also definition of stalemate on page 275. Other types of draws are discussed in Chapter 2, “Special Moves.”

en passant When a pawn moves forward two squares, a pawn on an adjacent file can capture, only on its next move, the pawn as if it had moved forward only one square. The rule was introduced to make sure that a pawn could not advance all the way down the board without an adjacent pawn hav- ing an opportunity to capture it.

endgame The final phase of the game, often distinguished by a simplified amount of material.

fianchetto A pawn structure that permits a player to place a Bishop quickly on one of the board’s long diagonals. For example, advancing a pawn from g2 to g3 permits white to continue with Bf1-g2, fianchettoing white’s light-squared Bishop.

file The chessboard contains eight vertical columns or files. In chess, we identify each file with a dif- ferent letter, a–h. And so, white’s left-most file is the a-file; the right-most file is the h-file.

flanks Files that are on the outside edges of the board (a, b, g, or h files).

fork An attack, usually by Knight, on two enemy pieces at the same time. Forks of more than two pieces are called family forks.

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gambit A gambit is a move or an opening that offers a pawn or more in exchange for control over the center, a file, or a key square. The most famous opening gambits are the King’s Gambit (1.e2-e4 e7-e4 2.f2-f4) and the Queen’s Gambit (1.d2-d4 d7-d5 2.c2-c4).

good Bishop A Bishop that is able to attack the opponent’s fixed pawns (pawns that are unable to move).

illegal move A move that is in violation of the laws of chess. When discovered, the game should be returned to the exact point that the illegal move occurred. The player who made the illegal move must then make a legal move with the piece that was moved illegally.

Kingside The Kingside refers to the area on the side of the board on which the King began the game. On white’s side of the board, for example, the term usually refers to the squares f1, g1, h1, f2, g2, h2, and f3, g3, h3. The expression, attacking white’s Kingside, will usually refer to a piece- or pawn- led attack on at least one of those squares.

Knight fork An attack by a Knight on two or more pieces at the same time.

middlegame The phase of a chess game after the opening in which both sides use their developed pieces to contest important squares or regions of the board and begin to attack each other’s King positions.

passed pawn A pawn that no longer must face enemy pawns as it advances toward its Queening square.

pawn chain A group of pawns set along a diagonal. The weakest pawn is the pawn in the rear of the chain because none of the other pawns can defend it. Most players, therefore, attack pawn chains at the weakest point, the pawn in the rear of the chain.

perpetual check A never ending series of checks.

pin There are two types of pins. An absolute pin is an attack on a piece that cannot now move because doing so would expose an attack on the King. A relative pin is an attack on a piece that can legally move, but doing so would expose an attack on a powerful and more valuable piece like the Queen.

Queening square The square on the eighth rank on which a pawn, having reached it, will promote from a pawn to a Knight, Bishop, Rook, or Queen. Most players promote to a Queen, the most power- ful piece. Hence the name.

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Queenside The Queenside refers to the area on the side of the board on which the Queen began the game. On white’s side of the board, for example, the term usually refers to the squares a1, b1, c1, a2, b2, c2, and a3, b3, c3. The expression, attacking white’s Queenside, will usually refer to a piece- or pawn-led attack on at least one of those squares.

rank The chessboard contains eight horizontal rows or ranks. In chess, we identify each rank with a different number, 1–8. And so, white’s bottom-most rank is the first rank. White’s top-most rank is the eighth rank.

skewer An attack on a piece that results, after the retreat of the attacked piece, in the win of a more distant piece along that same rank, file, or diagonal.

stalemate A special situation in which a player has no legal moves anywhere on the board, and the King is not in check. The result is a draw.

United States Chess Federation The official governing body of American chess. Visit their website at www.uschess.org.

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