There has been alot of "what's [insert chess terminology here]" recently so I thought I'd put together a list of common terms that people should know. Some of these I have posted before so... yeah. I'm really tired and some of the definitions probably suck and I might have left some stuff out, so just tell me what you think and I'll change it.
CHESS PIECES:
Pawn: The act of pawning.
The pawn is the lowest valued piece in chess, but its value increases as it gets closer to the 8th rank. The pawn can move either 1 or 2 squares on its first move and thereafter moves a single square forward. The pawn captures diagonally.
Knight: A medieval tenant giving military service as a mounted man-at-arms to a feudal landholder.
The knight and the bishop are refered to as minor pieces and are Michael Jackson's favourite pieces. The knight is decapitated horse and moves in an L shaped pattern either 2 squares alone a file and one along a rank or 2 squares along a rank and one along a file. Knights work best in closed positions because of their ability to jump over other pieces.
Bishop: Mulled port spiced with oranges, sugar, and cloves.
The bishop looks like a mosque and moves diagonally in any amount of squares he wants. Each time the bishop captures a piece or pawn one must chant: "Laus Deo!" repeatedly and with much vigour. Bishops work best in open positions where they can show off their long range powers. Both bishops and knights are valued at about 3 pawns but their value changes relative to their activity and whether the game is opened or closed.
Rook: An Old World bird (Corvus frugilegus) that resembles the North American crow and nests in colonies near the tops of trees.
The rook looks like a castle and moves in a straight line for any distance. The rook and queen are known as major pieces. The rook endgame is the most common as it is the last piece to be activated. The rook is worth about 5 pawns.
Queen: A mature female cat, especially one kept for breeding purposes.
The queen is the most powerful piece on the board and essentially moves like the rook and bishop combined. The queen also happens to be the only female piece on the board and is valued at about 9 pawns and because of this, many players constantly overvalue their queens, which is a mistake.
King: The Monarch
The king moves one square in any direction. He is best kept safe, for if you lose him you lose the game. However, the king plays a vital role in the endgame.
DEFINITIONS:
Algebraic (Notation): A form of chess notation. The other common form of notation is descriptive notation which is older and IMHO, really irritating to read because all the letters are in caps and THAT GET'S REALLY ANNOYING.
Example of the 1st 3 moves of the Ruy in Algebraic:
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
2. Bb5
In Descriptive:
1. P-K4 P-K4 (King's pawn moves to the 4th rank. Note that in descriptive notation the rows are numbered 1-8 on BOTH sides meaning that the 5th rank for white is also the 3rd rank for black. Again, really irritating.)
2. N-KB3 N-QB3
3. B-N5
Castling: Castling occurs when the king jumps over his castle to hide in the corner of the board. Castling is done by moving the king 2 squares to either side and moving the rook next to him towards the center. Castling cannot be done when the king or any of the squares in between the king and rook are under attack (the player can castle if the rook is under attack though) or either king or rook has previously moved. Castling is done to protect your king as well as activating your rook at the same time.
Check: When your king is under fire, he is in check. When in check, you must get out of check either by moving your king, blocking or removing the checking piece. If you cannot do any of these things, you are screwed, or in CHECKMATE. It is proper ettiquete to scream "CHECKMATE" at your opponent after he has not resigned in a king vs king+queen+5 rook endgame.
Discovered attack: The movement of a friendly piece or a pawn that reveals an attack on an enemy piece with a piece hidden behind the moved piece. If that enemy piece is the king, it is a discovered check.
En passant: A french term meaning "in passing". It occurs when your pawn is on the 5th rank and your opponent's pawn advances 2 squares and your pawn sticks his sword out and maims the other guy. En passant must be done immediately or never. The pawn captures as if the enemy pawn had moved to the 6th rank instead of the 5th.
Fianchetto: Pronounced "fee-an-ket-toe". Italian word meaning "on the flank". The placement of the Bishop on the b2 or g2 squares for white, and the b7 or g7 squares for black. A fianchettoed bishop can be powerful as it exerts the influence of the church over the entire long diagonal but sometimes novices play it without understanding its significance.
Fork: A utensil with 4 prongs. A fork is to attack 2 (relatively) undefended pieces at a time. It is most commonly performed by knights but queens, bishops and rooks also have FORKING ABILITY.
Gambit: An X-man. A gambit any opening that involves the sacrifice for material for an advantage in space, time or development.
Pin: When a piece is shielding another more valuable piece from capture, it is under a relative pin. This means that if the piece moves, the piece behind it can be captured. If that piece it is pinned against is the king, it becomes an absolute pin and the pinned piece cannot move.
Skewer: The skewer is the opposite of a pin. In a pin, the less valuable piece is temporarily immobile whereas in a skewer, it is the more valuable piece that is attacked and upon moving, the piece behind it is captured.
Zugzwang: A german word, roughly translated as "compulsion to move" ie. you have to move but you don't want to because if you do you get screwed.
An example:
After the forced 1. ... Kd6 2. Bg3+ Kc6, white plays 3. Bf4 or 3. Bh2 and black is in zugzwang. Any move he makes results in the loss of material.
Zwischenzug: Another german word meaning something like "in between move" or "intermezzo", which means a move thrown into an expected sequence of moves for the advantage of one player ie. rather than "I take, he takes, I take, he takes.", "I take, he takes, I take, check? wtf?, he takes, he takes , he takes."
a lot of German words (i guess) have entered the game
patzer: an easy mark, a poor player, beginner
kibitzer: one who hovers around games, offering unwanted advice
luft: a space created to allow king to move
zweitchenzug (not sure of spelling) an "in-between" move in an apparently forced combination that creates an advantage
Here are a few more, not so common.
huffler: an opponent who makes heavy breathing noises during the game
sitzer: a person who refuses to move for about an hour and a half, preferring to let their time run out, rather than resign.
fonffer: a person who receives cell phone calls from his wife during the game
trumpster: a person who enjoys waving a finger at you and yelling, "you're fired!" when you make a bad move.
fluffzug: a move you make when you have no idea what to do, so you do something that will do the least harm to your position. h3 is the most common.
Originally posted by buddy2I imagine from the very strong influence of Jewish immigrants in the Manhattan Chess Club in the early 1900s (think of Sammy Reshevsky, for example). I don't know if it's still true but at one time in the 1960s those of Jewish origin who are less than 1% of the world's population made up 50% of the world's Grandmasters.
yea, i was wondering if they were Yiddish. Wonder why Yiddish inserted such colorful terms into chess. A lot of Yiddish players?