Chess has a language of its own, and much of it has wandered in from German, French and Italian. Here are the words you come across in books, at the club and at the board. The most important ones have a page of their own with diagrams and exercises. Rules and tactical tricks are explained in full on their own pages, under chess rules and chess tactics.
The board: file, rank and diagonal
Three words are all you need to talk about the board. A file runs up the board and has a letter, a to h. A rank runs across it and has a number, 1 to 8. A diagonal runs at a slant across squares of the same color. Every square has a name made of a letter and a number, like e4.
Explained on their own page
- Zugzwang
- Fianchetto
- Gambit
- The exchange
- Passed pawn
- Doubled pawns
- Isolated pawn
- Backward pawn
- Pawn chain
- Minority attack
- Outpost
- Bad bishop
- Opposite-colored bishops
- Tempo
- Development
- Center
- Opposition
- Zwischenzug
- Open file
- Seventh rank
- Touch-move
- Combination
- Elo
- FEN
- PGN
Every term from A to Z
B
- back-rank mate
- Mate by a rook or a queen on the back rank, when the king is hemmed in by its own pawns. Read more
- backward pawn
- A pawn left behind the pawns on the files next to it. No pawn of its own can protect it, and the square in front of it is guarded by an enemy pawn. Read more
- bad bishop
- A bishop shut in by its own pawns, because they stand on squares of the same color as the bishop. The opposite is called a good bishop. Read more
- bishop pair
- Having both bishops left when the opponent doesn't. Usually counted as a small advantage, especially in open positions. Read more
- blitz
- Chess with at most ten minutes per player for the whole game. With an increment, what counts is the time plus 60 times the increment per move. Also called blitz chess.
C
- castling
- The move where the king goes two squares toward a rook, and the rook jumps over to the other side of the king. Written O-O or O-O-O. Read more
- chess clock
- A clock with two clock faces, one for each player. When one runs, the other stands still.
- combination
- A series of forcing moves, often with a sacrifice, that leads to a definite goal: mate, won material or a won position. Read more
- correspondence chess
- Chess at a distance with long thinking time, often several days per move. The moves used to be sent by mail; today they usually go through a server.
D
- decoy
- A move, usually a sacrifice, that forces one of the opponent's pieces onto a square where it stands badly. Also called attraction. Read more
- deflection
- A move, usually a check or a sacrifice, that forces a defending piece away from a square or line where it is doing useful work. Read more
- desperado
- A piece that is lost anyway, and so captures something before it is captured itself. Read more
- development
- Getting the pieces off their starting squares and into play, above all in the opening. Read more
- diagonal
- A slanting line of squares of the same color. The two longest, a1–h8 and h1–a8, are called the long diagonals.
- discovered attack
- A piece moves and uncovers an attack from another piece that stood behind it. Read more
- discovered check
- A discovered attack where it is the king that is attacked. The piece that moved can then cause a lot of trouble on its own. Read more
- double check
- When two pieces give check at the same time. Then only a king move helps. Read more
- doubled pawns
- Two pawns of the same color on the same file. Read more
- draw offer
- A proposal of a draw. Under FIDE's rules you make it after your move and before you press the clock. Read more
E
- Elo
- A rating system that measures playing strength with a number. The higher the number, the stronger the player. Also called Elo rating. Read more
- en passant
- A pawn capture in passing: a pawn that has just moved two squares can be captured as if it had moved only one, but only on the very next move. Read more
- endgame
- The last phase of the game, when most of the pieces have been traded off and the king becomes an active piece.
- the exchange
- The difference in value between a rook and a minor piece. If you get a rook for a bishop or a knight, you have won the exchange. Read more
F
- FEN
- A way of writing a whole chess position on a single line of text. Also called Forsyth–Edwards Notation. Read more
- fianchetto
- Placing the bishop on b2 or g2 (b7 or g7 for Black) after the b- or g-pawn has moved one square. Read more
- FIDE
- The International Chess Federation, Fédération Internationale des Échecs, founded in Paris on July 20, 1924. FIDE writes the rules of chess and awards ratings and titles.
- file
- A vertical line of squares, from a to h.
- Fool's Mate
- The fastest checkmate there is: 1. f3 e5 2. g4 Qh4#. Read more
- forcing move
- A move your opponent has to answer: a check, a capture or a strong threat.
G
- gambit
- An opening where one side sacrifices material, usually a pawn, to get development, the center or an attack. Read more
- grandmaster
- The highest title in chess, shortened to GM. FIDE first awarded it in 1950, to 27 players. Below it come, among others, International Master (IM) and FIDE Master (FM). Also called GM.
H
- hanging pawns
- Two pawns of the same color side by side, usually on the c- and d-files, with no friendly pawns on the files next to them. They give space in the center but can become targets.
I
- isolated pawn
- A pawn with no pawns of its own on the files next to it. Read more
J
K
- kingside
- The half of the board where the kings start, the e- to h-files. Sometimes only f–h are counted.
M
- major pieces
- Rooks and queens.
- middlegame
- The middle part of the game, after the opening and before the endgame, when most of the pieces are developed.
- minor pieces
- Bishops and knights.
- minority attack
- Two pawns advancing against three on the same wing, to leave the opponent with a weak pawn. Most common is White's a- and b-pawns against Black's a-, b- and c-pawns in the Queen's Gambit. Read more
O
- open file
- A file with no pawns on it. A half-open file has none of your own pawns but at least one of your opponent's. Read more
- opening
- The start of the game, when the pieces are developed. Many openings have names of their own, like the Italian Game and the Sicilian Defense. Read more
- opposite-colored bishops
- When each player has one bishop and they move on different colors, one on light squares and the other on dark. Endgames with opposite-colored bishops are often drawn. Read more
- opposition
- When the kings stand facing each other with one square between them. The player who is not to move has the opposition. Read more
- outpost
- A square where your piece can't be chased away by the opponent's pawns, often protected by a pawn of your own. A knight is especially happy on an outpost. Read more
- overloading
- When a piece has too many jobs at once, for example protecting two pieces, and can't manage them all. Also called overload. Read more
P
- passed pawn
- A pawn with no enemy pawns in front of it, neither on its own file nor on the files next to it. Read more
- pawn chain
- Pawns standing diagonally behind one another and protecting one another, for example white pawns on d4 and e5. Read more
- perpetual check
- When one side can give check for as long as it likes without the king getting away. The game is drawn. Read more
- PGN
- A text format for saving and sharing whole chess games. Also called Portable Game Notation. Read more
- pin
- A piece can't move, or shouldn't, because a more valuable piece behind it would then be attacked. Read more
- ply
- One move by one of the players. A full move in notation, like 1. e4 e5, is made up of two plies. Also called half-move.
- poisoned pawn
- A pawn, usually on b2 or b7, that the queen can take, but only at great risk.
Q
- queenside
- The half of the board where the queens start, the a- to d-files. Sometimes only a–c are counted, and the d- and e-files go with the center.
R
- rank
- A horizontal row of squares, numbered from 1 to 8.
- rapid
- Chess with more than 10 but less than 60 minutes per player. With an increment, what counts is the time plus 60 times the increment per move. Also called rapid chess.
S
- sacrifice
- Deliberately giving away material to get something better back: an attack, checkmate or a better position. Read more
- Scholar's Mate
- The classic beginner's mate, where the queen and the bishop give mate on f7 (or f2) as early as the fourth move. Read more
- seventh rank
- For White, the rank where Black's pawns start; for Black, the second rank. A rook there attacks the pawns from the side. Read more
- skewer
- An attack on a valuable piece that has to move, so that the piece behind it can be captured. Read more
- smothered mate
- Mate by a knight against a king that is hemmed in by its own pieces. Read more
T
- tempo
- A move, seen as time. Gaining a tempo means doing something useful while your opponent is forced to respond. Read more
- to move
- The player who is to make the next move is said to be “to move,” as in “White to move.”
- touch-move
- The rule that a piece of your own that you deliberately touch must be moved, and an opponent's piece that you touch must be captured, if possible. Read more
- trapped piece
- A piece that has no safe squares to flee to, and so can be caught. Read more
U
- underpromotion
- Promoting a pawn to something other than a queen: a rook, a bishop or a knight. Read more
W
- waiting move
- A move that doesn't change the position much, made so that the opponent has to move. Read more
Z
- zwischenzug
- A forcing move, often a check, played before the expected move, for example before recapturing. Also called in-between move or intermezzo. Read more
Updated October 31, 2026