Queen Me! A Brief Journey into Chess in Spanish
The history and evolution of chess is filled with complexity and mystery, as it has changed much from its ‘chaturanj’ days in Persia. There are many events in the past that promoted the morphing and expansion of the game. For us however, the most important time in chess history began around 1475, soon after the coronation of Spain’s Isabella I of Castile in 1474. The Spaniards admired their queen so much that they changed the way the queen chess piece moves by endowing her with the far-reaching mobilization abilities we like to fondly use to attack our opponents.
Queen Isabella I of Castile inspired her people to change the rules of chess. Talk about girl-power!
With the colonization of the Spanish empire throughout the Americas and other parts of Europe and Africa, the modern form of chess disseminated and went viral. Couple this with the fact that Spanish is one of the most spoken languages in the world today and it’s no wonder learning chess terminology in Spanish is a good idea for every chess player. Especially for those regularly on the international tournament scene.
Chess players from all over the world battle it out on the Olympic stage. Besides each player’s native language, English and Spanish are almost universally spoken.
What follows are elemental but key chess terms translated to Spanish that cover different aspects of the game. For ease of searching, I have categorized the terms under:
- Chess pieces
- Chess moves
- General chess terms and strategic concepts.
- Over-the-board (OTB) lingo, or things you would say before, during, and after a chess game.
Chess Pieces
Translation of piece names is pretty straightforward. However, there seems to be some confusion for the Spanish language equivalent of ‘queen’. I have seen some people in the forums here on chess.com suggest that a queen can be called ‘reina’. While this is true, it’s much better to refer to the queen as ‘dama’. The reason? Chess notation! Below are the chess pieces and their translation in Spanish. The letters in parenthesis represent that piece in algebraic notation:
- King (K) = Rey (R)
- Queen (Q) = Dama/Reina (D)
- Rook (R) = Torre (T)
- Bishop (B) = Alfil (A)
- Knight (N) = Caballo (C)
- Pawn = Peón*
As you can see, the queen’s notation letter in Spanish is ‘D’ for ‘dama’ because if it was ‘R’ for ‘reina’ it would conflict with the king’s notation letter which is also ‘R’ for ‘rey’. Funnily, the notation of pieces in English must also avoid this same duplicity by representing the knight as ‘N’ instead of ‘K’ to avoid conflict with king (K)!
*Pawn moves in algebraic notation are the same in English as they are in Spanish, i.e., represented by the column letter the pawn is currently in. For example, if the white a-pawn moves 2 squares on its first move, it would be notated simply as 1.a4 both in English and Spanish.
Chess Moves
- Castle = Enroque
- Check = Jaque
- Checkmate = Jaque mate
- Discovered Attack = Ataque al descubierto
- Discovered Check = Jaque al descubierto
- Double Check = Jaque doble
- En-passant capture = Captura al paso
- Fork/Double Attack = Doblete / Ataque doble
- Pin = Clavada
- Skewer / X-Ray Attack = Ataque rayos X
General Chess Terms and Strategy Concepts
- Advantage = Ventaja
- Blindfold chess = Ajedrez a la ciega
- Back-rank = Fila trasera
- Back-rank mate = Mate del pasillo / Mate en la fila trasera.
- Backward pawn = Peón retrasado
- Bishop pair = Pareja de alfiles
- Blockade = Bloqueo
- Blunder = Burdo error
- Disadvantage = Desventaja
- Doubled pawns = Peones doblados
- Endgame = Juego Final
- Exchange sacrifice = Sacrificio de calidad
- Hanging pawns = Peones colgantes
- Hanging pieces = Piezas colgantes
- Isolated pawn = Peón aislado
- Kingside attack = Ataque en el flanco de rey
- Maneuver = Maniobra
- Middlegame = Medio Juego
- Minority attack = Ataque de Minorías
- Opening = Apertura
- Outpost = Puesto avanzado
- Queenside attack = Ataque en el flanco de dama
- Draw = Tablas
- Stalemate = Ahogado. So, ‘draw by stalemate’ would be translated to ‘tablas por ahogado’.
- Time controls = Ritmo de juego
- Weak color complex = Complejo de casillas débiles
- Weak dark squares = Casillas negras débiles
- Weak light squares = Casillas blancas débiles
- Windmill = Molino
Over-The-Board (OTB) Lingo
- I adjust/J’adoube = Compongo
- Good luck = Buena suerte
- Queen me! = Coroname!
- Good game = Buen juego
For the full Spanish language experience on chess.com, you can change your interface to Spanish in 3 easy steps.
- From any screen on chess.com, look to the bottom left and hover your mouse pointer over the ‘settings’ button and click ‘all settings’.
2. Click ‘Profile’.
- Click the drop-down menu next to ‘Language’ and choose ‘Español’. Then scroll down and click ‘save’. If you don’t click ‘save’ it won’t make the changes!
That’s it! Now your chess.com interface is entirely in Spanish. Check it out:
Whether you’re a teacher or student of the game, have chess colleagues and friends that speak Spanish, or if you're just an avid chess-lover that wants to nerd-out by soaking in Kaissa's gift in different languages, this guide will prepare you to communicate and understand chess in Spanish.
Are there any chess terms you wish to know in Spanish? Leave your comments below!
