This is nice, but it would be nice if you could mention the source from where you took this.
Glossary of Chess Terms (Part 2)
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Glossary of Chess Terms (Part 2)
Insufficient Material
When neither player has enough pieces to mate their opponent. A draw is declared.
Interference move
A move which obstructs the line of attack of an enemy piece.
International master
The next highest title below Grandmaster. Abbreviation IM.
Interpose
Placement of a piece between an attacking enemy queen, rook or bishop, and the piece being attacked.
Intuition
A ability of an experienced player to decide on a move or plan by feel, rather than by extensive analysis.
Isolated pawn
A pawn with no friendly pawns on the adjacent files. It cannot be protected by pawns, and the square directly in front of it can be a safe haven for enemy pieces as they cannot be threatened by pawns.
J’Adoube
French "I adjust". Expression used prior to a piece being adjusted on its square.
Kingside
The half of the board from which the king starts. The e, f, g and h files.
Knight on the rim
A knight on the edge of the board. Unless it is performing a specific duty, its future is said to be "dim," as it attacks very few squares, none in the centre. It may even become trapped on the edge.
Liquidation
1. A series of exchanges that are done to slow or halt the enemy's attack.
2. To trade off in order to enter a drawn or won endgame.
Locked centre
Similar to a fixed centre except that no pawn movement is possible.
Luft
German "air." Moving a pawn so the king has an escape square to prevent back-rank mates.
Main line
The principal variation used or analysed.
Major piece
A rook or queen.
Maneuver
A series of quiet moves designed to redeploy your pieces more favorably.
Master
A player whose Elo rating is 2200 or higher. If the player's rating drops below 2200 the title is revoked.
Mate
See "Checkmate".
Material
Your pieces and pawns (excluding the king). See "Force".
Mating attack
An attack against the enemy king that leads to possible checkmate, or where mate can be averted by the enemy sacrificing material. Either way, a winning advantage is obtained by the attacker.
Mating net
A mating attack that leads to mate with correct play, no matter what the enemy does. A forced mating attack.
Middlegame
The phase of the game between the opening and endgame. The middlegame generally commences after development has been completed by both sides.
Minor piece
A bishop or knight.
Minority attack
An attack on a pawn majority by a pawn minority. This usually occurs on the queenside. The idea is to force a pawn trade that creates a pawn weakness in the enemy pawn structure.
Mobility
How much freedom of movement the pieces have. A piece's value is increased when it has more mobility, as it has more attacking power. See "Scope".
Notation
A system of symbols and coordinates for recording the moves of a game. See "Algebraic notation".
Occupation
1. Placement of a rook or queen on a rank or file, or a bishop or queen on a diagonal, to exert control over it.
2. Placement of a piece safely on a square to exert pressure from it.
Open
1. A type of position (see "Open Game") or file (see "Open File").
2. A type of tournament in which any class of player can participate.
Open file
A file where no pawns are present. Rooks are at their strongest when placed on open files.
Open game
A position where there are few centre pawns, and many open attacking lines. A lead in development is crucial to exploiting an open position.
Opening
The beginning phase of a game, usually the first 10-15 moves. It is characterized by rapid development of forces, control and/or occupation of the centre, and getting the king to safety. The real purpose of the opening is to create an imbalance in the enemy's camp, and development of pieces to exploit this imbalance.
Opening book
See "Book".
Opening library
See "Book".
Opening repertoire
A set of openings that a player prepares in advance to get to a preferred middlegame position.
Openings
A specific sequence of moves which have been catalogued over time. Specific openings are often played because players have analysed them thoroughly and believe they are the best way to achieve the initiative. There are over 1000 openings and many, many more variations. Most are named after the player, region or type of moves that are played, such as the Alekhine Defense, King's Gambit and Sicilian Defense.
Opposite colour bishops
Where each side has only one bishop that travels on squares of a different colour from that of the enemy. This can be effective during an attacking middlegame, as the defending bishop cannot control the squares the attacking bishop travels on. In an endgame, opposite colour bishops generally signal a draw, as the defender can put his king and pawns on the opposite colour of the attacker's bishop.
Opposition
An endgame term meaning the king not forced to move. Where the two kings stand on the same file or diagonal with an odd number of squares between them, the player that doesn't have to move is said to "have the opposition." This is important in king and pawn endings as the player who can secure the opposition can effectively guard certain spaces or drive the opposing king back.
Orientation
The way the board is positioned. The correct way has each player with a white square in their right hand corner.
Outflanking
A maneuver in the endgame with kings where one makes forward progress up the board while: 1) not allowing the opponent to gain the opposition, or 2) temporarily giving up the opposition in order to achieve a certain goal.
Outpost
A safe square near or in enemy territory that is protected by friendly pawns or pieces, and subject to effective occupation by one of your pieces.
Outside passed pawn
A passed pawn on the flank which is far from all the other pawns on the board.
Overextended
The position after a failed offensive or advance, in which a player's position is left with various weaknesses and no compensation for them.
Overprotection
Defending a strong point more times than appears necessary. The idea is that the overprotected pawn or square may be causing considerable problems for the opponent, who would be unwise to try to break the strong point, because he would release the latent power of the protecting pieces. See also "Prophylaxis".
Overworked piece
A piece which is required to do too much, defending too many pieces or squares at once. These pieces are open to attack, because moving them leads to a number of weaknesses being exposed.
Passed pawn
A pawn that has advanced past any enemy pawn that could hinder or capture it. Passed pawns are what are needed to promote.
Passive
An inactive move or plan that doesn't fight for the initiative. A passive position has no hope of counterplay or active possibilities. A passive player favours defense rather than attack.
Pawn centre
Pawns based in the centre of the board, primarily on d4, e4, d5 or e5.
Pawn chain
Two or more similarly-coloured pawns linked on a diagonal. The weakest point of such a chain is its base, as that pawn cannot be defended by another pawn.
Pawn contact
Opposing pawns are "in contact" when they are able to capture each other. Capturing resolves the tension in the position; maintaining contact maintains the tension.
Pawn duo
Two pawns of the same colour that are side by side and touching each other.
Pawn island
A group of pawns of the same colour separated from the next pawn by at least one open file. More islands indicates a weaker pawn structure.
Pawn storm
Advancing one or more pawns towards the enemy king with the intent of ripping up his pawn cover. Often used when both players have castled to opposite sides.
Pawn structure
The position of all the pawns.
Perpetual check
Unremitting attack on a king, without checkmate. Under some rules this may result in a draw.
Petite combination
A combination involving only a few moves and often only one tactical theme.
Piece
Sometimes used in a particular sense to refer to any piece other than a pawn.
Pin
At attack by a queen, rook or bishop on a piece which cannot move without exposing a more important piece or square. The pinned piece is said to be masking or screening the more important piece or square. An absolute pin is where the screened piece is a king, therefore it is illegal for the pinned piece to move as it would expose the king to check. A relative pin is where moving the pinned piece would result in a loss of material or other unfavorable effects.
Pinned piece
The piece under attack which cannot or should not be moved because of a pin.
Pinning piece
The attacking piece in a pin.
Plan
A short or long term goal which a player bases his moves on. The goal may be to attack a weak spot in the camp or to checkmate the opponent. Formation of a solid plan is vital in a game of chess.
Point count
A way of determining the worth of the pieces by assigning them a numerical value. Typically the queen is worth 9 points, rooks 5 points, bishops 3 or 3.25 points (depending on who you talk to), knights 3 points and pawns 1 point. A higher point count denotes material superiority.
Poisoned pawn
A pawn that, if captured, would cause serious disadvantage to the capturing side.
Position
The arrangement of the pieces on the board at any given moment.
Positional
A move, series of moves, plan, or playing style concerned with exploiting small advantages.
Positional mistake
A mistake with no immediate tactical repercussions, but will lead to a disadvantage by surrendering control of critical squares, losing time or space, or creating a structural weakness.
Positional sacrifice
A sacrifice that has no immediate tactical results, but will lead to a positional advantage.
Premature
A hasty move or series of moves or plan, or to act without enough preparation.
Prepared variation
A very well researched opening variation, often strengthened by new moves. It is common for grandmasters to prepare certain opening lines before playing.
Problem child
A blocked in queen bishop.
Promotion
When a pawn reaches the final rank, it can be turned into another piece (except a pawn or king), usually a queen. Also known as "Queening". See also "Underpromotion".
Prophylaxis
A strategy explored by Nimzovich, where you prevent your opponent from taking action in a certain area for fear of reprisal. Overprotection is a form of prophylaxis.
Protected passed pawn
A passed pawn that is protected by another friendly pawn.
Queening
See "Promotion".
Queenside
The half of the board from which the queen starts. The a, b, c and d files.
Quiet move
A move that neither captures anything, checks, or directly attacks an enemy piece.
Rank
A row of eight squares across the chessboard. In Algebraic Notation these are labelled 1 to 8, starting with the rank at White’s end of the board.
Rating
A measure of a player's skill, calculated as a number using a generally accepted formula by an official organization. See "Elo rating".
Redeploy
To maneuver a piece onto a more effective square, file or diagonal.
Refutation
A move or series of moves that demonstrates a flaw in a game, move, plan, variation, or analysis.
Resign
When a player sees his position is hopeless, and ends the game before checkmate.
Restrain
Controlling the enemy pieces in order to keep them from becoming active.
Risk
A move or series of moves designed to gain an advantage but which has a chance of causing a disadvantage.
Romantic
An era when all players attacked and sacrificed. If a sacrifice was offered, it was considered cowardly not to take it. A romantic player is one who enjoys attacking and sacrificing.
Rook lift
Moving a rook off the bank rank, and up a few squares, in order to slide it to a new file so it can help in the attack without being blocked by its own pawns.
Royal fork
A fork between king and queen.
Running
Rapidly transferring the king from one sector of the board to another in order to evade attack.
Sacrifice
Voluntarily offering material in exchange for a perceived favourable advantage other than the material.
Sans voir
French "without seeing". Playing chess blindfolded.
Scholar’s mate
Checkmate in the manner of 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. Qh5 Nf6 4. Qxf7*
Scope
The number of squares to which a piece can move. See "Mobility".
Screened piece
The piece which is guarded from attack in a pin.
Sector
One of three areas of the board, being the queenside, the centre, and the kingside.
Semi-open game
A position that contains some open and closed qualities.
Sharp
Bold, aggressive moves or positions. A sharp player is a player who revels in dynamic, tactical situations.
Shot
A strong move that was not expected.
Simplify
Exchanging pieces in order to reach a winning endgame, neutralize your enemy's attack, or clarify the position.
Simultaneous play
A player contesting a number of games against a number of players at the same time.
Skewer
A tactic where an enemy piece is attacked and forced to move, exposing another enemy
piece behind it to capture.
Smothered mate
Checkmate by a knight, all squares adjacent to the king being blocked by its own pieces.
Sound
A safe, solid position, or a correct plan or move.
Space
The amount of area of the chess board controlled by each side.
Space count
A method of counting the squares controlled or attacked by each side's pieces (A square can be attacked more than once.) The player ahead in the space count has a spatial advantage, and thus more mobility.
Speculative
A risky or unclear move or plan.
Squeeze
Exploiting a bind by the gradual build-up of pressure upon the enemy's position. This is done by creating more new threats until your opponent cannot meet them all.
Stalemate
A position is which the player who’s turn it is to move has no legal move but is not in check. A drawn game.
Strategy
The formation and execution of an overall plan.
Study
A make believe position that highlights tactical themes.
Style
Preferring certain type of positions and moves. Typically opponents will have different styles (such as preferring open or closed types of positions), so both fight to determine the type of position that is reached.
Support point
A square that serves as a home for a pieces, usually a knight, because they can’t be driven away from it by a pawn.
Swindle
A trick pulled from an inferior position.
Symmetry
Where both armies, or both sets of pawns, are identically placed on their respective sides of the board.
Tactics
Traps, threats, and plans based on the calculation of combinations or variations. A position where many combinational ideas are present is a tactical position.
Tempo
A unit of time represented by a move. For example, forcing the opponent to move a piece twice in the opening can gain a tempo. Plural is "tempi".
Tension
A position where pieces and/or pawns face off against each other without capturing. Such positions require precise calculation, and nerves of steel.
Territory
See "Space".
Theory
Known and played variations and positions in any phase of the game. Opening theory is also known as the "book."
Threat
A move or plan, that, if allowed, leads to immediate reduction of the enemy's position.
Three repeats rule
A game can be drawn when the same board layout occurs three times during a game.
Time
1. The period allotted for playing the game. See "Time control".
2. Whether a particular action can be stopped ("He doesn't have time to create a defense against this attack.").
3. A measure of development. A development advantage is an advantage in time.
4. The rate at which an attack can be prosecuted or defended.
Time control
Used to limit the length of a game. It is the time allotted to reach a certain number of moves. Most GM games are 40 moves in 2 hours, in which case a player forfeits the game if they have not played 40 moves in the first two hours.
Time pressure
When one or both players has used most of their allotted time, and must make moves with little or no thinking. This should be avoided if possible, as it often leads to mistakes or game losing blunders.
Transition
Changing from one phase of the game into another; i.e. from the opening into the middlegame, or the middlegame into the endgame.
Transposition
Reaching an identical position from a different sequence of moves.
Trap
A hidden method of luring the opponent into making an error. The lure or bait must be just enough to entice, without making the opponent suspicious - pawns are usually used. Traps should only be laid if they fit into an overall strategy, so even if the trap fails your position is improved or at least maintained. Always assume an opponent will see the trap: simply playing for traps is bad strategy.
Unclear
An uncertain situation in which is it not apparent whether either side has an advantage.
Underpromotion
Promotion of a pawn to anything other than a queen.
Value
The worth of a piece. Static value is the nominal value of a piece (see "Point count"). Dynamic value is the value of a piece in its current position, accounting for such factors as mobility, attacking strength, defending ability etc.
Valve
A move which simultaneously opens one line of play while closing another.
Variation
1. A line of play that is an alternative to the moves actually played.
2. One possible line of play calculated by a player prior to making a move.
Weak square
See "Hole".
Weakness
A pawn or square that is difficult to defend.
Wild
Extremely unclear position or move, with almost unfathomable complications.
Zeitnot
German "time trouble".
Zugzwang
German "forced to move". A position where a a player would prefer to pass his move (but of course cannot, as it is illegal) as any move damages his game.
Zwischenzug
German "in-between move". An unexpected move tossed into an expected series of moves.