Chess Terms

What is the best move after white plays 1.e4 is to allow the pawn to come after you ? That is the core idea behind the Alekhine's Defense. It begins with 1.e4…

Some chess ideas are remembered because they are practical. Others become famous because of the player who used them. Alekhine's Gun belongs in both…

If you have ever been confronted with a sequence like Nf3, Bxe5, or O-O and wondered what it actually means. You are looking at algebraic notation. At a…

AlphaZero is a chess engine created by DeepMind. Unlike traditional engines, it doesn’t rely on human opening databases or pre-programmed strategies.…

Some checkmates in chess are loud and dramatic. Others are quieter and only become obvious once the position is already under control. The Arabian Mate falls…

For all official chess tournaments, there has to be someone to ensure that the rules are being followed. That person is known as the Arbiter. They’re role is…

Armageddon in chess is what organizers use when they need a winner, no matter what. If regular games, rapid, or even blitz don’t settle things, this is the…

Atomic chess is an alternative chess structure in which the capture of a piece results in an explosion of captures, eliminating not only the targeted pieces…

Mate on the last rank: the king's own pawns leave it nowhere to run.

As a learned chess player, throughout your time studying you'll eventually notice that some games ending can be predetermined well before checkmate. A small…

In chess, power often comes from coordination. A single piece may create pressure, but two pieces working together can become much more dangerous. This concept…

Some chess openings ask you to fight for the center. The Benko Gambit asks you to give up a pawn and see what you can do with the activity you get in…

The Benoni is not an opening where Black tries to make the position look equal from the first few moves. Instead, Black often lets White take space and then…

1.e4 or 1.d4. It isn't the beginning of every chess game. If you're looking for a different first move, 1.f4 is worth a look. This move starts bird's opening,…

People learning chess for the first time usually pay attention to the queen. It moves everywhere, attacks quickly, and tends to decide games. The bishop feels…

Most players remember the first time they truly ran out of time in a winning position. The board still looked fine. Material was equal, maybe even better. But…

Blunder is a mistake or an error. They happen to everyone, including chess players. Ranging from the small to the full-blown disaster that completely flips the…

Chess boxing is a hybrid sport where two competitors alternate between rounds of chess and boxing until one wins by checkmate or knockout. A match consists of…

Some chess openings are built around slowly improving your position. The Budapest gambit goes with a different approach. A pawn is given up early by black and,…

Bullet game chess is the fastest form of competitive chess, where each player has less than three minutes for the entire game. The most popular formats give…

The aim of some openings is to create chaos, that is not the approach of the Caro-Kann Defense. Black doesn't approach the opening with an immediate tactical…

Castling is a special move where your king and rook switch places in a single turn. It's the only move in chess that lets you move two pieces at once. The king…

When the goal for white is to build pressure without rushing into a tactical fight, the Catalan Opening is a popular choice. It tends to start with 1.d4 Nf6…

Chaturanga is the ancient Indian chess game chess evolved from, played on an 8×8 board with pieces representing the four divisions of the Indian military. The…

Your king is invaluable in chess, it cannot be lost. The whole premise of chess is to protect your king while trying to capture the enemy's king by placing it…

In chess, everything comes down to the king. The aim is not capturing but restricting its movement to the point there is no way out. This final position is…

The endgame can be regularly misinterpreted as the simplest part of the game, however turning an advantage into a win still requires skill. A great example of…

An endgame that can be essential in strategy and tactics, the rook and king checkmate is a fundamental, simple, yet reliable technique all strong chess players…

Most players run into this question at some point, usually after a strange endgame appears on the board: two knights against a king. It looks winning. It feels…

Classical chess is a variant of chess where time is a key focus. Exchanging fast paced moves and instead giving the players time to think and calculate. It’s…

The Chess Candidate Master is the first official title awarded by FIDE (International Chess Federation). It is ranked under (FM) FIDE Master but is a…

Picture having a chess position, but no need to make a move for another three days. Simply put, that is the essence of correspondence chess.

The Danish gambit tells you the type of game it is going to be for black almost straight away. White is willing to sacrifice one to two pawns, in return for…

Before engines became something you run on a phone, there was Deep Blue. Back in the day, it wasn't unusual for computers to play chess but the concept of it…

When a player has a piece that is in a doomed position and so in a last stitch effort they make one final move before being captured. This move might aim to…

A piece steps aside and uncovers an attack from the piece it was blocking.

Creating problems for your opponent that can't be solved in a single move, is a core of many tactical ideas in chess. This concept can be clearly seen in the…

The most common outcome, where neither player wins but the game ends in a tie. 70% of classical games in games among elite grandmasters rated above 2750 end in…

Not every chess opening aims for quiet equality. Some challenge the opponent from the very beginning, even if that means taking a few risks along the way. 1d4.…

En passant, french chess move, is a special pawn capture where you take an enemy pawn "in passing" — as if it had moved only one square instead of two. It's…

A chess game from the beginning to the end can feel utterly different. The opening moves have passed, the attacks of the middlegame are done and we are at the…

A chess engine is a program that analyzes positions and can calculates the strongest possible moves. It is the brain behind every analysis board, every…

Usually if you start with 1.d4 you expect a fight for the centre with black in a fairly usual way. But then there is 1.e5. There tends to be only a pawn…

The Evans Gambit immediately gives your opponent a problem to solve. It originates from the Italian Game, beginning with an aggressive pawn sacrifice aimed at…

When attempting to recreate a game positioning you have probably come across FEN. At a glance it can look encoded but is in fact a chess notation method, a…

Developing a bishop to g2 or b2 behind its pawn, aiming down the long diagonal.

If you spend enough time around chess—online or in clubs—you’ll start seeing short titles next to player names. GM is the one everyone recognizes. IM comes…

Usually chess can be a slow game, one full of planning, calculation and strategy. You stare at the board, thinking, calculating and rethinking. But that idea…

Fool’s Mate is one of those things every chess player hears about early, usually followed by a warning like “don’t let this happen to you.” It’s famous mostly…

One move, two threats: a fork attacks two pieces at once, and only one can be saved.

The majority of people view chess as a game between two people. One board. Two colors. A direct fight. Then someone introduces four player chess, and suddenly…

Some chess players enjoy opening theory. Others get tired of seeing the same positions repeated every week. A player studies one defense carefully, prepares…

Normally the first few moves of a game of chess will decide the type of battle it will be. It may vary from an immediate tactical fight, to a slow and focused…

A voluntary sacrifice of usually a pawn or another piece in an opening is known as a gambit. This is done to gain an advantage, a calculated sacrifice to…

For all chess players, whether they have been playing for a long time or just started, the title Grandmaster is a term they should all be familiar with.…

Most tactical patterns in chess come and go during a game without leaving much of an impression. The Greek Gift is different. Players remember the first time…

The Grünfeld Defense is a funny opening when you first come across it. Black lets White build a big centre. Not a small centre, either. But that is the point.…

Leaving pieces undefended is a quick and easy way to lose the game. No matter what level you are at, from grandmaster to beginner, the frustration of losing a…

In competitive chess, titles separate levels of play from local to worldwide. The International master, awarded by FIDE, is ranked below Grandmaster. The FIDE…

Checkmate isn't the end for every chess game. Sometimes you are left with not enough pieces to finish the job. This is where insufficient material comes from.…

Walk into almost any serious chess tournament and one name appears everywhere: FIDE. It’s printed on rating cards, tournament pairings, arbiters’ badges, and…

If you play chess regularly, you’ve probably noticed that once a year the game suddenly feels more active. There are more people playing either online or…

A great place to start for those who are looking to learn classical chess principles, is the italian game. Pieces get developed, there is a fight for the…

The king is the most important piece in chess — lose it, and you lose the game. It's also one of the weakest pieces on the board, moving just one square at a…

Some chess openings fight for the centre right away. Others take a little more time to get there. The King's Fianchetto Opening belongs to the second group. It…

The king's gambit is a highly popular and one of the oldest openings in chess history. A pawn is sacrificed by white in the beginning of the game, with the aim…

There isn't always a fixed sequence of moves in chess openings. Some are better described as setups that can be reached against several different defenses.…

While it may appear that Black is giving White a little too much freedom in the beginning, a few moves later, the position changes completely and the game…

It starts with the very familiar move 1.e4. It may have even been the move you first learnt in chess, and there is a good reason for that. The centre space is…

The knight is the trickiest piece on the board — it jumps over other pieces and moves in an L-shape that confuses beginners and traps grandmasters alike. Each…

If you’ve ever compared chess engines side by side, you probably noticed they don’t all feel the same. Not in strength—at top level they’re all ridiculously…

There are many opening traps that are spurred on by greed, but the legal mate stands out. It may appear at first that the queen blundered, however in there…

The London system reoccurs throughout the chess world. From local clubs to online, the London system is taught as a basic to beginner chess players. It holds…

After you have played enough rook endgames, there tends to be an end point where it appears that you have almost won but are somehow unwinnable. The Lucena…

When watching chess media it may be common to hear, "I traded my queen for two pieces." or "I'm up a rook." Comments like these showcase the feature that…

The opening gets the pieces out. The endgame tries to finish the job. The chess middlegame is where most of the real fighting happens in between. This is the…

When 1.d4 is played as white, usually you tend to run into 1…Nf6 and thereafter …e6. So when 3.Nc3 is played by white, it's time for black to make a decision.…

The majority of chess games begin with placing a pawn in the centre. The Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack takes a different approach. White starts with 1.b3, not…

In chess, titles mark progress. Some are international, like Grandmaster, but others are awarded by national federations. One of the most notorious titles…

What Is A Chess Score Sheet? A score sheet tracks your game while playing. After each move you write down your move. Yours and your opponent’s. You’ll also…

The Chess Olympiad is a global event where national teams compete. It plays more on shared pressure rather than that of the individual. The results are shared…

The opening of a chess game shapes the game and every move played after that. It can impact all areas of the game, the development, your king's safety and how…

Usually chess games reach a point where the majority of material has been exchanged, left only with the kings and pawns. These final positions can be viewed as…

There’s a moment that happens in many chess games where one piece suddenly stops looking temporary. It lands on a square and stays there. Not because the…

Screen or online chess can be the beginning of chess for many people in modern-day. A few clicks can start a game playing against multiple players from across…

Different pawns have different roles or control in the game. The majority of them spend their time supporting other pieces, controlling certain squares or are…

Sometimes referred to as the soul of chess, pawns may seem insignificant by themselves but in a group, connected pawns can be a real threat. A pawn chain is…

The pawn is the smallest and most numerous piece on the board — and often the most underestimated. Each player starts with eight pawns lined up across the…

This is a fundamental rule of chess, it occurs when a pawn moves to the opposite end of the board and can transform into stronger pieces. This can be a game…

A strong plan in chess usually begins with the pawns. While other pieces may have a lot of movement on the board, both bringing and taking away different…

There are some openings that give the full disclosure to the plan from the first move, the Petrov's Defense is one such opening. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 is played…

The rook ending winning position somehow makes the actual position much easier than it is. You can have everything going for you, a pawn up, your king…

Chess piece values assign point scores to each piece, helping players evaluate trades and assess who's ahead in material. The standard system — pawn = 1,…

A pinned piece cannot move without exposing a more valuable one behind it.

There are some openings in chess that start the fight straight away, others allow the enemy to occupy space before attacking back. The Pirc defense is the…

It can be easy to learn 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 pretty quickly. It is familiar, and there are plenty of well-known paths to develop. Then White plays 3.c3, and…

There are a lot of chess players out there who use PGN files before they truly understand them. A player would download a game then would copy the opening…

Online chess moves fast, and sometimes the clock matters as much as the position. That is where a chess premove becomes useful: it lets a player queue a move…

What Is Prophylaxis in Chess? Have you ever looked at a position and thought, “If I give my opponent one more move, they’re going to do something…

The queen is the most powerful piece on the board — she combines the movement of a rook and bishop into one devastating force. Each player starts with one…

Few chess setups carry the prestige and deep strategic weight of White's premier choice after a queen's pawn start. No matter if you play chess casually in a…

The beginning of the Queen’s Gambut tends to look like 1.d4 d5 2.c4, leaving black with a few different ways to respond. One of the most direct is simply to…

There are some openings that begin a fight straight away, meanwhile there are also others that give you time to build up your position. The opening begins…

Classical chess tends to get the most attention from the general public. However for the modern audience the fascination leans more towards a far faster…

A central pawn tends to open the majority of games. The Reti Opening does something different. Rather than a pawn pushing the first move, the white knight is…

The rook is a major piece that dominates open files and ranks — it moves in straight lines and becomes increasingly powerful as the board clears. Each player…

The ruy lopez opening turns up again and again, from beginners in a club to world champions. It starts familiarly, but can lead to a much sharper and technical…

A direct response to 1.e4, time is not wasted by black in apprehension of what white will do. A challenge is launched towards the centre straight away…

Scholar's Mate is a four-move checkmate that targets the weakest point in Black's position — the f7 pawn, defended only by the king. White uses the queen and…

When looking at 1.e4 openings, you'll probably encounter the Scotch game. Not known for its complexity nor explosiveness similar to the King's gambit, but…

One of the most famous replies to 1.e4 is the Sicilian Defense. It can create an unbalanced position and strategic choices for Black. Instead of mirroring…

If 1.e4 is played, you may encounter the Sicilian Defense. If you are attracted to sharp positions, the Dragon is well worth trying out. The Dragon Variation…

If 1.e4 is played and 1...c5 is answered by black, you have entred the Sicilian Defense. Most players know the move. Fewer expect White to immediately throw a…

Imagine, you are sitting at a chessboard, ready for a game when your opponent walks right past you. The move to the next board, then the next playing multiple…

The reverse of a pin: the valuable piece is hit first and the one behind it falls.

A defense known for their dependability, the slav answers 1.d4 with a conversation. Black is given a healthy pawn structure, active piece development and a…

Smothered mate is a checkmate pattern in which the defending king is trapped by its own pieces. Commonly delivered by the knight and materializing in the…

The majority of chess movements are predictable. Bishops move diagonally, rooks straight and knights are able to L jump across the board. But within chess…

Endgames often look simple at first glance. There is less material, less things to consider and so many people would consider it easier. Perhaps in theory but…

No legal move, no check, no winner: the game is a draw.

Stockfish is a chess engine. Not a website, not a platform—just the calculation part. It takes a position and evaluates it, usually far better than any human…

Many beginners think chess is mostly about tactics. A fork wins a queen, a discovered attack creates pressure, and a checkmate ends the game immediately. Those…

The Swiss system is the format most players experience in open tournaments. It is built to handle large groups efficiently while keeping the competition…

There are times during a chess game where everything suddenly changes. One move looks harmless. Then a piece disappears. A king is dragged into danger. A queen…

When watching chess media, a common phrase to hear is, "That move loses a tempo." It may be a strange phrase to newer players. After all, every move changes…

Opening a chess game isn't always about grabbing the centre as quickly as possible. Sometimes it's more about building a quieter idea: positioning the pieces…

The Grob Opening begins with 1.g4, this pushes the kingside pawn before they develop on either side, a piece is placed in the centre. This is the reason for…

Throughout the history of chess, few games have achieved the same legendary status as the Opera Game. It’s 1858 and Paul Morphy sits opposite Duke Karl of…

The Turk in chess is a story that sounds unbelievable. Though it isn't fiction, it really happened. It wasn't AI, nor a computer contrary to peoples options,…

Most chess variants change the game by adding new pieces or unusual rules. Three Check Chess takes a different approach. The majority of the game remains the…

There is a point that will sometimes arise in chess where there isn't much progress being made on the board. The same moves and returns are occurring and it…

Chess competitions always run on a clock. Each player is assigned different thinking time based on the time controls, this completely changes the game. For…

Chess titles tell you how good someone is before they touch a piece. GM, IM, WFM—those letters next to a player's name are credentials earned through…

Anyone who starts playing tournament chess eventually runs into the same warning: “Be careful what you touch.” At first, that sounds overly strict. Casual…

Learn about the Two Bishops Mate in chess, including how this checkmate works, it’s importance, and how to defend your king effectively against this classic…

Normally, in the majority of cases, when a pawn reaches the opposite side of the board, you automatically promote without a thought. You gain a queen and the…

The majority of people start with standard chess, and for some that can be enough. But eventually players get curious. What happens if the rules change? What…

It starts with a 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3., perhaps looking familiar at a glance since white mirrors many classical openings. But differing from the classics, the knight…

You don’t really notice chess titles at first. You see them, sure—WFM, WIM, GM—but they’re just letters next to a name. Then at some point you realise they…

If you stay around tournament chess long enough, certain titles start to stand out more than others. Grandmaster is the obvious one. But just below that,…

Spend enough time around tournament chess and you start noticing patterns—not just on the board, but in player titles. Some appear more often than others, and…

There can be some attacks in chess that are easy to spot as its sitting right in front of you. But an x-ray attack tends to be sneakier. There may seem like…

At some point a chess position can look balanced, until a move is forced by a player and the strong position weakens and turns into either a loss or draw. This…

Chess 960 is a variant where the starting position of the pieces is randomized, creating 960 possible ways to begin a game. Also known as Fischer Random Chess,…