CHESS

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does chess mean? 

• CHESS (noun)
  The noun CHESS has 2 senses:

1. weedy annual native to Europe but widely distributed as a weed especially in wheat

2. a board game for two players who move their 16 pieces according to specific rules; the object is to checkmate the opponent's king

  Familiarity information: CHESS used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CHESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Weedy annual native to Europe but widely distributed as a weed especially in wheat

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

Bromus secalinus; cheat; chess

Hypernyms ("chess" is a kind of...):

brome; bromegrass (any of various woodland and meadow grasses of the genus Bromus; native to temperate regions)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A board game for two players who move their 16 pieces according to specific rules; the object is to checkmate the opponent's king

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

chess; chess game

Hypernyms ("chess" is a kind of...):

board game (a game played on a specially designed board)

Meronyms (parts of "chess"):

chess move (the act of moving a chess piece)

checker board; checkerboard (a board having 64 squares of two alternating colors)

Domain member category:

fork (place under attack with one's own pieces, of two enemy pieces)

check (place into check)

checkmate; mate (place an opponent's king under an attack from which it cannot escape and thus ending the game)

pin ((chess) immobilize a piece)

queen (become a queen)

promote (change a pawn for a better piece by advancing it to the eighth row, or change a checker piece for a more valuable piece by moving it to the row closest to your opponent)

open (make the opening move)

castle (move the king two squares toward a rook and in the same move the rook to the square next past the king)

en passant ((chess) a chess pawn that is moved two squares can be captured by an opponent's pawn commanding the square that was passed)

stalemate (subject to a stalemate)

develop (move one's pieces into strategically more advantageous positions)

develop (move into a strategically more advantageous position)

development (a state in which things are improving; the result of developing (as in the early part of a game of chess))

white ((board games) the lighter pieces)

queen ((chess) the most powerful piece)

pawn ((chess) the least powerful piece; moves only forward and captures only to the side; it can be promoted to a more powerful piece if it reaches the 8th rank)

horse; knight (a chessman shaped to resemble the head of a horse; can move two squares horizontally and one vertically (or vice versa))

king ((chess) the weakest but the most important piece)

castle; rook ((chess) the piece that can move any number of unoccupied squares in a direction parallel to the sides of the chessboard)

black ((board games) the darker pieces)

bishop ((chess) a piece that can be moved diagonally over unoccupied squares of the same color)

counterattack; counterplay ((chess) an attack that is intended to counter the opponent's advantage in another part of the board)

chess opening; opening (a recognized sequence of moves at the beginning of a game of chess)

check ((chess) a direct attack on an opponent's king)

exchange ((chess) gaining (or losing) a rook in return for a knight or bishop)

exchange ((chess) the capture by both players (usually on consecutive moves) of pieces of equal value)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "chess"):

shogi (a form of chess played on a board of 81 squares; each player has 20 pieces)

 Context examples 

Functional Activities Questionnaire-NACC - Playing a game of skill such as bridge or chess, working on a hobby.

(FAQ-NACC Version - Play Game of Skill, Work on Hobby, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

Ornate items including crucifixes and chess pieces were fashioned from walrus ivory by craftsmen of the age.

(Lost Norse of Greenland fuelled the medieval ivory trade, ancient walrus DNA suggests, University of Cambridge)

Walrus ivory was a valuable medieval commodity, used to carve luxury items such as ornate crucifixes or pieces for games like chess and Viking favourite hnefatafl.

(Over-hunting walruses contributed to the collapse of Norse Greenland, University of Cambridge)

It has given us opportunity to cry 'check' in some ways in this chess game, which we play for the stake of human souls.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

So it is! cried Laurie, who was playing chess in a corner with Jo. I knew a girl once, who had a really remarkable talent for music, and she didn't know it, never guessed what sweet little things she composed when she was alone, and wouldn't have believed it if anyone had told her.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)