This glossary is intended as a concise guide to some of the chess terminology used in the text. Many of the terms represent concepts explained in detail in the book.
Below is a chess diagram of the starting position. The chessboard has sixty-four squares. Each player begins with eight pieces and eight pawns.
The coordinates on the edge of the board are the basis of algebraic chess notation, the symbolic language for transcribing the moves of a game. For example, “1.e4” represents a pawn moving to the e4 square on the first move. The opening moves “1.e4 e5 2.Bc4” puts a white pawn on e4, then a black pawn on e5, and then a white bishop on c4. In similar fashion games have been preserved for hundreds of years. Modern computer databases contain millions of games.
blitz chess—Games with little time given to each player, usually five minutes.
center—The four central squares of the chessboard (d4, e4, d5, e5, in algebraic notation). Controlling the center is one of the primary strategic goals. The player with control of the middle of the board has an advantage in piece mobility and, therefore, attacking potential. The positional value of various squares typically correlates to their proximity to the center.
check—When a player’s king is under attack. The player in check must do one of three things: move the king, capture the attacking piece, or interpose a piece to block the line of attack.
checkmate—A position in which the king cannot avoid capture. (The king is never actually captured.) The decisive end of the game.
chess clock—A dual-action timepiece that records the amount of time each player has remaining. A player makes his move and presses the clock. This stops his clock’s movement and simultaneously starts his opponent’s clock. Clock time is measured for the entire game, not per move. A player loses when his time expires.
classical chess—Games with a large amount of clock time for each player. At least ninety minutes, often over two hours.
color—The pieces are referred to as white or black regardless of the actual color of the chessmen. White always moves first, which confers a substantial advantage at the professional level.
combination—A forcing sequence of moves, often sacrificial, with a specific goal.
draw—The end of a game without a decisive result. Usually this occurs by offer and acceptance between the players. It can also come about by rule in the cases of stalemate, lack of progress (fifty-move rule), or threefold repetition of the same position. In the traditional scoring system a draw is worth half a point for each player.
endgame—The final phase of the game, coming after the middle game. Most of the pieces have been exchanged, and play becomes technical instead of strategic.
FIDE—The international chess federation, known by its French acronym (Fédération Internationale des Échecs).
gambit—An opening in which one side offers to give up material in exchange for positional advantage.
game—A single encounter between two players.
Grandmaster—The highest international title. With rare exceptions the title is awarded to a player who has achieved three qualifying tournament results and has reached a minimum 2500 rating. The Russian czar Nicholas II invented the title for the five finalists of the great 1914 tournament he sponsored in St. Petersburg. There are roughly one thousand Grandmasters in the world today. With so many “GMs,” unofficial titles such as super Grandmaster are used to distinguish the top players.
initiative—The ability to generate threats against your opponent’s position. The player with the initiative controls the course of the game through his ability to make more effective threats.
match—A series of games between two players.
material—All of the pieces and pawns on the board, minus the kings, which never leave the board. A material advantage means having the greater total value of pieces.
middle game—The phase of the game that follows the opening and precedes the endgame. The demarcation is not exact or universally agreed on. At a minimum, piece development has been completed and complex strategic and tactical play is still possible.
opening—The initial phase of the game. The opening moves are often composed of specific memorized sequences called openings. The opening is generally considered over when the pieces are no longer on their original squares and original play has begun.
pawn—The chessman of lowest value due to its limited mobility. Each side starts with eight pawns. Pawns are not usually referred to as pieces, a term used for the rest of the army. Pawns have the unique ability to promote into a piece—almost always a queen—when they reach the other side of the board.
piece values—The relative power of the chess pieces is typically measured by their value compared to a number of pawns. Knights and bishops are worth three pawns (or bishops a fraction more), rooks five pawns, the queen nine pawns.
rapid chess—Games with a short amount of clock time for each player, between blitz chess and classical chess. Typically around thirty minutes.
rating (or Elo rating)—A numerical representation of a player’s performance based on the results of games. This rating system, developed by the American physics professor Arpad Elo, was adopted by FIDE in 1970. Grandmasters are typically rated 2500–2800+. A strong amateur tournament player might be rated 1800. An adult beginner could be expected to reach a 1200 rating in a few months of tournament play. A range of 200 points is considered a class.
sacrifice—Giving up material for positional or tactical advantage. Typically a sacrifice has a specific tactical goal, such as creating attacking chances against the opponent’s king.
space—An element of a chess position representing piece mobility and the number of squares controlled. A player with an advantage in space can more freely maneuver his pieces.
tactics—The means of effecting a strategic plan. Every move in a chess game has some tactical components. Tactics require calculation and are the foundation of combinations.
time control—The amount of clock time given to the players. This is decided by rules of the tournament and varies widely, from blitz games that last ten minutes to classical games that can last seven hours.
win—A win is worth one point and occurs by checkmate or when one player resigns. Few professional games end in checkmate as players resign as soon as a loss appears inevitable.