ABC of chess
This is my list of the most central terms for chess beginners and amateurs, going from A to Z. Enjoy reading! Please don't hesitate to share your opinion in the comments and to help me with the French terms marked with "???".For learning more about these terms, I can really recommend reading https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_chess (page consulted on 28th July 2023) and the corresponding sections in Wikipedia (also in other languages) or on other sites explaining the terms in more detail. In order to make a comparison and, in particular, to help people who learn German and French, I added the translations into these languages.
ENGLISH | GERMAN | FRENCH |
---|---|---|
to abandon | aufgeben | abandonner |
Backrank (1st/8th rank on the board, used for mate traps on beginners) | die Grundreihe | la rangée de base (???) |
Bishop | der Läufer | le fou (meaning "crazy" if used as an adjective :D) |
Castling (king changes place with a rook) | die Rochade | le roque |
Check vs. (check)mate | das Schach vs. das (Schach)matt | l'échec (m). vs. (échec et) mat (m.) |
Draw | das Remis | la (partie) nulle |
Endgame | das Endspiel | la finale |
Fool's Mate (one of the mates beginnrs often fall for) | das Narrenmatt | le mat de l'imbécile, du lion... |
Gambit | das Gambit | le gambit |
hanging (unprotected) | hängend | en prise |
Increment (time added after each move, e. g., 30+20 means 30 minutes for the whole game plus 20 seconds per move) | das Inkrement | l'incrément (m.) |
Italian Game (very popular opening, good for BEGINNERS to start with) | die italienische Eröffnung | la partie italienne |
"J'adoube" (say it over the board before putting a piece in the right position, without wanting to move it) | "J'adoube" | "J'adoube" |
King | der König | le roi |
Knight | der Springer (literally "jumper", conveys its way of moving quite well) | le cavalier |
Luft (making a hole for the king, e.g. h3) | das Luftloch | la case d'échappement (???) |
Major/minor piece (rooks and queens vs. knights and bishops) | die Schwer-/Leichtfigur | la pièce majeure/mineure |
Notation (way of writing down game moves) | die Notation | la notation |
Opening (the first 10-20 moves - think of the GOLDEN RULES!) | die Eröffnung | l'ouverture (f.) |
Pawn | der Bauer | le pion |
Promotion (pawn that reaches the opponent's backrank promotes into a queen) | die Umwandlung | la promotion |
Queen (most powerful piece in chess!) | die Dame(, die Königin) | la dame(, la reine) |
Rook | der Turm | la tour |
Stalemate (king is not in check, opponent doesn't have any legal move left --> draw) | das Patt | le pat |
Time control (ADVICE for beginners: use something like 30+20 or 45+0 and really take your time) | die Bedenkzeit | la cadence |
Underpromotion (cf. promotion, but you choose a rook, knight or bishop instead of a queen, which sometimes makes sense) | die Unterverwandlung | la sous-promotion |
Variation board (chess board you can use for analysis after playing or when not playing) | der Analysebrett | l'échiquier (m.) d'analyse |
Wing (kingside vs. queenside) | der Flügel (Königs- vs. Damenflügel) | l'aile (f., aile roi vs. aile dame) |
X-ray | der Röntgenangriff | l'attaque (f.) "rayons X" |
Zeitnot (lack of time) | die Zeitnot | le zeitnot |
Zwischenzug (in-between move, i. e. move enabling you to make the move you intended to) | der Zwischenzug | le zwischenzug |
Zugzwang (the fact that you have to move worsens your position) | der Zugzwang | le zugzwang |
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