See also: Chess

English

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A chess game
 
A chessboard in initial configuration

Pronunciation

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  • enPR: chĕs, IPA(key): /t͡ʃɛs/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛs

Etymology 1

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From Middle English ches, chesse, from Old French eschés, plural of eschec, from Medieval Latin scaccus, from Arabic شَاه (šāh, king [in chess]), from Classical Persian شاه (šāh, shah, king), from Middle Persian 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠 (mlkʾ /⁠šāh⁠/), from Old Persian 𐏋 ( /⁠xšāyaθiya⁠/).

Compare German Schach and Italian scacchi. Compare French échecs (chess) and its descendants: Catalan escacs and Dutch schaak. More at check and shah (king of Persia or Iran).

Noun

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chess (usually uncountable, plural chesses)

  1. A board game for two players, each beginning with sixteen chess pieces moving according to fixed rules across a chessboard with the objective to checkmate the opposing king.
Derived terms
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Translations
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See also

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Chess pieces in English · chess pieces, chessmen (see also: chess) (layout · text)
           
king queen rook, castle bishop knight pawn

Etymology 2

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Uncertain; perhaps linked to Etymology 1, above, from the sense of being arranged in rows or lines.

Noun

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chess (plural chesses)

  1. (now chiefly US) Any of several species of grass in the genus Bromus, generally considered weeds.
    • 2007, Michael Chabon, Gentlemen of the Road, Sceptre, published 2008, page 59:
      Hobbled, loudly gourmandizing the dry chess grass, they were guarded by a pair of dismounted soldiers in long, dusty coats [...].

Etymology 3

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Compare French châssis (a framework of carpentry).

Noun

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chess (plural chesses)

  1. (military, chiefly in the plural) One of the platforms, consisting of two or more planks dowelled together, for the flooring of a temporary military bridge.
    • 1881, Thomas Wilhelm, A Military Dictionary and Gazetteer:
      the balks are laid and covered with chesses to within 1 foot of the trestle
    • 1885, Edward S. Farrow, Farrow's Military Encyclopedia; A Dictionary of Military Knowledge:
      ach chess consists of three planks.

References

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chess”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

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