Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA 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.
nounAny of several species of grass in the genus Bromus, generally considered weeds.
Sentence Examples
Robert got the better of Jack in the game of chess.
He won the tournament by trapping the opponent's king with a queen in ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He spent the whole afternoon playing ____ with his grandfather today.
Word Origin & History
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 (XŠ /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”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"At the tender age of 20, Penguingm1 is already one of the best hyperbullet and ultrabullet chess players in the world."
— 2020 October 1, Aaron Alford, “Cloud9 signs grandmaster chess player Penguingm1”, in Dot Esports, archived from the original on 19 Jun 2021:
"FIDE appeals to all chess players and federations to accept this view."
— 2022, “2023 Laws of Chess”, in FIDE, archived from the original on 16 Mar 2025, page 2:
"Hobbled, loudly gourmandizing the dry chess grass, they were guarded by a pair of dismounted soldiers in long, dusty coats [...]."
— 2007, Michael Chabon, Gentlemen of the Road, Sceptre, published 2008, page 59:
"the balks are laid and covered with chesses to within 1 foot of the trestle"
— 1881, Thomas Wilhelm, A Military Dictionary and Gazetteer:
"ach chess consists of three planks."
— 1885, Edward S. Farrow, Farrow's Military Encyclopedia; A Dictionary of Military Knowledge: