chess
n. uncountablen. a board game for two people where you move different pieces to capture the other player's king. It is a game of strategy that requires careful thinking and planning.
n. a strategic board game for two players, played on a checkered board with 64 squares. Each player controls sixteen pieces with specific movement rules, with the primary objective being to checkmate the opponent's king.
He plays chess every Saturday at the park.
The grandmaster spent hours studying the board before making his next move in the chess tournament.
Historians often compare the tactical maneuvers of 18th-century warfare to a game of chess, where positioning and sacrifice are more critical than brute force.
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”).
Uncertain; perhaps linked to Etymology 1, above, from the sense of being arranged in rows or lines.
Compare French châssis (“a framework of carpentry”).
Typically used without an article when referring to the game itself.