Chess terms
By Chessvia · Updated Nov 13, 2026
Chess terms are the words players use for the board, the special moves, the tactics and the ways a game ends.
Check means the king is attacked, checkmate means it cannot escape and the game is over, and stalemate means a player has no legal move but is not in check, which is a draw.
Check: Qh5+
1 of 11 · White to move
After 1.e4 f6, White's queen can go to h5, in line with the black king on e8.
Tap a piece and then a square to play the move for the term. Here: Qh5+, the queen from d1 to h5.
Chess terms in numbers
These counts come from every rated game on Lichess in September 2026, so they show how often each word happens in real games.
- In September 2026, 24.58% of 89,396,008 rated Lichess games ended in checkmate, 40.06% in resignation and 31.95% on time.
- 3.05% of games contained an en passant capture, and in 5.18% a player had one available and did not take it.
- 0.68% of games ended in stalemate (607,962 games), 1.56% in threefold repetition and 0.02% by the fifty-move rule.
- 12.39% of games promoted a pawn; 97.33% of promotions were to a queen and 0.35% of games contained an underpromotion.
- Scholar's Mate ended 6.33 games in 10,000 overall, 12.09 at 1000-1199 and 0.29 at 2200+; Fool's Mate ended 669 games in 89,396,008.
Chess terms from A to Z
198 chess terms in plain words, from the board to the endgame, to online slang. Type in the box to filter, or jump to a letter. Terms with a board show the position. In the examples, + means check, # means checkmate, x means capture, O-O means kingside castling and O-O-O means queenside castling.
198 terms
A
- Abort Online and slang
- To cancel a game online before or just after the first moves, which most sites allow only within the first few seconds or moves, with no rating change.
- Active piece Strategy
- A piece that controls many squares and takes part in the fight, as opposed to one stuck behind its own pawns.
- Adjourn Results and clocks
- To pause an unfinished game and resume it later. Modern tournaments with engines no longer use adjournments.
- Advanced pawn Strategy
- A pawn pushed far up the board, past the middle, where it cramps the opponent but can become a target.
- Algebraic notation Notation
- The standard way to write moves: a piece letter plus the square it lands on, such as Nf3 or e4. Full guide
- Arabian mate Tactics
- A checkmate where a rook on the seventh rank, protected by a knight, mates a king in the corner. Black king on h8 is mated by the rook on h7 and the knight on f6.
- Attack The board
- A piece attacks an enemy piece when it could capture it on its next move.
B
- Back rank The board
- A player's first rank, the row the pieces start on.
- Back-rank mate Tactics
- A checkmate by a rook or queen along the back rank, with the king boxed in by its own pawns. White plays Ra8#: the black king's own pawns block every escape square. Full guide
- Backward pawn Strategy
- A pawn that has fallen behind its neighbouring pawns and cannot safely advance, because an enemy pawn controls the square in front of it. Full guide
- Bad bishop Strategy
- A bishop hemmed in by its own pawns standing on squares of the bishop's colour.
- Battery Tactics
- Two pieces lined up on the same file, rank or diagonal so the rear one adds its force to the front one, such as queen and rook or queen and bishop. The rook backs up the queen on the e-file.
- Berserk Online and slang
- A Lichess option in arena tournaments to halve your own clock in exchange for a bonus point for winning.
- Bind Strategy
- A grip on the position, usually by a pawn structure, that stops the opponent from making a useful advance.
- Bishop pair Strategy
- Owning both bishops while the opponent has fewer. In open positions the pair is commonly valued at about half a pawn. Two bishops cover both colours of squares.
- Blindfold chess Online and slang
- Playing without seeing the board, by calling moves out loud or typing them.
- Blitz Results and clocks
- A fast time control. Lichess counts a game as blitz when base time plus 40 times the increment comes to between 3 and 8 minutes, so 3+0 and 5+3 are blitz.
- Blockade Strategy
- Placing a piece, usually a knight, directly in front of an enemy passed pawn to stop it from advancing.
- Blunder Tactics
- A move that gives away the game or a lot of material, written ?? in notation.
- Book move Openings
- A move that is part of established opening theory.
- Brilliancy Tactics
- A game or move of unusual beauty, often with a deep sacrifice. Some tournaments award a brilliancy prize.
- Bughouse Online and slang
- A four-player variant played on two boards, where captured pieces go to your partner to drop on their board.
- Bullet Results and clocks
- The fastest time control. Lichess counts a game as bullet when base time plus 40 times the increment is under 3 minutes, so 1+0 and 2+1 are bullet.
C
- Capture Rules and moves
- A capture removes an enemy piece, usually by landing on its square; en passant is the exception.
- Castle long Rules and moves
- Another name for queenside castling, written O-O-O, with the king ending on c1 or c8. Full guide
- Castle short Rules and moves
- Another name for kingside castling, written O-O, with the king ending on g1 or g8. Full guide
- Castling Rules and moves
- One move of the king and a rook: the king goes two squares toward the rook and the rook jumps to the other side of it. Both sides can castle on either wing: the squares between king and rook are empty. Full guide
- Centre The board
- The four middle squares, d4, d5, e4 and e5, plus the squares around them. Controlling it gives pieces room to move.
- Centre pawn Strategy
- A pawn on the d or e file. Moving a centre pawn two squares on move one is the most common way to start the game.
- Check Check and results
- The king is attacked by an enemy piece, and a move may never leave your own king in check. Full guide
- Checkmate Check and results
- The king is in check and has no legal way out, so the game ends and its owner loses. Full guide
- Chess960 Online and slang
- A variant, also called Fischer Random, where the back-rank pieces start in one of 960 shuffled arrangements.
- Classical Results and clocks
- A slow time control. Lichess counts a game as classical when base time plus 40 times the increment is 25 minutes or more, such as 30+0.
- Clearance Tactics
- Moving a piece away so that another piece can use the square or line it left behind.
- Closed position Strategy
- A position with locked pawn chains where pieces have few open lines; manoeuvring matters more than quick tactics.
- Combination Tactics
- A series of forcing moves, often with a sacrifice, that wins material or checkmates. Full guide
- Compensation Strategy
- Something other than material, such as an attack, a lead in development or a strong pawn structure, that makes up for a piece or pawn given away.
- Connected passed pawns Endgame
- Two passed pawns on neighbouring files that protect each other as they advance, which is very hard to stop. Full guide
- Connected rooks Strategy
- Two rooks on the same rank with no pieces between them, so each protects the other.
- Control The board
- A piece controls a square when it attacks it, so an enemy piece landing there could be captured.
- Counterattack Strategy
- Answering a threat with a bigger threat of your own instead of defending.
- Cramp Strategy
- To restrict an opponent's pieces so they have almost no squares to move to.
D
- Dark squares The board
- The 32 squares of the darker colour. The a1 square is dark.
- Dead position Check and results
- A position where neither side could checkmate with any legal moves, so the game is a draw. Full guide
- Decoy Tactics
- A sacrifice that drags an enemy piece onto a bad square, often to set up a fork or a checkmate.
- Deflection Tactics
- Forcing an enemy piece away from a square or a task it was guarding, usually with a capture or a threat. Full guide
- Desperado Tactics
- A piece that is going to be lost anyway and so captures as much as it can before it goes.
- Development Strategy
- Moving pieces off their starting squares, usually in the opening, so they can take part.
- Diagonal The board
- A straight line of same-coloured squares from one edge of the board to an adjacent edge, the path of a bishop. Full guide
- Discovered attack Tactics
- A piece moves away and uncovers an attack from a bishop, rook or queen behind it. Any knight move uncovers the rook's attack on the black king. Full guide
- Discovered check Tactics
- A discovered attack where the uncovered attack is on the king. Full guide
- Double attack Tactics
- One move that makes two threats at once, which the opponent can usually meet only one at a time. Full guide
- Double check Tactics
- Two pieces give check at the same moment, so the king has to move. The knight on d6 and the rook on e1 both give check. Black must move the king. Full guide
- Doubled pawns Strategy
- Two pawns of the same colour on one file, usually a weakness because they cannot protect each other. White has doubled c-pawns. Full guide
- Draw Check and results
- A game that ends with neither side winning. Full guide
- Draw by agreement Check and results
- A draw when both players agree to it, which counts once each side has made at least one move. Full guide
- Drawing line Strategy
- A sequence of moves that leads to a draw with best play.
E
- Elo Online and slang
- A number rating of playing strength. A 1500 rated player scores about 64 percent against a 1400 rated player.
- En passant Rules and moves
- A pawn that has just moved two squares can be captured by an enemy pawn beside it, as if it had moved one square, but only on the very next move. Black just played d7-d5, and the e5 pawn may take it as if it stood on d6. Full guide
- Endgame Endgame
- The last phase of the game, when few pieces are left. Full guide
- Engine Online and slang
- A program that analyses chess positions, such as Stockfish, far stronger than any human.
- Engine line Online and slang
- The best sequence of moves an engine finds for both sides from a position.
- Evaluation Online and slang
- A number from an engine for who is better; +1.0 means about one pawn's worth of advantage for White.
- Exchange Strategy
- Trading pieces by capturing, usually pieces of about equal value. "The exchange" is the difference between a rook and a bishop or knight: a player who wins a rook for a minor piece "wins the exchange", worth about two pawns.
- Exchange sacrifice Tactics
- Giving a rook for a minor piece on purpose, to gain a better position or an attack.
- Exchange up Strategy
- Having won a rook for a bishop or a knight, which is about two pawns of material profit. Full guide
F
- FEN Notation
- Forsyth-Edwards Notation: a line of text that describes one position, with every piece, the side to move, castling rights, en passant square and move counts.
- Fianchetto Openings
- Developing a bishop to the long diagonal beside the knight's file, to b2 or g2 for White and b7 or g7 for Black. White's bishop on g2 looks down the long diagonal.
- FIDE Online and slang
- The World Chess Federation, which sets the Laws of Chess and awards titles and Elo ratings.
- Fifty-move rule Check and results
- A player may claim a draw when 50 moves by each side have passed with no pawn move and no capture. Full guide
- File The board
- A column of squares, named a to h.
- Fish Online and slang
- Slang for a weak player, from the idea of an easy catch.
- Flag Online and slang
- To win on time by letting the opponent's clock run out. The little flag on an analogue clock fell when time was up.
- Flank The board
- The side of the board, the a and b files or the g and h files.
- Fool's Mate Check and results
- The shortest possible checkmate, in two moves, when Black replies 1.f3 e5 2.g4 Qh4#. After 1.f3 e5 2.g4 Black has Qh4#. Full guide
- Forced move Tactics
- A move you have to make because every alternative loses at once, often the only way out of check.
- Fork Tactics
- One piece attacks two or more enemy pieces at once; a knight fork is the best known. The knight on c7 attacks the king and the rook at once. Full guide
- Fortress Endgame
- A defensive setup the stronger side cannot break through, even with a material edge, so the game is a draw.
G
- Gambit Openings
- A sacrifice, usually of a pawn, early in the opening to gain space or time.
- GM Online and slang
- Grandmaster, the highest title FIDE awards. It needs a rating of at least 2500 plus three norm results.
- Good bishop Strategy
- A bishop whose own pawns stand mostly on squares of the opposite colour, so it has open lines.
- Greek gift Tactics
- A bishop sacrifice on h7 or h2 against a castled king, followed by a knight and queen attack.
H
- Half-open file The board
- A file with one side's pawn on it and no pawn of the other side, a good home for a rook.
- Hanging piece Tactics
- A piece that is attacked and not protected, so it can simply be taken. The bishop on d5 has no defender, and the queen attacks it.
- Hole Strategy
- A square that no pawn of yours can ever guard again, which an enemy piece can use.
- Hope chess Online and slang
- Playing a move that only works if the opponent misses the threat, rather than one that is sound.
- Hypermodern Openings
- An opening idea that lets the opponent take the centre and attacks it from the sides with pieces, then undermines it.
I
- Illegal move Rules and moves
- A move that breaks the rules, such as leaving your own king in check. Online sites do not allow them. Full guide
- Inaccuracy Tactics
- A weak move that is not a blunder; Lichess marks it with a ?! sign after analysis.
- Increment Results and clocks
- Extra seconds added to your clock after every move you make, written like 5+3 for five minutes plus three seconds.
- Initiative Strategy
- Keeping the opponent busy responding to your threats so they cannot carry out their own plans.
- Interference Tactics
- Placing a piece between two enemy pieces so they can no longer work together.
- Interpose Tactics
- Put a piece between an attacker and its target. Against a check it works only when the checker is a rook, bishop or queen.
- Isolated pawn Strategy
- A pawn with no friendly pawn on the files beside it, so it can never be defended by another pawn. White's d-pawn has no pawn on the c or e files. Full guide
J
- J'adoube Rules and moves
- What you say before touching a piece only to straighten it, so the touch-move rule does not apply.
K
- King safety Strategy
- How well a king is shielded from attack, usually by castling behind pawns.
- Kingside The board
- The half of the board where the kings start, the e to h files.
- Knight outpost Strategy
- A knight on a square, usually on the fifth or sixth rank, that no enemy pawn can attack, and which a friendly pawn supports. The knight on d5 is supported by two pawns and cannot be chased away by a pawn.
L
- Ladder mate Tactics
- A checkmate where two rooks take turns checking up the board, like climbing a ladder. Rb7 and then Ra8 mate.
- Legal move Rules and moves
- A move allowed by the rules of the game for that piece in that position, which never leaves the mover's king in check. Full guide
- Lichess Online and slang
- A free, open-source chess site whose monthly game database is public domain (CC0), the source of the numbers on this page.
- Light squares The board
- The 32 squares of the lighter colour. The h1 square is light.
- Long diagonal The board
- The diagonal from a1 to h8 or from h1 to a8, the longest on the board.
- Lost position Strategy
- A position that is winning for the opponent with correct play.
- Lucena position Endgame
- A key rook endgame that wins: a king in front of its pawn on the seventh rank, which the stronger side wins by building a bridge with the rook. White wins by building a bridge with the rook.
M
- Major piece The board
- A queen or a rook. Full guide
- Master Online and slang
- A strong player. The FIDE Master title (FM) needs a rating of 2300.
- Mate in one Tactics
- A position where a player can checkmate with the very next move. Also written M1 or #1. Full guide
- Material Strategy
- The pieces and pawns each side has left; more value on the board is a material advantage. Full guide
- Mating net Tactics
- A set of threats around a king that leads to a forced checkmate.
- Middlegame Strategy
- The phase after the opening and before the endgame, once most pieces are developed.
- Miniature Online and slang
- A game won in 25 moves or fewer.
- Minor piece The board
- A bishop or a knight. Full guide
- Minority attack Strategy
- Pushing fewer pawns against more enemy pawns, such as two against three, to create a weakness.
- Mobility Strategy
- The number of squares a player's pieces can move to; more mobility usually means a better position.
- Move order Openings
- The order in which moves are played, which matters because different orders may lead to the same position or give the opponent other options.
- Mutual zugzwang Endgame
- A position where whoever has to move is worse off, so each side wishes it were the other's turn. Full guide
N
- Naked king Endgame
- A king with no other pieces or pawns left.
- Notation Notation
- A written record of moves. Algebraic notation is the standard. Full guide
O
- Open file The board
- A file with no pawns on it. The c, d and e files have no pawns, so the rook can use them.
- Open position Strategy
- A position with few pawns in the centre, giving bishops and rooks long open lines.
- Opening Openings
- The first phase of the game, roughly the first dozen moves, when pieces come out and the king usually castles.
- Opening repertoire Openings
- The set of openings a player has prepared and plays, for both White and Black.
- Opening trap Openings
- A tempting move in the opening that looks good but loses to a hidden tactic.
- Opposite-coloured bishops Endgame
- Each side has one bishop, and the two bishops move on different colours of squares. These endings are drawn very often. White's bishop is on a dark square and Black's on a light one.
- Opposition Endgame
- Two kings stand on the same rank, file or diagonal with one empty square between them, and the player to move may have to give way. The kings face each other with one square between. The player to move has to step aside. Full guide
- Outpost Strategy
- A square in enemy territory that an enemy pawn cannot attack, ideal for a knight.
- Outside passed pawn Endgame
- A passed pawn far from the other pawns that drags the enemy king away so the other side can win elsewhere. Full guide
- Overloaded piece Tactics
- A defender that has too many jobs, so removing or attacking it makes one of them fail.
- Overprotection Strategy
- Defending a key square more times than strictly needed, Nimzowitsch's idea for strengthening a strong point.
P
- Passed pawn Strategy
- A pawn with no enemy pawn in front of it on its own file or on the files beside it. No black pawn can stop the d-pawn by capturing it. Full guide
- Patzer Online and slang
- A weak or casual player, from the German word for a bungler.
- Pawn break Strategy
- A pawn move that challenges the enemy pawn structure and opens lines.
- Pawn chain Strategy
- Pawns lined up diagonally so each protects the next one. The b2, c3 and d4 pawns guard each other. Full guide
- Pawn island Strategy
- A group of connected pawns of one colour separated from your other pawns by an empty file. Full guide
- Pawn majority Strategy
- More pawns than the opponent on one side of the board, which can make a passed pawn.
- Pawn promotion Rules and moves
- A pawn that reaches the far rank is replaced by a queen, rook, bishop or knight of the same colour. Full guide
- Pawn storm Strategy
- Advancing several pawns together at the enemy king's position.
- Pawn structure Strategy
- The arrangement of the pawns on the board, which decides where the pieces will want to go. Full guide
- Perpetual check Check and results
- A sequence of checks that the opponent cannot escape; the draw follows the repetition or move-count rules, rather than a separate perpetual-check rule.
- PGN Notation
- Portable Game Notation: a text format that records a whole game's moves and details such as players and result.
- Philidor position Endgame
- A rook endgame drawing setup where the defender keeps the rook on the sixth rank until the pawn advances, then checks from behind.
- Pin Tactics
- A pinned piece shields another piece from attack: an absolute pin forbids moves that expose its king; a relative pin makes moving risky because it exposes a valuable piece. The rook pins the bishop to the white king. Full guide
- Ply Notation
- One move by one side. A full move is two plies, White's and Black's.
- Premove Online and slang
- Entering a move on screen before your opponent has moved, so it plays instantly. Popular in bullet.
- Promotion Rules and moves
- A pawn that reaches the far rank is exchanged on the spot for a queen, rook, bishop or knight of its colour. The pawn on e7 will become a queen on e8. Full guide
- Prophylaxis Strategy
- A move that stops the opponent's plan before it starts.
- Puzzle Online and slang
- A position, taken from a real game, where you have to find the best move or the winning combination.
Q
- Queening Rules and moves
- Promoting a pawn to a queen, the choice made in about 97 percent of promotions in Lichess games. Full guide
- Queenside The board
- The half of the board where the queens start, the a to d files.
- Quiet move Tactics
- A move with no capture or check that sets up something deeper, often hard to see.
R
- Rank The board
- A row of squares, numbered 1 to 8 from White's side.
- Rapid Results and clocks
- A medium time control. Lichess counts a game as rapid when base time plus 40 times the increment is 8 to under 25 minutes, so 10+0 and 15+10 are rapid.
- Rating Online and slang
- A number that estimates playing strength, such as Elo or Glicko.
- Rating farming Online and slang
- Playing much weaker opponents to collect rating points easily.
- Refutation Openings
- A move or plan that proves an opponent's idea unsound.
- Repetition Check and results
- The same position appearing again. Three times lets a player claim a draw. Full guide
- Resign Check and results
- To give up the game, which counts as a loss unless the opponent could never checkmate, which is a draw.
- Rook lift Strategy
- Bringing a rook up a file in front of its own pawns, usually toward the enemy king.
- Round robin Online and slang
- A tournament where each player meets every other player once.
S
- Sacrifice Tactics
- Giving up material on purpose for something better, such as an attack or faster development.
- Sandbagging Online and slang
- Deliberately keeping a rating low, or losing games on purpose, to meet weaker opponents in a rating-limited event.
- Scholar's Mate Check and results
- A four-move checkmate on f7 or f2 with queen and bishop: 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Qh5 Nf6 4.Qxf7#. The queen on f7 is protected by the bishop on c4. Full guide
- Semi-open file The board
- Another name for a half-open file.
- Semi-open game Openings
- An opening where White plays 1.e4 and Black does not answer with 1...e5, like the Sicilian or French.
- Setup Openings
- A standard arrangement of pieces and pawns that a player uses against many different replies, such as the London System.
- Simplify Strategy
- Trade pieces to reach a safer, easier position, usually when ahead.
- Simul Online and slang
- A simultaneous exhibition where one strong player plays many opponents at once.
- Skewer Tactics
- An attack on a valuable piece that has to move, leaving a less valuable piece behind it to be captured. The king must move off the e-file, then the rook takes the queen. Full guide
- Smothered mate Tactics
- A checkmate by a knight against a king surrounded by its own pieces. White plays Nf7#. Full guide
- Space Strategy
- The squares you control in the middle and far side of the board. More space gives pieces room.
- Stalemate Check and results
- The player to move has no legal move and is not in check, and the game is a draw. Black is not in check and has no legal move: a draw. Full guide
- Strong square Strategy
- A square that is valuable for one side, often because the other side can never challenge it with a pawn.
- Swindle Online and slang
- A trick played in a lost position to turn the game around, such as setting a trap or creating stalemate.
T
- Tablebase Endgame
- A database that holds the perfect result for every position with seven or fewer pieces.
- Tactic Tactics
- A short sequence of moves that wins material or checkmates, such as a fork, pin or skewer. Full guide
- Takeback Online and slang
- Asking an opponent to let you undo your last move. Most sites let the opponent accept or decline.
- Tempo Strategy
- One move of time; you gain a tempo when, say, your opponent moves the same piece twice in the opening.
- Theory Openings
- The known best moves in an opening, worked out by players and engines over many games.
- Threefold repetition Check and results
- The player to move may claim a draw when the same position has appeared, or will appear after their declared move, for the third time, with the same side to move and the same possible moves, including castling and en passant rights. Full guide
- Tilt Online and slang
- Playing badly because of frustration, usually after a loss, which often leads to more losses.
- Time control Results and clocks
- The agreed amount of time each player gets, such as 10+0 or 3+2.
- Time forfeit Check and results
- A player who runs out of time loses, unless the opponent cannot checkmate by any legal moves, which is a draw.
- Time scramble Results and clocks
- The last minutes of a game when both players are almost out of time and move quickly.
- Touch rule Rules and moves
- A shorter name for the touch-move rule; see touch-move.
- Touch-move Rules and moves
- If you touch your own piece to move it you must move it, and if you touch an enemy piece to capture it you must capture it, when the move is legal.
- Transposition Openings
- Reaching the same position by a different order of moves.
- Trapped piece Tactics
- A piece with no safe square to go to that will be lost.
- Triangulation Endgame
- A king manoeuvre that loses a tempo on purpose by taking three moves to go where the opponent's king needs two, to win the opposition. Full guide
U
- Undefended piece Tactics
- A piece that no friendly piece guards, so it can be captured for free if it is attacked.
- Underpromotion Rules and moves
- Promoting a pawn to a rook, bishop or knight instead of a queen. c8=N+ forks the king on a7 and the rook on e7. Full guide
V
- Variation Openings
- A branch of an opening or analysis, such as the Dragon Variation of the Sicilian.
W
- Windmill Tactics
- A repeated series of discovered checks that picks up material on each move.
- Woodpusher Online and slang
- An old word for a weak player who just pushes pieces, from the wooden chess sets.
X
- X-ray Tactics
- An attack through another piece, as when a rook defends a square through an enemy queen.
Z
- Zeitnot Results and clocks
- The German word for time trouble, used in chess for the last minutes of a game.
- Zugzwang Strategy
- A player has to move and every legal move makes the position worse.
- Zwischenzug Tactics
- An in-between move played before the reply that was expected, often a bigger threat.
Chess terms you can try on a board
Eleven of the terms are about where pieces stand, so each has a legal position with the move that shows it.
1. Check: Qh5+
After 1.e4 f6, White's queen can go to h5, in line with the black king on e8.
Qh5+: legal.
The queen attacks the king, so Black is in check and has to answer it. Here the only answer is g6, which blocks the line.
Try it on the board2. Checkmate: Qh4#
After 1.f3 e5 2.g4, Black's queen can go to h4, in line with the white king on e1.
Qh4#: legal.
The king is attacked and has no legal move, so the game ends at once. This is Fool's mate, the shortest possible game that ends in checkmate.
Try it on the board3. Stalemate: Qc7
White has a king and a queen against a lone black king on a8, and it is White's move.
Qc7: legal.
Black is not in check but has no legal move, so the game is a draw even though White has a queen more.
Try it on the board4. Castling: O-O
After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6, White's king and the rook on h1 have not moved and the squares between them are empty.
O-O: legal.
The king goes two squares toward the rook and the rook jumps to the other side of it. It is the only time two pieces move in one turn.
Try it on the board5. En passant: exd6
After 1.e4 a6 2.e5 d5, Black's pawn has just moved two squares and stands next to White's pawn on e5.
exd6: legal.
White's pawn takes it as if it had moved one square, and lands on d6. The chance lasts for this one move only.
Try it on the board6. Promotion: c8=Q
A white pawn stands on c7 with nothing in front of it, and it is White's move.
c8=Q: legal.
The pawn is exchanged on the spot for a queen, rook, bishop or knight of its own colour. A queen is the usual choice.
Try it on the board7. Fork: Nc7+
A white knight on d5 can jump to c7. The black king is on e8 and a black rook is on a8.
Nc7+: legal.
From c7 the knight attacks the king and the rook on a8 at the same time. Black has to answer the check, so White can take the rook next. Every legal reply leaves Nxa8 available.
Try it on the board8. A pinned piece: the knight on c6
A white bishop on b5 looks along the diagonal at the black knight on c6, with the black king on e8 behind it. It is Black's move, and Black tries to move the knight.
Nc6-e5: not legal, the piece is pinned. Your knight on c6 is pinned: moving it would expose your king to the white bishop on b5.
The knight is pinned to its king, so moving it would leave the king in check. A relative pin allows the piece to move, but doing so exposes the valuable piece behind it.
Try it on the board9. Skewer: Rd2+
A white rook can go to d2, down the d-file toward the black king on d5, with the black queen on d8 behind the king.
Rd2+: legal.
The king has to leave the d-file, and then the rook can take the queen that was behind it. After all six legal replies the rook takes the queen.
Try it on the board10. Discovered attack: Nf5
A white knight on d4 stands in front of a white rook on d1, with the black queen on d8 at the other end of the file.
Nf5: legal.
When the knight moves, it uncovers the rook's attack on the queen, and the knight's own move can carry a second threat.
Try it on the board11. Back-rank mate: Ra8#
A white rook can go to a8. The black king on g8 sits behind its own pawns on f7, g7 and h7.
Ra8#: legal.
The three pawns take away the king's escape squares, so the rook's check on the back rank is checkmate.
Try it on the board
How often chess terms happen in real games
Each chart reads the same 89,396,008 games, split by rating band. Open "Show the numbers" under a chart to see every value.
Draws are rare, and stalemate is most common at 1000-1199
Share of all games that ended each way. Only 3.1% to 6.6% of games are drawn at all, depending on band; the fifty-move rule ended 0.02% of games.
- 1.00% Stalemate
- 1.00% Threefold repetition
- 0.50% Insufficient material
- 0.74% Stalemate
- 1.15% Threefold repetition
- 0.55% Insufficient material
- 0.61% Stalemate
- 1.35% Threefold repetition
- 0.60% Insufficient material
- 0.53% Stalemate
- 1.61% Threefold repetition
- 0.67% Insufficient material
- 0.52% Stalemate
- 1.82% Threefold repetition
- 0.70% Insufficient material
- 0.54% Stalemate
- 1.95% Threefold repetition
- 0.74% Insufficient material
- 0.67% Stalemate
- 2.87% Threefold repetition
- 0.99% Insufficient material
Show the numbers as a table
| Rating band | Stalemate | Threefold repetition | Insufficient material | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1000-1199 | 1.00% | 1.00% | 0.50% | 5,628,817 |
| 1200-1399 | 0.74% | 1.15% | 0.55% | 8,976,260 |
| 1400-1599 | 0.61% | 1.35% | 0.60% | 12,138,165 |
| 1600-1799 | 0.53% | 1.61% | 0.67% | 13,526,794 |
| 1800-1999 | 0.52% | 1.82% | 0.70% | 11,771,001 |
| 2000-2199 | 0.54% | 1.95% | 0.74% | 7,002,434 |
| 2200+ | 0.67% | 2.87% | 0.99% | 5,590,869 |
At 1000-1199 players skip en passant nearly three times as often as they play it
Share of games. At 1000-1199 the capture is skipped about three times as often as it is played (6.34% against 2.26%); by 2200+ the two are close (4.77% skipped, 4.41% played).
- 2.26% Games with an en passant capture
- 6.34% Games where it was available and skipped
- 2.55% Games with an en passant capture
- 5.32% Games where it was available and skipped
- 2.73% Games with an en passant capture
- 4.78% Games where it was available and skipped
- 3.08% Games with an en passant capture
- 4.68% Games where it was available and skipped
- 3.49% Games with an en passant capture
- 4.77% Games where it was available and skipped
- 3.86% Games with an en passant capture
- 4.80% Games where it was available and skipped
- 4.41% Games with an en passant capture
- 4.77% Games where it was available and skipped
Show the numbers as a table
| Rating band | Games with an en passant capture | Games where it was available and skipped | Games |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1000-1199 | 2.26% | 6.34% | 5,628,817 |
| 1200-1399 | 2.55% | 5.32% | 8,976,260 |
| 1400-1599 | 2.73% | 4.78% | 12,138,165 |
| 1600-1799 | 3.08% | 4.68% | 13,526,794 |
| 1800-1999 | 3.49% | 4.77% | 11,771,001 |
| 2000-2199 | 3.86% | 4.80% | 7,002,434 |
| 2200+ | 4.41% | 4.77% | 5,590,869 |
One game in eight promotes a pawn, and one in 285 underpromotes
Share of games. About one game in eight promotes a pawn, and about one in 285 promotes to something other than a queen.
- 11.39% Any promotion
- 0.37% Underpromotion (rook, bishop or knight)
- 11.28% Any promotion
- 0.38% Underpromotion (rook, bishop or knight)
- 11.38% Any promotion
- 0.38% Underpromotion (rook, bishop or knight)
- 11.74% Any promotion
- 0.35% Underpromotion (rook, bishop or knight)
- 12.42% Any promotion
- 0.31% Underpromotion (rook, bishop or knight)
- 13.31% Any promotion
- 0.25% Underpromotion (rook, bishop or knight)
- 16.93% Any promotion
- 0.25% Underpromotion (rook, bishop or knight)
Show the numbers as a table
| Rating band | Any promotion | Underpromotion (rook, bishop or knight) | Games |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1000-1199 | 11.39% | 0.37% | 5,628,817 |
| 1200-1399 | 11.28% | 0.38% | 8,976,260 |
| 1400-1599 | 11.38% | 0.38% | 12,138,165 |
| 1600-1799 | 11.74% | 0.35% | 13,526,794 |
| 1800-1999 | 12.42% | 0.31% | 11,771,001 |
| 2000-2199 | 13.31% | 0.25% | 7,002,434 |
| 2200+ | 16.93% | 0.25% | 5,590,869 |
97 in 100 promotions are to a queen
Share of the 14,356,509 promotions in the month, all bands together. The rook is the most common underpromotion; the bishop is the rarest.
- 97.33%
- 1.62%
- 0.75%
- 0.30%
Show the numbers as a table
| Piece | Share of promotions |
|---|---|
| Queen | 97.33% |
| Rook | 1.62% |
| Knight | 0.75% |
| Bishop | 0.30% |
Scholar's Mate ends 12 games in 10,000 at 1000-1199 and 0.3 at 2200+
Scholar's Mate falls from 12.09 per 10,000 games at 1000-1199 to 0.29 at 2200+. Fool's Mate is rarer still: 669 games in 89,396,008, about 0.07 per 10,000.
- 12.09
- 7.38
- 4.78
- 2.42
- 1.27
- 0.63
- 0.29
Show the numbers as a table
| Rating band | Games ending in Scholar's Mate per 10,000 | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 1000-1199 | 12.09 | 5,628,817 |
| 1200-1399 | 7.38 | 8,976,260 |
| 1400-1599 | 4.78 | 12,138,165 |
| 1600-1799 | 2.42 | 13,526,794 |
| 1800-1999 | 1.27 | 11,771,001 |
| 2000-2199 | 0.63 | 7,002,434 |
| 2200+ | 0.29 | 5,590,869 |
What is the last move in chess called?
A move that leaves the opponent in check with no legal escape is checkmate. A game can also end by resignation, a draw or time forfeit.
Checkmate ends 30% of games at 1000-1199 but only 20% at 2000-2199
Share of games ending each way. The lower the rating, the more games finish with a checkmate on the board; the higher the rating, the more finish on the clock.
- 29.85% Checkmate
- 38.10% Resignation
- 29.24% Time forfeit
- 26.92% Checkmate
- 41.37% Resignation
- 28.99% Time forfeit
- 24.60% Checkmate
- 43.12% Resignation
- 29.40% Time forfeit
- 22.48% Checkmate
- 43.44% Resignation
- 30.91% Time forfeit
- 21.13% Checkmate
- 41.60% Resignation
- 33.85% Time forfeit
- 19.96% Checkmate
- 39.02% Resignation
- 37.44% Time forfeit
- 20.64% Checkmate
- 36.53% Resignation
- 37.65% Time forfeit
Show the numbers as a table
| Rating band | Checkmate | Resignation | Time forfeit | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1000-1199 | 29.85% | 38.10% | 29.24% | 5,628,817 |
| 1200-1399 | 26.92% | 41.37% | 28.99% | 8,976,260 |
| 1400-1599 | 24.60% | 43.12% | 29.40% | 12,138,165 |
| 1600-1799 | 22.48% | 43.44% | 30.91% | 13,526,794 |
| 1800-1999 | 21.13% | 41.60% | 33.85% | 11,771,001 |
| 2000-2199 | 19.96% | 39.02% | 37.44% | 7,002,434 |
| 2200+ | 20.64% | 36.53% | 37.65% | 5,590,869 |
| How the game ends | What it is called | What the Laws say |
|---|---|---|
| The king is in check and cannot escape | Checkmate | The player who checkmates wins and the game ends at once (Article 5.1.1). |
| A player gives up | Resignation | The resigning player loses, unless the opponent could never checkmate, which is a draw (5.1.2). |
| The player to move has no legal move and is not in check | Stalemate | The game is drawn (5.2.1). |
| Neither side can checkmate with any legal moves | Dead position | The game is drawn (5.2.2). |
| Both players agree | Draw by agreement | The game is drawn once each side has made at least one move (5.2.3). |
| A player's time runs out | Time forfeit | That player loses, unless the opponent cannot checkmate, which is a draw (6.9). |
| The same position appears three times, or 50 moves pass with no capture and no pawn move | Draw by repetition or by the fifty-move rule | A draw, but only when the player to move claims it correctly (9.2 and 9.3). |
The move that delivers checkmate is written with a # in notation, as in Qh4# in the second position above. Many games never get that far: a game is often resigned instead, because experienced players can see the checkmate coming.
What do chess players say when they win?
The Laws of Chess do not ask a winner to say anything, because checkmate ends the game the moment it is on the board.
Under FIDE Article 5.1.1 the game is won by the player who has checkmated the opponent, and it ends immediately. You do not have to announce check or checkmate.
Wikipedia's glossary says that in casual games a player usually says check, and that this is not a requirement in tournament games.
The one phrase the Laws do name is j'adoube, said before touching a piece only to straighten it (Article 4.2.1). A resignation is usually shown by stopping the clocks, sometimes with a handshake or the words I resign. What is said after a win is custom, and the Laws set none.
What strong players say about the game
Three world champions on the endgame, the board and the game itself. Quotes are from Wikiquote, fetched 13 Nov 2026.
"In order to improve your game you must study the endgame before anything else." José Raúl Capablanca, Capablanca's Last Chess Lectures (1966), p. 23. The endgame terms above, opposition and passed pawns first, are where to start.
"Chess, like love, like music, has the power to make men happy." Siegbert Tarrasch, The Game of Chess (1931), Preface.
"On the chessboard, lies and hypocrisy do not survive long." Emanuel Lasker, Lasker's Manual of Chess (1925). A swindle works only until the opponent finds the one correct reply.
Sources: Capablanca on Wikiquote, Tarrasch on Wikiquote, Lasker on Wikiquote
A classic game with the terms in it
Paul Morphy won this game in 17 moves. It uses a pin, a sacrifice, an exchange, a decoy and a checkmate.
Paul Morphy against the Duke of Brunswick and Count Isouard, Paris, 1858. The game is more than 160 years old and in the public domain. Moves checked against Wikipedia, fetched 13 Nov 2026.
- 4...Bxf3 Exchange: Black gives the bishop for the knight and White recaptures with the queen.
- 6.Bc4 Development: the bishop comes out to c4 and aims at f7, the weak square from the Scholar's Mate pattern.
- 9.Bg5 Pin: the bishop on g5 pins the knight on f6 to the queen on e7.
- 10.Nxb5 Sacrifice: White gives up the knight for a pawn to open the b-file and keep the black king in the centre.
- 11.Bxb5+ Check: the bishop takes the pawn on b5 and checks along the diagonal to e8.
- 11...Nbd7 Interpose: Black blocks the check with the knight, which is now pinned to its king.
- 13.Rxd7 Exchange sacrifice: White gives a rook for a knight to keep the attack going.
- 16.Qb8+ Decoy: the queen sacrifice drags the knight from d7 to b8, away from the d-file.
- 17.Rd8# Checkmate: the rook gives check on d8 and the bishop on g5 covers e7, so the king has no square.
All the moves: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bg4 4. dxe5 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 dxe5 6. Bc4 Nf6 7. Qb3 Qe7 8. Nc3 c6 9. Bg5 b5 10. Nxb5 cxb5 11. Bxb5+ Nbd7 12. O-O-O Rd8 13. Rxd7 Rxd7 14. Rd1 Qe6 15. Bxd7+ Nxd7 16. Qb8+ Nxb8 17. Rd8#
Sources: Opera Game on Wikipedia
Chess terms by topic
All 198 terms sorted into ten topics, with the guide that goes deepest on each.
| Topic | Terms | Guide to open |
|---|---|---|
| The board | Attack, Back rank, Centre, Control, Dark squares, Diagonal, File, Flank, Half-open file, Kingside, Light squares, Long diagonal, Major piece, Minor piece, Open file, Queenside, Rank, Semi-open file | Chess board setup and chess piece names |
| Rules and moves | Capture, Castle long, Castle short, Castling, En passant, Illegal move, J'adoube, Legal move, Pawn promotion, Promotion, Queening, Touch rule, Touch-move, Underpromotion | Castling, en passant, pawn promotion and chess rules |
| Check and results | Check, Checkmate, Dead position, Draw, Draw by agreement, Fifty-move rule, Fool's Mate, Perpetual check, Repetition, Resign, Scholar's Mate, Stalemate, Threefold repetition, Time forfeit | Check in chess and stalemate in chess |
| Tactics | Arabian mate, Back-rank mate, Battery, Blunder, Brilliancy, Clearance, Combination, Decoy, Deflection, Desperado, Discovered attack, Discovered check, Double attack, Double check, Exchange sacrifice, Forced move, Fork, Greek gift, Hanging piece, Inaccuracy, Interference, Interpose, Ladder mate, Mate in one, Mating net, Overloaded piece, Pin, Quiet move, Sacrifice, Skewer, Smothered mate, Tactic, Trapped piece, Undefended piece, Windmill, X-ray, Zwischenzug | Chess forks, pins in chess and smothered mate |
| Strategy | Active piece, Advanced pawn, Backward pawn, Bad bishop, Bind, Bishop pair, Blockade, Centre pawn, Closed position, Compensation, Connected rooks, Counterattack, Cramp, Development, Doubled pawns, Drawing line, Exchange, Exchange up, Good bishop, Hole, Initiative, Isolated pawn, King safety, Knight outpost, Lost position, Material, Middlegame, Minority attack, Mobility, Open position, Outpost, Overprotection, Passed pawn, Pawn break, Pawn chain, Pawn island, Pawn majority, Pawn storm, Pawn structure, Prophylaxis, Rook lift, Simplify, Space, Strong square, Tempo, Zugzwang | How to play chess and pawn structure |
| Openings | Book move, Fianchetto, Gambit, Hypermodern, Move order, Opening, Opening repertoire, Opening trap, Refutation, Semi-open game, Setup, Theory, Transposition, Variation | Opening pages and how to play chess |
| Endgame | Connected passed pawns, Endgame, Fortress, Lucena position, Mutual zugzwang, Naked king, Opposite-coloured bishops, Opposition, Outside passed pawn, Philidor position, Tablebase, Triangulation | Chess endgames, opposition and passed pawns |
| Notation | Algebraic notation, FEN, Notation, PGN, Ply | Chess notation |
| Results and clocks | Adjourn, Blitz, Bullet, Classical, Increment, Rapid, Time control, Time scramble, Zeitnot | Draws in chess and the fifty-move rule |
| Online and slang | Abort, Berserk, Blindfold chess, Bughouse, Chess960, Elo, Engine, Engine line, Evaluation, FIDE, Fish, Flag, GM, Hope chess, Lichess, Master, Miniature, Patzer, Premove, Puzzle, Rating, Rating farming, Round robin, Sandbagging, Simul, Swindle, Takeback, Tilt, Woodpusher | Play a game and use the words |
Questions players ask
What are some common chess terms?
Check, checkmate, stalemate, castling, en passant, promotion, fork, pin, skewer and zugzwang. Each has a one-sentence meaning in the A to Z list above, and every one except zugzwang can be tried on the board.
Should you say checkmate in chess?
No. The game is won the moment checkmate is on the board (FIDE Article 5.1.1), and the Laws have no rule that a player must announce it. Saying "check" is a habit in casual games and is not required in tournament games.
Do you have to move a chess piece if you touch it?
Yes. If you touch one of your own pieces with the intention of moving it, you must move it when it can move, and if you touch an enemy piece to capture it, you must capture it when you can (FIDE Article 4.3). To straighten a piece, say "j'adoube" or "I adjust" first (Article 4.2.1).
What is the pattern of a chess board called?
A chessboard is an 8 by 8 grid of 64 squares that alternate light and dark (FIDE Article 2.1), a checkered or chequered pattern. The columns are called files, the rows are called ranks, and a straight line of same-coloured squares from one edge to an adjacent edge is a diagonal (Article 2.4).
What are some terms in the game of chess?
This page defines 198 of them in ten groups: the board (rank, file, diagonal), rules and moves (castling, en passant, promotion), check and results (checkmate, stalemate, draw), tactics (fork, pin, skewer), strategy (tempo, zugzwang, pawn structure), openings, endgames, notation, clocks and online slang.
What do chess players say when they win?
There is no required phrase. The game is won the moment a player checkmates the opponent's king (FIDE Article 5.1.1) or the opponent resigns, and players usually say "checkmate" or "good game" and shake hands. Nothing in the Laws asks for a spoken announcement.
What is the most common way a chess game ends?
Resignation, by a small margin over time running out. In 89,396,008 Lichess rated games in September 2026, 40.06% ended in resignation, 31.95% on time and 24.58% in checkmate. At 1000-1199 checkmate is more common (29.85%) than at 2200+ (20.64%).
How often does en passant happen?
In 3.05% of rated Lichess games in September 2026, about one game in 33. At 1000-1199 it is 2.26% and at 2200+ it is 4.41%. In a further 5.18% of games a player had the capture available and did not take it.
How often does a game end in stalemate?
0.68% of rated Lichess games in September 2026, 607,962 of 89,396,008. It is most common at 1000-1199 (1.0%).
How often do players promote to something other than a queen?
In 0.35% of rated Lichess games in September 2026, about one game in 285. Of 14,356,509 promotions, 97.33% were queens, 1.62% rooks, 0.75% knights and 0.3% bishops.
Is a 1400 chess rating good?
On Lichess in September 2026, 1400-1599 is the third band of seven in the data and holds 12,138,165 of 89,396,008 games (13.6%). In computer-analysed games a 1400-1599 player makes 1.863 blunders a game, against 2.169 at 1000-1199 and 1.361 at 2200+, and 24.6% of their games end in checkmate. Ratings differ between sites, so compare within one site.
Rules and sources
Rules: FIDE Laws of Chess, effective 1 January 2023, Articles 1 to 5.
Credits
Terms outside the Laws: Wikipedia, Glossary of chess, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_chess, read 12 November 2026. Chess.com, Chess terms, https://www.chess.com/terms, read 12 November 2026.
The list has 198 terms. Chess has many more, and individual openings have their own pages.
Every position was replayed with chess.js 1.4.0 on 12 November 2026. Legal-move checking on the board uses chess.js.
Piece set: MIT.