chessboard

American  

[ches-bawrd, -bohrd] / ˈtʃɛsˌbɔrd, -ˌboʊrd /

noun

• chessboards
  plural

1. the board, identical with a checkerboard, used for playing chess.

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chessboard British  

/ ˈtʃɛsˌbɔːd /

noun

1. a square board divided into 64 squares of two alternating colours, used for playing chess or draughts

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• chessboards
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of chessboard

1400–50; late Middle English. See chess ¹, board

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chessboard chessboards

I’d bring over my chessboard and we’d play for hours on his porch.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Imagine a large chessboard with a dot in the center of each square.

From Slate ● Jun. 22, 2026

Eventually, in the book’s climactic scene, he faces Mr. Carlsen again in a hybrid tournament, with a digital chessboard, a live audience and extensive security precautions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026

“If you move one piece on the chessboard, it changes everything for your next move,” she says.

From Barron's ● Nov. 12, 2025

In front of me is a fully clothed Guillermo and a fully clothed English guy on opposite sides of a chessboard.

From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson

Over the weekend, a representative from Goliath Games went on NPR and announced that sales of chessboards were up one thousand percent from last holiday season.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 24, 2020

Before “Fortnite,” “Minecraft,” “Myst,” “Tetris” and “Pong” there were backyard baseball diamonds, chessboards and hopscotch tiles etched or placed on the ground.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2020

There are footballs, golf balls, softballs, chessboards, Legos–everything a curious kid could dream of–covering our office space.

From Time ● Nov. 2, 2015

The alternating colors on chessboards should be muted—“soft to the eye, not glaring or highly reflective, as players study the board for hours at a time,” said Mr. Seirawan.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2015

The floors were like marble chessboards, and the ceilings were like cakes.

From "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer

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