chess1
[ches]
- a game played on a chessboard by two people who maneuver sixteen pieces each according to rules governing movement of the six kinds of pieces (pawn, rook, knight, bishop, queen, king), the object being to bring the opponent's king into checkmate.
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Origin of chess1
chess2
[ches]
- any of several weedy species of bromegrass, especially Bromus secalinus.
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chess3
[ches]
- one of the planks forming the roadway of a floating bridge.
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Origin of chess3
1425–75; late Middle English ches tier, layer < ?
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for chess
Contemporary Examples
We thought this season it would be more fun to just start the chess game right away.
‘The Good Wife’ Creators on the Premiere’s Big Cary Twist, Will’s Death, and MoreKevin Fallon
September 22, 2014
One of his most entertaining books is about Chess Records, the legendary Blues record label.
With Suzanne, Vee saw someone who could be a pawn in her chess game.
‘Orange Is the New Black’ Star Uzo Aduba on Her Journey From Track Phenom to Crazy EyesMarlow Stern
June 11, 2014
It was like having a chess match against your grandfather, while everyone else played Call of Duty for money.
Ex- CIA Chief: Why We Keep Getting Putin WrongEli Lake, Noah Shachtman, Christopher Dickey
March 2, 2014
Russian chess players use an expression known as mnogohodovka, which describes a problem requiring several moves to resolve.
Historical Examples
I like to look at an affair of this sort as a chess problem, and to set myself to solve it.
The AvengerE. Phillips Oppenheim
"She probably has a chess board always at her elbow," Sally suggested.
The Dominant StrainAnna Chapin Ray
A couple of hours afterwards I returned to the cottage for chess as usual.
ChanceJoseph Conrad
Come, come in, well take a Game at Chess before Dinner, if we can.
The Works of Aphra BehnAphra Behn
I'd like you to give me a game at chess to-night, if you're not otherwise engaged.
Despair's Last JourneyDavid Christie Murray
chess1
- a game of skill for two players using a chessboard on which chessmen are moved. Initially each player has one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns, which have different types of moves according to kind. The object is to checkmate the opponent's king
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Word Origin
C13: from Old French esches, plural of eschec check (at chess); see check
chess2
- US a less common name for rye-brome
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Word Origin
C18: of unknown origin
chess3
- a floorboard of the deck of a pontoon bridge
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Word Origin
C15 (in the sense: layer, tier): from Old French chasse frame, from Latin capsa box
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for chess
n.
13c., from Old French esches "chessmen," plural of eschec "game of chess, chessboard; checkmate" (see check (n.)), from the key move of the game. Modern French still distinguishes échec "check, blow, rebuff, defeat," from plural échecs "chess."
The original word for "chess" is Sanskrit chaturanga "four members of an army" -- elephants, horses, chariots, foot soldiers. This is preserved in Spanish ajedrez, from Arabic (al) shat-ranj, from Persian chatrang, from the Sanskrit word.
The chess pieces are the block alphabet which shapes thoughts; and these thoughts, although making a visual design on the chessboard, express their beauty abstractly, like a poem. [Marcel Duchamp, address to New York State Chess Association, Aug. 30, 1952]
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper