chess

[ ches ]

/ tʃɛs /

noun

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.

Origin of chess

1150–1200; Middle English < Old French esches, plural of eschec check¹

chess

[ ches ]

/ tʃɛs /

noun, plural chess·es.

any of several weedy species of bromegrass, especially Bromus secalinus.

chess

[ ches ]

/ tʃɛs /

noun, plural chess, chess·es.

one of the planks forming the roadway of a floating bridge.

Origin of chess

1425–75; late Middle English ches tier, layer < ?

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for chess

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 More|Kevin Fallon|September 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
One of his most entertaining books is about Chess Records, the legendary Blues record label.
The Stacks: How Leonard Chess Helped Make Muddy Waters|Alex Belth|August 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
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 Eyes|Marlow Stern|June 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
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 Wrong|Eli Lake, Noah Shachtman, Christopher Dickey|March 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Russian chess players use an expression known as mnogohodovka, which describes a problem requiring several moves to resolve.
Putin’s Police Arrest Pussy Riot Again In Court Crackdown|Michael Weiss|February 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Colonel would climb up and have forty winks in the top one before the Boy got in for their game of chess.
The Magnetic North|Elizabeth Robins (C. E. Raimond)
General Delamain I discovered was a chess player, and many were the excellent games we played together.
The Secrets of a Kuttite|Edward O. Mousley
During his administration England again became a Continental power and played her game of European chess.
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 8 (of 12)|Robert G. Ingersoll
Will you three come here to play a game of chess on Friday night at ten?
The Making of a Saint|William Somerset Maugham
He found the colonel in his night-gown, and his great chair, engaged with another officer at a game of chess.
Amelia|Henry Fielding

British Dictionary definitions for chess

chess

/ (tʃɛs) /

noun

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

Word Origin for chess

C13: from Old French esches, plural of eschec check (at chess); see check

noun

US a less common name for rye-brome

Word Origin for chess

C18: of unknown origin

noun plural chess or chesses

a floorboard of the deck of a pontoon bridge

Word Origin for chess

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

chess

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]

chess

noun

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Origin of chess

chess

noun, plural chess·es.

chess

noun, plural chess, chess·es.

Origin of chess

Examples from the Web for chess

chess

noun

Word Origin for chess

noun

Word Origin for chess

noun plural chess or chesses

Word Origin for chess

chess