chessboard

American

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

noun

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

chessboard British

/ ˈtʃɛsˌbɔːd /

noun

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

"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

Etymology

Origin of chessboard

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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

From Barron's • Nov. 12, 2025

Sir Stephen Fry lived up to his brainy reputation over breakfast, by predicting the chessboard was back: "I could be a knight - oh, I already am," he joked.

From BBC • Oct. 23, 2025

Small wonder, then, that her most reliable companion is an AI-powered chessboard, which offers direct answers to her most pressing questions.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 3, 2025

The so-called "database engineering" has opened the doors to biomedical research for many computer scientists and mathematicians, who often play essential roles on this chessboard.

From Science Daily • Nov. 26, 2024

Alex pushed open the heavy swing door and went into a room with a tiled chessboard floor and about fifty shelves fanning out from a central reception area.

From "Stormbreaker" by Anthony Horowitz

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023