chess

chess
chess 13c., from O.Fr. esches "chessmen," plural of eschec "game of chess, chessboard; checkmate" (see CHECK (Cf. check) (n.)), from the key move of the game. Modern French still distinguishes échec "check, blow, rebuff, defeat," from pl. échecs "chess." The original word for "chess" is Skt. chaturanga "four members of an army" -- elephants, horses, chariots, foot soldiers. This is preserved in Sp. ajedrez, from Arabic (al) shat-ranj, from Pers. chatrang, from the Skt. 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]

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • chess — [ tʃes ] noun uncount * a game for two people, played on a board with black and white squares, using different shaped pieces, including two KINGS. The aim is to get the other player s KING into a position where it cannot move: Do you play chess?… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

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  • Chess — (ch[e^]s), n. [OE. ches, F. [ e]checs, prop. pl. of [ e]chec check. See 1st {Check}.] A game played on a chessboard, by two persons, with two differently colored sets of men, sixteen in each set. Each player has a king, a queen, two bishops, two… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • chess — [tʃes] n [U] [Date: 1100 1200; : Old French; Origin: esches, plural of escec; CHECK2] a game for two players, who move their playing pieces according to particular rules across a special board to try to trap their opponent s ↑king (=most… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • chess — ► NOUN ▪ a board game for two players, the object of which is to put the opponent s king under a direct attack, leading to checkmate. ORIGIN from Old French esches plural of eschec a check , from a Persian word meaning king …   English terms dictionary

  • chess — chess1 [ches] n. [ME ches, chesse < OFr esches, pl. of eschec: see CHECK] a game of skill played on a chessboard by two players, each with 16 chessmen limited in movement according to kind, the object being to checkmate the opponent s king… …   English World dictionary

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