chess
A game played by two people on a square board, in which each player has 16 pieces that can be moved on the board in different ways
Tom doesn't know how to play chess.
Oxford Essential Dictionary
chess
noun (no plural)
a game that two people play on a board with black and white squares on it (called a chessboard). Each player has sixteen pieces that can be moved around the board in different ways.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
chess
chess /tʃes/ BrE AmE noun [uncountable]
[Date: 1100-1200; Language: 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 important piece):
They meet fairly often to play chess.
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ play chess Do you want to play chess?
■ chess + NOUN
▪ a chess player Today, many chess players have online games.
▪ a chess game/match Who won the chess game?
▪ a chess board (=with black and white squares on it) There was a chess board set up on the table.
▪ a chess piece (=one that you move around the board) Some of the chess pieces were missing.
▪ a chess set (=a complete group of the different chess pieces) She gave him a beautifully carved wooden chess set.
▪ a chess move You first have to learn the basic chess moves.
▪ a chess championship/tournament (=a chess competition) Ray's taking part in a chess tournament.
▪ a chess club a member of the school chess club
▪ a chess master (=a very skilled player) An eight year-old who can beat a chess master is remarkable.
▪ a chess grand master (=the highest title a chess player can get) Bobby Fischer was an American chess grandmaster.
▪ the chess world He's a star of the chess world.
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
chess
chess [tʃes] [tʃes] noun
uncountable
a game for two people played on a board marked with black and white squares on which each playing piece (representing a king, queen, castle, etc.) is moved according to special rules. The aim is to put the other player's king in a position from which it cannot escape (= to checkmate it).
Word Origin:
[chess] Middle English: from Old French esches, plural of eschec ‘a check’ from medieval Latin scaccus, via Arabic from Persian šāh ‘king’.
Example Bank:
• a star of the chess world
• the position of the chess pieces on the board
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition
chess / tʃes / noun [ U ]
A2 a game played by two people on a square board, in which each player has 16 pieces that can be moved on the board in different ways
© Cambridge University Press 2013
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary
chess
/tʃes/
Chess is a game for two people, played on a chessboard. Each player has 16 pieces, including a king. Your aim is to move your pieces so that your opponent’s king cannot escape being taken.
...the world chess championships.
N-UNCOUNT
Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary
chess
chess /ˈʧɛs/ noun [noncount] : a game for two players in which each player moves 16 pieces across a board and tries to place the opponent's king in a position from which it cannot escape
• We played (a game of) chess.
- often used before another noun
• a chess player/champion
• a chess match/tournament
