chess

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A board game for two players who move sixteen pieces each to try to trap the other player's king.

   My grandfather taught me how to play chess when I was young.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Chess entered English in the 12th century from Old French esches, the plural of eschec, and probably goes back ultimately to Sanskrit. The game appears to have begun in India or China around the 6th century AD, before being adopted in Persia and spreading west through the Arabs.

From Middle English ches, chesse, from Old French eschés, plural of eschec, from Medieval Latin scaccus, from Arabic شَاه (šāh, “king [in chess]”), from Classical Persian شاه (šāh, “shah, king”), from Middle Persian 𐭬𐭫𐭪𐭠 (mlkʾ /⁠šāh⁠/), from Old Persian 𐏋 (XŠ /⁠xšāyaθiya⁠/). Compare German Schach and Italian scacchi. Compare French échecs (“chess”) and its descendants: Catalan escacs and Dutch schaak. More at check and shah (“king of Persia or Iran”).

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary