Chess Terms Glossary – List of Chess Terminology, Phrases, Slang, and Lingo With Definitions
Are you looking for a list of Chess terms, phrases, and abbreviations? Then you’re in the right place.
Below is a full Chess dictionary and complete list of Chess Terminology. This page will help you learn every term and definition you’ll come across when chatting about Chess.
Last Updated: May 28th, 2022
Added the link to the Chessboard term that explains everything about the Chessboard.
- October 12th, 2021 :
Added additional links to the list so you can click them to navigate directly to the complete guide for that term.
The Chess Journal’s Chess Glossary below lists and explains all of the terms used in Chess. If you’re still learning Chess vernacular, this is the best place for you to start. Go through and familiarize yourself with the Chess lingo. If you would like for us to add and explain a term that is not listed here, then please go ahead and use our suggestion form.
Click on one of the terms below to get the full definition.
- 3 Checkmate Chess
- 4 Player
- Arena
- Activity
- Adjournment
- Advantage
- Attack
- AlphaZero
- Alekhine’s Gun
- Adjournment
- Arbiter
- Armageddon
- Atomic Chess
- Automate Chess
- Blunder
- Backrank Checkmate
- Blockade
- Backward Pawn
- Bad Bishop
- Battery
- Beth Harmon
- Blindfold Chess
- Blitz Chess
- Boden’s Mate
- Book
- Bughouse Chess
- Bullet Chess
- Castling
- Capture Anything
- Candidate Master (CM)
- Candidates Tournament
- Chaturaji
- Chaturanga
- Check
- Checkmate
- Chess.com
- Chess Boxing
- Chess Clock
- Chess Defense
- Chess Endgame
- Chess Engine
- Chess Match
- Chess Notation
- Chess Olympiad
- Chess Pieces
- Chess Piece Value
- Chess Ranking
- Chess Rating
- Chess Tactics
- Chess Titles
- Chess Turn
- Chess Variants
- Chess960
- Chessboard
- Chessmaster Game
- Closed
- Combination
- Correspondance Chess
- Crafty
- Cramped
- Crazyhouse Chess
- Cross-Check
- Draw
- Discovery
- Development
- Deep Blue
- Deflection
- Desperado
- Discovered Attack
- Discovered Check
- Double Attack
- Doubled Pawns
- Elo Rating System
- En Passant
- En Prise
- English Chess Federation
- Evergreen Game
- Exchange Sacrifice
- Exchange Pieces
- FIDE
- FIDE Master
- Fianchetto
- File
- Fish
- Flagging
- Fog of War Chess
- Fool’s Mate
- Fossil
- Forced Move
- Fork
- Forsyth-Edwards Notation
- Fortress
- Forced
- Fritz
- Gambit
- Game of the Century
- Game of Kings
- Giveaway Chess
- Gothic Chess
- Grandmaster
- Hanging Piece
- HIARCS
- Horde Chess
- Houdini
- Hypermodern Chess
- Hippo Gambit
- Horse
- Howler
- Immortal Game
- Interference
- International Chess Day
- International Chess Federation FIDE
- International Master (IM)
- Isolated Pawn
- Isolated Queen’s Pawn
