Glossary of chess

This page explains commonly used terms in chess in alphabetical order. Some of these have their own pages, like fork and pin. For a list of unorthodox chess pieces, see Fairy chess piece; for a list of terms specific to chess problems, see Glossary of chess problems; for a list of chess-related games, see Chess variants.

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

[adjective: prophylactic] Prophylactic techniques include the blockade, overprotection, and the mysterious rook move.

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Z

References

Bibliography

Material

Material is a broad term for the (chemical) substance, or a mixture of substances that constitute a thing. See:-

Material may also refer to:

Material (film)

Material is a 2012 South African film, directed by Craig Freimond and written by Craig Freimond, Ronnie Apteker, Robbie Thorpe, Rosalind Butler and Riaad Moosa. After playing at Film Africa 2012, it has been shown at numerous film festivals around the world (London, International Film Festival of India, Busan) and gained a reputation as one of the best original South African films and a significant leap forward for the country's film industry. Its portrayal of the lives of Muslims in South Africa was seen as an honest attempt to tackle some of the social issues facing the country's multiracial society.

Plot

Set in the Muslim Indian enclave of Fordsburg, Johannesburg. Material revolves around the tempestuous relationship between Cassim Kaif and his aging father whose one dream is for his son to take over the family’s fabric shop, which is struggling to stay afloat. However, Cassim wants to be a stand-up comedian, a notion that his traditionalist father strongly disproves of. When Cassim lands a gig at a local bar, he has to find a way of keeping it a secret from his family. The film's portrayal of the clash between youth, tradition and religion, alternates between heart-wrenching family drama and hilarious snippets from the world of stand-up comedy.

Material (Aco album)

Material, also stylized as material, is Japanese singer-songwriter ACO's fifth studio album, released on May 23, 2001.

Material delves deep into the experimental, electronica-based music trend ACO touched upon on her previous album Absolute Ego.

Track listing

Chess

Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a checkered gameboard with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. Chess is played by millions of people worldwide, both amateurs and professionals.

Each player begins the game with 16 pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns. Each of the six piece types moves differently. The most powerful piece is the queen and the least powerful piece is the pawn. The objective is to 'checkmate' the opponent's king by placing it under an inescapable threat of capture. To this end, a player's pieces are used to attack and capture the opponent's pieces, while supporting their own. In addition to checkmate, the game can be won by voluntary resignation by the opponent, which typically occurs when too much material is lost, or if checkmate appears unavoidable. A game may also result in a draw in several ways.

Chess is believed to have originated in India, some time before the 7th century; the Indian game of chaturanga is also the likely ancestor of xiangqi and shogi. The pieces took on their current powers in Spain in the late 15th century; the rules were finally standardized in the 19th century.

Chess annotation symbols

When annotating chess games, commentators frequently use widely recognized annotation symbols. Question marks and exclamation points that denote a move as bad or good are ubiquitous in chess literature. Some publications intended for an international audience, such as the Chess Informant have a wide range of additional symbols that transcend language barriers.

The common symbols for evaluating the merits of a move are "??", "?", "?!", "!?", "!", and "!!". In these cases, the corresponding symbol is juxtaposed in the text immediately after the move (e.g. Re7? or Kh1!?, see algebraic chess notation).

Use of these annotation symbols is subjective, as different annotators use the same symbols differently. Moreover, an annotator's use of symbols is often influenced by the player's strength: a positional misjudgment that an annotator might give a "??" if played by a strong grandmaster might pass unremarked if played by a beginner.

Annotators' use of punctuation also may possibly be influenced by the result of the game (regardless of the actual quality of the move); one possible example came in the 11th game of the 1972 World Championship, when Spassky played an unexpected move, 14.Nb1, retreating the knight to its initial square. Spassky won the game, and several annotators gave the move two exclamation points. Edmar Mednis asserted that if Spassky had lost the game, the move would likely have been given two question marks instead.

Chess (surname)

Chess is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: