![]() Puzzlingly the piece is called “ship” (or “boat”) in some other languages, including Russian ( lad’já) and Armenian ( navak).īishop: this piece has the widest range of names. English stuck with rook, but invented "to castle" for the king-and-rook move. In many European languages the piece is known as a tower or a castle – e.g. Rook: it was called ratha (“chariot”) in Sanskrit, rukh in Persian. In this case the piece name tends to universally reflect this ability: cavallo in Spanish, springare in Swedish, Springer in German. It reflects the unique ability of the piece to jump over other pieces. Knight: in the original Chaturanga the piece was called asva, which is Sanskrit for “horse”. The Spanish term peon also means “farmer,” which is reflected in a number of Germanic languages, e.g. Pawns: the original Sanskrit padati, or “foot soldier”, came to us via the Latin pedester to modern French pion and English pawn. In his article How Did the Chess Pieces Get Their Names?, which appeared on April 21, 2023, Frank Jacobs meticulously traces the various piece names in different languages around the world. ![]() This is reflected more or less recognizably in the piece names. It includes this map, which you can click to enlarge.Ĭhaturanga is Sanskrit for “four-limbed”, referring to the four sections of the Indian army: infantry, cavalry, elephants and chariots. If you want to know more about the migration of the game around the world, you should read Frank Jacobs' 2017 article How Chess Went Global. And that, you will immediately recognize, is the origin of the modern term ‘checkmate’. The game was called chaturanga, and when it migrated to Persia (around 700 AD), it was called chatrang, which was derived from the players exclaiming “shāh māt!” (“the king is helpless or dead”). Still no ChessBase Account? learn more > The ultimate chess experience every day, Pla圜 welcomes 20,000 chess players from all around the world – from beginner to grandmaster.Ĭhess was invented in India during the sixth century.Memorize it easily move by move by playing against the variation trainer. Still no ChessBase Account? learn more > Learn openings the right way! Build and maintain your repertoire.Still no ChessBase Account? learn more > Real Fun against a Chess Program! Play, analyze and train online against Fritz.Top authors like Daniel King, Lawrence Trent and Rustam Kasimdzhanov Still no ChessBase Account? learn more > Thousands of hours of high class video training.Still no ChessBase Account? learn more > Sac, sac, mate! Solve tactical positions of your playing strength.Store your games, training material and opening repertoire in the cloud. Still no ChessBase Account? learn more > My Games – Access your games from everywhere.Still no ChessBase Account? learn more > 8 million games online! Updated weekly, our definitive database has all the latest games.Checks and balances is from 1782, perhaps originally suggesting machinery. Blank check in the figurative sense is attested by 1849 (compare carte blanche). Checking account is attested from 1897, American English. The meaning "restaurant bill" is from 1869. have acted and reacted on each other, so that it is difficult to trace and exhibit the order in which special senses arose Hence also "mark put against names or items on a list indicating they have been verified or otherwise examined" (by 1856).įrom its use in chess the word has been widely transferred in French and English. Hence: "a counter-register as a token of ownership used to check against, and prevent, loss or theft" (as in hat check, etc.), 1812. Hence also the financial use for "written order for money drawn on a bank, money draft" (1798, often spelled cheque), which was probably influenced by exchequer. From that notion come the many extended senses: From the notion of "a sudden stoppage, hindrance, restraint" (1510s) comes that of "act or means of checking or restraining," also "means of detecting or exposing or preventing error a check against forgery or alteration." When his king is in check, a player's choices are severely limited. 1300 in a generalized sense, "harmful incident or event, hostile environment."Īs "an exposure of the king to a direct attack from an opposing piece" early 15c. 1300, in chess, "a call noting one's move has placed his opponent's king (or another major piece) in immediate peril," from Old French eschequier "a check at chess" (also "chess board, chess set"), from eschec "the game of chess chessboard check checkmate," from Vulgar Latin *scaccus, from Arabic shah, from Persian shah "king," the principal piece in a chess game (see shah also compare checkmate (n.)).
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