B2 · 40 Wörter

Chess and board games

The pieces, the moves and the words said across a table.

Chess vocabulary is worth having in German for a reason that has little to do with chess: the pieces are named after ordinary things and several of the words are used far outside the game. Der Zugzwang has been borrowed into English unchanged, das Endspiel is said of any negotiation, and schachmatt shortens to matt, which then means exhausted. Two pieces are not what an English speaker expects: der Springer is the knight — a jumper, not a horseman — and der Läufer is the bishop, a runner. And die Dame is the queen here and also the whole game of draughts.

Die Wörter

Verb (4)

schlagento capture, to takeVerbB1

Mit dem Bauern kann man diagonal schlagen.With a pawn you capture diagonally.

Irregular: schlägt, schlug, geschlagen.

rochierento castleVerbC1

Er hat früh rochiert.He castled early.

The only move in which two pieces move at once.

opfernto sacrificeVerbB2

Er opfert eine Figur für den Angriff.He sacrifices a piece for the attack.

Regular, and used far outside the game.

aufgebento resign; to give upVerbB1

Er hat vor dem Matt aufgegeben.He resigned before the mate.

Separable: gibt auf.

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