chess /tʃes/ BrE AmE noun [uncountable]
[ Date: 1100-1200 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: esches , plural of escec ; ⇨ ↑ check 2 ]
a game for two players, who move their playing pieces according to particular rules across a special board to try to trap their opponent’s ↑ king (=most important piece) :
They meet fairly often to play chess.
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COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ play chess
Do you want to play chess?
■ chess + NOUN
▪ a chess player
Today, many chess players have online games.
▪ a chess game/match
Who won the chess game?
▪ a chess board (=with black and white squares on it)
There was a chess board set up on the table.
▪ a chess piece (=one that you move around the board)
Some of the chess pieces were missing.
▪ a chess set (=a complete group of the different chess pieces)
She gave him a beautifully carved wooden chess set.
▪ a chess move
You first have to learn the basic chess moves.
▪ a chess championship/tournament (=a chess competition)
Ray's taking part in a chess tournament.
▪ a chess club
a member of the school chess club
▪ a chess master (=a very skilled player)
An eight year-old who can beat a chess master is remarkable.
▪ a chess grand master (=the highest title a chess player can get)
Bobby Fischer was an American chess grandmaster.
▪ the chess world
He's a star of the chess world.