chess

1 of 2

noun (1)

ˈches 

: a game for 2 players each of whom moves 16 pieces according to fixed rules across a checkerboard and tries to checkmate the opponent's king

Illustration of chess

• chessboard with chess pieces arranged as at the beginning of a game

chess

2 of 2

noun (2)

1

: a weedy annual European bromegrass (Bromus secalinus) widely naturalized in North America as a weed especially in grain

2

: any of several weedy bromegrasses related to chess

Examples of chess in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

This old-fashioned dessert tastes a lot like the delicious coconut-pecan frosting found atop German chocolate cake, and the filling tastes like some combination of coconut, chess, and pecan pies. —Melinda Salchert, Southern Living, 21 Dec. 2025

Giannatos picked up his cellphone and called their mutual friend, Olexandr Bortnyk, another Charlotte chess grandmaster, who agreed that Naroditsky was amiss. —Théoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 18 Dec. 2025

But when some people are playing chess and other people are playing checkers, the rules are completely different. —Marvin Hurst, CBS News, 18 Dec. 2025

And Demis Hassabis, the now Nobel Laureate (for his work on AI science breakthrough AlphaFold) and former child chess prodigy, is at the center of Google’s efforts. —Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 17 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English chesse, ches, esches, borrowed from Anglo-French escheks, eschez "game of chess" — more at check entry 2

Noun (2)

origin unknown

First Known Use

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1736, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing chess

• chess pie

Rhymes for chess

• bless
• cress
• dress
• es
• ess
• esse
• fess
• guess
• jess
• less
• lesse
• mess

Kids Definition

chess

noun

ˈches

: a game for two players each of whom plays with 16 pieces on a checkerboard

Etymology

Noun

Middle English ches "game of chess," from early French eschés (same meaning), literally, "checks," from eschec "check" — related to check, checker