Checkmate Comes From Persian for the King Is Helpless
Chess is a two-player strategy game on a 64-square board. Its vocabulary carries Persian and Arabic words into English almost unchanged.
Chess is a two-player game of strategy played on a board of sixty-four squares. Its language is Persian: *shah* means king, and *shah mat*, the source of *checkmate*, means the king is helpless or defeated — not, as often claimed, that the king is dead. From *shah* English also drew *check*, and from the chequered board came *exchequer*, the treasury that once used a chequered cloth for counting. The game reached Europe from India through Persia and the Arab world.
- The board game. *A game of chess.*
- Checkmate — the winning move. *Checkmate in three.*
- Check — an attack on the king. *He is in check.*
- Stalemate — a draw with no legal move. *The game ended in stalemate.*
- Gambit — an opening sacrifice. *The queen's gambit.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | chess | Play chess. |
| Compound | chessboard | A chessboard. |
| Related | check | In check. |
| Related | checkmate | Checkmate. |
| Persian | shah | King. |
- She learned chess at seven.The game.
- Shah mat means the king is helpless.Etymology.
- It was a political gambit.Figurative use.
Chess words in general English
- Gambit — an opening move that concedes something for advantage
- Stalemate — a deadlock with no way forward
- Pawn — a person used by others
- Endgame — the final phase of any plan
- Checkered or chequered — from the pattern of the board
Old French *esches*, the plural of *eschec*, check, from Persian *shah*, king. The game travelled from India through Persia and the Arab world to Europe.
Does checkmate mean the king is dead?
No. Shah mat in Persian means the king is helpless or defeated. The dead reading is a later folk explanation.
What is the difference between checkmate and stalemate?
Checkmate ends the game in a win. Stalemate is a draw: the player to move is not in check but has no legal move.