Sage-Tips

Why is it called checkmate in chess?

The term checkmate is, according to the Barnhart Etymological Dictionary, an alteration of the Persian phrase “shāh māt” (شاه مات‎) which means “the King is helpless”. Others maintain that it means “the King is dead”, as chess reached Europe via the Arab world, and Arabic māta (مَاتَ‎) means “died” or “is dead”.

What does checkmate mean literally?

1 : to arrest, thwart, or counter completely. 2 : to check (a chess opponent’s king) so that escape is impossible. checkmate.

What is the original term of chess?

Sanskrit chaturanga
The original word for “chess” is Sanskrit chaturanga “four members of an army” — elephants, horses, chariots, foot soldiers. This is preserved in Spanish ajedrez, from Arabic (al) shat-ranj, from Persian chatrang, from the Sanskrit word.

What’s another word for checkmate?

In this page you can discover 27 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for checkmate, like: defeat, thwart, check, cut the ground from under, countermove, halt, counter, conquer, corner, vanquish and balk.

What is the 4 move checkmate called?

the Scholar’s Mate
What Is the Scholar’s Mate? In chess, a scholar’s mate is a four-move checkmate in which you use your white-square bishop and queen in a mating attack targeting the opponent’s f-pawn (f2 if white; f7 if black).

Where did the word stalemate originate from?

Stalemate is from an Old French word, estal, which means “place, position, or stand.” To be in a stalemate with an opponent is to be in a locked position, or a stalled place, where neither player can make a profitable move.

What is the Persian word for chess?

Shatranj
Shatranj (Arabic: شطرنج‎; Persian: شترنج‎; from Middle Persian chatrang چترنگ) is an old form of chess, as played in the Sasanian Empire.

How many moves can a bishop make in chess?

The Bishop may move 1-7 squares in any diagonal direction. The Bishop cannot jump over pieces and can only capture one piece per turn. Because the Bishop moves diagonally, it may never move to a different color other than the one it starts on. Each player has a light-squared Bishop and a dark-squared Bishop.

Do you have to say checkmate to win?

It is only necessary to say check or checkmate in a chess game if you are playing with your friends or family. If you are just teaching someone chess ( just like when I’m teaching my daughter chess) or you can say check after waiting for your opponent to move.

What is the origin of the word ‘checkmate’?

Here is a nicer descriptionfrom word-orgins.com Checkmate (14th c.) comes via Old French eschec mat from Persian shāh māt ‘the king is left helpless’ From the very specific chess sense there developed more general applications such as ‘attack’, ‘arrest’, ‘stop’, ‘restrict’, and ‘verify’.

What is another name for a checkmate in chess?

For a list of checkmates, see Checkmate pattern. For other uses, see Checkmate (disambiguation). Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is a game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player’s king is in check (threatened with capture) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game.

What is the meaning of the word check in chess?

3 Answers. Check comes from Arabic “Sheikh”; mate comes from “mat”. Together the two Arabic words mean the sheikh or master or even king is dead, which signifies the end of a game of chess.

What does the Arabic word ‘mat’ mean in chess?

Together the two Arabic words mean the sheikh or master or even king is dead, which signifies the end of a game of chess. Or maybe it comes from the Arabic shahu-ka mat, literally, ‘your king is dead’. (Shah is king, the ka suffix means ‘your’, and as the previous commentators have said, ‘mat’ means ‘died’.