How To Say All The Chess Pieces In Other Languages

Although you can always let your chess speak for itself, it's also great when you can communicate using words. In light of Chess.com's newly announced partnership with Duolingo, this article will teach you chess-related vocabulary in multiple languages.

• Chess Pieces And Terms In Other Languages
• Foreign Chess Terms In English

Chess Pieces And Terms In Other Languages

Let's start with the chess pieces, shall we? Here's how you can say every chess piece in 11 different languages. I also threw in some other common chess terms so you can impress your foreign friends. Let's start with Arabic, French, German, Indonesian, and Italian.

And here's Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish.

Foreign Chess Terms In English

Now, weirdly enough, it's also the case that sometimes we know chess terms in other languages without knowing what they literally mean. No more, I say! Or "não mais," even, if I were to speak Portuguese. Here are the most common chess terms that English borrowed from other languages and what they mean in English:

En Passant

I'm forced to start with en passant (see what I did there?). This French term means "in passing," and it describes the magical act of capturing a pawn with another pawn by landing behind it. 

Fianchetto

Did you know that fianchetto is actually the diminutive of an Italian word? We're talking about "fianco" which translates to "flank." It makes a lot of sense when you think about it: you call it a "fianchetto" ("little flank") when you develop your bishop on one of the flanks instead of the center. Why little flank? I have no idea. Maybe Italians are just used to cute little places like Burano, so they decided to be cute with their chess terms, too.

Zugzwang

Now, we arrive at the German chess terms that are harder to pronounce (at least for Portuguese speakers like me). Zugzwang means "compulsion to move," and it's not only hard to pronounce but also to spot during a game. On the bright side, the word has some rhythm and sounds cool. But not as cool as the famous "zugzwang immortal game" played by GM Aron Nimzowitsch, which you should definitely check out.

Zwischenzug

Zwischenzug actually translates to something like the English term "in-between move," despite Google thinking this has something to do with trains. 

Intermezzo

But if German is too hard for you (or if you're eating delicious pizza), you can also go with the Italian version of "in-between move." When you find one of these moves, roll up your sleeves, sit up on your chair, and proudly scream, "intermezzo!" But don't actually do it if you're in a tournament, or you risk getting kicked out. 

What is your favorite chess term or piece from a non-English language? Let us know in the comments below!