The D-words in chess
Knowing the rules of chess is not enough. If you want to master the game, you have to practice to achieve perfection. However if you are looking for excellence, that cannot be achieved without studying the game vigorously. The grand chess masters spend years
exploring the different nuances of the game in order to gain a deeper understanding. But they too started with the basics. If you want to understand chess literature, you have to understand the chess terminologies first. We have made your life easy by explaining
all the important chess terms that start with a D. So let’s take a dive into D-land.
Let’s start with the simplest one first. We are all familiar with the word Decoy. It means the same in chess as it does anywhere else. It is tactic used by a player in an attempt to attract an opponent’s piece to a square, which would give a player an advantage
in the game. A situation that does not give any advantage to either of the players is called a Dead Draw. This happens in case both players have insufficient material in order to do a checkmate, or when no progress can be made unless either player commits
an obvious mistake.
Something which saves a player from making obvious mistakes is a good Defence. It may be one move or a series of moves consisting of a plan of defence, which are done in order to safeguard against the opponent’s expected or current onslaught. When an opponent’s
attack is strong, it sometimes becomes necessary to Deflect it. The attack is deflected from an important piece that is critical to the defence, therefore it is not affordable to lose it. In constrast to this, there is a piece called a Desperado. It gets its
name from the fact that it is desperate to be captured. Usually when a Desperado is captured, a stalemate is achieved.
Another simple D term in chess is Develop. It means to change the position of a piece and bring it to a square where it can be more actively and strategically used. In such a position, such a piece can often contribute towards a Discovered attack. This happens
when a piece or a pawn moves out of the way of a queen, rook or bishop. This movement exposes an opponent’s piece to the line of attack of a queen, rook or bishop. When the piece being attacked is a king, then the move is termed as a Discovered check. A move
in which a discovered check plays an essential role is a Double check. As the term suggests, this happens when the king is being checked by two of the opponent’s pieces, one of which has delivered a discovered check.
There are more D terms starting with a Double. Doubled pawns is a term used for two pawns of the same color, that are present on the same file. Similarly, Doubled rooks are two rooks of the same color present on the same file or rank.
A bit of an embarrassment in chess is a Duffer. It is the player that has not been able to master the game and therefore, is a weak player.
That brings us to the end of the D terms. We will end this article in the words of Vlastimil Hort, the famous German chess player: “I believe that Chess possesses a magic that is also a help in advanced age. A rheumatic knee is forgotten during a game of
Chess and other events can seem quite unimportant in comparison with a catastrophe on the chessboard”
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