Every term that ever made you nod along

A short, forcing sequence of moves that wins material or delivers mate.

The long-term plan — where pieces belong and which structures to aim for — as opposed to tactics.

The four central squares (d4, e4, d5, e5) and the fight to control them.

The ability to make threats the opponent must answer, keeping them reacting rather than acting.

A single move, thought of as a unit of time; you 'gain a tempo' by making a useful move that also forces a reply.

How exposed your king is to attack — usually the most important factor in the middlegame.

One piece attacking two or more enemy pieces at the same time.

A piece that cannot move without exposing a more valuable piece behind it.

A pin in reverse — the valuable piece is in front and must move, exposing the piece behind.

Moving one piece to unveil an attack from a piece behind it.

Two pieces give check at the same time; the king must move.

A knight delivers mate to a king trapped by its own pieces.

Checkmate on the back rank against a king trapped by its own pawns.

An escape square made for the king, usually by advancing a pawn in front of it.

An unexpected in-between move played before the 'obvious' recapture.

Giving up material on purpose for a larger gain — mate, more material, or a winning attack.

A repeating see-saw of discovered checks that harvests enemy material.

A square in or near enemy territory, protected by a pawn, where a piece can sit untouchable.

A file with no pawns on it — ideal territory for rooks.

The arrangement of the pawns, which shapes the plans available to both sides.

A pawn with no friendly pawns on the files beside it, so no pawn can defend it.

Placing a piece directly in front of an enemy pawn to stop it advancing.

Preventing the opponent's ideas before pursuing your own.

A square that can no longer be defended by a pawn, inviting an enemy piece to settle there.

Bringing your pieces off the back rank into active, useful positions.

The starter rules: control the centre, develop pieces, castle early, don't move the queen out too soon.

An opening that sacrifices material (usually a pawn) for development, the centre, or attacking chances.

Developing a bishop to the long diagonal from b2, g2, b7 or g7.

The body of established, analysed best moves in known openings and standard endgames.

A pawn with no enemy pawns able to block or capture it on its way to promotion.

A pawn reaching the last rank becomes any piece you choose — almost always a queen.

Kings facing each other with one square between them; the side NOT to move usually holds the advantage.

A position where every legal move worsens your position — but passing is not allowed, so you must move.

In the endgame the king becomes a strong piece and should march toward the action.

The one move where the king and a rook move together, tucking the king to safety.

A special pawn capture of a pawn that just advanced two squares, as if it had moved only one.

The side to move has no legal move and is not in check — the game is an immediate draw.

The king is in check and there is no legal way out — the game is over.

The standard way to record moves: files a–h, ranks 1–8, so e4 and Nf3 mean exact squares.

A single line of text that captures an exact position — pieces, side to move, castling rights and more.

The standard text format for recording a whole game — its moves, players, result and comments.

A number measuring playing strength; you gain points for beating higher-rated players and lose them for losing to lower-rated ones.

A refinement of Elo that also tracks how certain your rating is (your 'rating deviation').

The time-control categories, from a minute a side (bullet) to hours (classical).

Time added to your clock after each move, so you are not flagged with a winning position.