{"id":6825,"date":"2020-12-10T16:00:07","date_gmt":"2020-12-10T16:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/?p=6825"},"modified":"2020-12-07T17:43:22","modified_gmt":"2020-12-07T17:43:22","slug":"the-dutch-chess-part-2-chess-vocabulary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/the-dutch-chess-part-2-chess-vocabulary\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dutch & Chess – Part 2: Chess Vocabulary"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the miniseries\u00a0The Queen’s Gambit<\/a>, schaken\u00a0<\/em>(to play chess) has received a lot of attention. When I was a kid, I played schaak\u00a0<\/em>(chess) competitively with a Dutch\u00a0schaakvereniging\u00a0<\/em>(chess club). I was never that good, let alone at Beth Harmon’s level, but I had my fun and victories. I could really identify with the long and exhausting games that could last 4 hours or more. With the accurate depiction of schaak<\/em>, based on real\u00a0partijen\u00a0<\/em>(parties) played between\u00a0legendary\u00a0spelers\u00a0<\/em>(players), it is a wonderful homage to the game. So I decided that I would do my own little miniseries on schaak<\/em>\u00a0in the Netherlands. In this three-parter, I will look at the following questions: Did the Dutch ever have a wereldkampioen\u00a0<\/em>(world champion)? How does chess vocabulary translate to Dutch? And what if you wanted to get started playing chess in the Netherlands yourself? Today, we’ll take a look at some chess vocabulary, as there is quite some proprietary stuff going on.<\/p>\n

For other posts in this miniseries, click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/h4>\n

Voor het spel<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n
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The starting position of a chess game (Image by Moutard at Pixabay.com under Pixabay License)<\/p><\/div>\n

The first things to know are, of course, the names of the pieces and how the chess board works. Here’s a list:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
wit<\/em><\/td>\nwhite<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
zwart<\/em><\/td>\nblack<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
de koning <\/em><\/td>\nthe king<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
de dame, koningin<\/em><\/td>\nthe queen<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
de loper<\/em><\/td>\nthe bishop<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
het paard<\/em><\/td>\nthe knight<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
de toren<\/em><\/td>\nthe rook<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
de pion<\/em><\/td>\nthe pawn<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
het schaakbord, het bord<\/em><\/td>\nthe chess board, the board<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
het veld<\/em><\/td>\nthe square<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
de lijn<\/em><\/td>\nthe file (vertical lines)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
de rij<\/em><\/td>\nthe rank (horizontal rows)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
de diagonaal<\/em><\/td>\nthe diagonal<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
het centrum<\/em><\/td>\nthe center (the center four squares on the board)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
de koningsvleugel<\/em><\/td>\nthe kingside (the king\u2019s side of the board)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
de damevleugel<\/em><\/td>\nthe queenside (the queen\u2019s side of the board)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
noteren<\/em><\/td>\nto notate (chess moves)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
de notatie<\/em><\/td>\nthe notation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
de klok<\/em><\/td>\nthe clock<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
vluggertje<\/em><\/td>\nquickie (quick game of 5 minutes for each player)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
de simultaan<\/em><\/td>\nthe simultaneous (when one player plays multiple other players at the same time)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
de rating<\/em><\/td>\nthe rating (rating assigned to a player estimating their strength)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
aangeraakt\u00a0 is zetten<\/em><\/td>\ntouch-move rule (if you touched a piece, you have to move it. unless you say \u201cj\u2019adoube\u201d before touching the piece to put it properly back into its square, for example)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

With these basics, you get an idea of the names of each of the pieces, the board and what to call some chess situations. Let’s start playing!<\/p>\n

De opening<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n
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e4 (moving the white pawn two squares up, into the center) is the most common first move (Image at pxhere.com)<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
de opening<\/em><\/td>\nthe opening<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
de zet<\/em><\/td>\nthe move<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ontwikkelen<\/em><\/td>\nto develop<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
aanvallen<\/em><\/td>\nto attack (a piece)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
dekken<\/em><\/td>\nto defend, to protect (a piece)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
rokeren<\/em><\/td>\nto castle (moving the king two squares towards the rook and placing the rook on the square on the other side of the king)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
rokade<\/em><\/td>\ncastling<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
het damesgambiet<\/em><\/td>\nthe queen\u2019s gambit<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
herdersmat<\/em><\/td>\nscholar\u2019s mate (a checkmate that happens after 4 moves. because it is easily seen and averted, it is really only played by a beginner against a beginner)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The opening has a few words related to it. It is the time that you make your first\u00a0zetten\u00a0<\/em>to conquer\u00a0het centrum<\/em> and to\u00a0ontwikkelen\u00a0<\/em>your\u00a0stukken<\/em>. Ideally, you can\u00a0rokeren<\/em>, while\u00a0dekken\u00a0<\/em>your\u00a0stukken\u00a0<\/em>and not losing them. While e4, moving the\u00a0koningspion<\/em> (king’s pawn) two squares up, is a common opening, the damesgambiet<\/em>, where you use the damespion <\/em>(queen’s pawn) and after zwart\u00a0<\/em>plays the same move, you play c4 and offer your pion <\/i>for a better\u00a0stelling.<\/em> What you want to avoid at all costs is the\u00a0herdersmat<\/em>! Here’s how you can avoid it:<\/p>\n