Do you intend to play chess with a Japanese person but don’t know what words to use? In this article, we will share a list of terms and words related to chess in Japanese. Take advantage of the situation and also highlight words from shogi, Japanese chess.
Chess Terms in Japanese
| Romaji | Japanese | Portuguese |
| chekkumeeto | チェックメート | Checkmate |
| anpasen | アンパサン | en passant capturing a pawn that just moved with another pawn |
| atsuryoku wo kakeru | 圧力をかける | To apply pressure in an area of the board |
| ban | 番 | player’s turn |
| bishoppu | ビショップ | Bishop |
| chekku | チェック | Check |
| chesu | チェス | Chess |
| chesu ban | チェス盤 | Chessboard |
| chuuban | 中盤 | mid-game |
| haichi | 配置 | arrangement of pieces on the board, etc. |
| hangeki | 反撃 | counterattack |
| ippo | 一歩 | one step, move one square (king) |
| joban | 序盤 | opening game |
| kaisetsu | 解説 | commentary on a game, etc. |
| kifu | 棋譜 | record of a chess game, go, etc. |
| kingu | キング | king |
| koma | 駒 | chess piece from another similar game |
| kougeki | 攻撃 | attack |
| koukan | 交換 | to exchange pieces (verb suru) |
| kuiin | クイーン | queen |
| kuro | クロ | player playing with black pieces |
| kuukan | 空間 | space as in the dominant space in the center of the board, etc. |
| kyasuringu | キャスリング | castling rook and king on both sides of the board |
| kyokumen | 局面 | the overall position or state of the board |
| masu | マス [升] | square on the board counts as 1 square hitomasu, 2 squares futamasu… |
| naito | ナイト | knight |
| naraberu | 並べる | to align pieces on a board, etc. |
| nyūmon | 入門 | introduction or guide to chess |
| pōn | ポーン | pawn |
| puromooshyon | プロモーション（also 昇格 | promotion of a pawn to another piece queen, etc. |
| rūku | ルーク | Rook |
| rules | ルール | how to play the game |
| senjutsu | 戦術 | tactics |
| senryaku | 戦略 | strategy |
| senshuken | 選手権 | championship, title used for chess and other sports |
| shiai | 試合 | match / game |
| shihai suru | 支配する | to dominate |
| shiro | シロ | player playing with white pieces |
| shuuban | 終盤 | endgame |
| te | 手 | a chess move |
| tenkai suru | 展開する | to develop a piece |
| torikaesu | とりかえす | to recapture a piece that just captured another piece |
| toru | とる | to capture a piece |
| ugokasu | (駒を）動かす | to move a piece [transitive] |
| ugoku | (駒が）動く | to move a piece [intransitive] |
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