chess

n. [ OE. ches, F. échecs, prop. pl. of échec check. See 1st Check. ] A game played on a chessboard, by two persons, with two differently colored sets of men, sixteen in each set. Each player has a king, a queen, two bishops, two knights, two castles or rooks, and eight pawns. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A species of brome grass (Bromus secalinus) which is a troublesome weed in wheat fields, and is often erroneously regarded as degenerate or changed wheat; it bears a very slight resemblance to oats, and if reaped and ground up with wheat, so as to be used for food, is said to produce narcotic effects; -- called also cheat and Willard's bromus. [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Other species of brome grass are called upright chess, soft chess, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The wild service of Europe (Purus torminalis). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The board used in the game of chess, having eight rows of alternate light and dark squares, eight in each row. See Checkerboard. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The chessboard and the checkerboard are alike. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The wooden mold in which cheese is pressed. Simmonds. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. [ Cf. F. chassis a framework of carpenty. ] (Mil.) The platforms, consisting of two or more planks doweled together, for the flooring of a temporary military bridge. Wilhelm. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞A singular, chess, is sometimes used. “Each chess consists of three planks.” Farrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. chesil, AS. ceosel gravel, sand. ] Gravel or pebbles. Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Chessmen /plu>. A piece used in the game of chess. [ 1913 Webster ]