Obscure Chess Terminology

April 2, 2006 7:43 PM

I'm trying to recall a phrase, probably french in origin, that refers to the character of a specific period in a chess game when both sides have developed their pieces, but are loathe to attack.

It invokes the flavor of an equilibrium, where both players jockey for position, but neither is willing to take the risk of committing to offense, instead seeking a marginal advantage or preferring to respond to a counterattack. I originally read this term in an article in American Fencing where the author was drawing a very appropriate comparison to tactics in an epee bout. Can't recall the phrase, or find the article, and Google has yet to come through for me.

I've posted what I thought were complete unanswerables to askmefi before, only to be immediately enlightened. I suspect this one might be a stumper though...

posted by Manjusri to sports, hobbies, & recreation (9 comments total)

Détente?

Probably not, but I will keep looking.
posted by jenovus at 8:02 PM on April 2, 2006

Is this the article?
posted by jenovus at 8:16 PM on April 2, 2006

It doesn't quite sound like you're describing zugzwang, but it's a closely related concept.
posted by painquale at 9:39 PM on April 2, 2006

Zugzwang is close.

Let's see, Chess French...

En Passant, j'adoube...

That's all I can think of.

Source: Tournament chess many years ago.
posted by unixrat at 9:55 PM on April 2, 2006

I think that's the article, but the best definition I can come up with is prophylaxis, which is a situation where a player is intentionally defending, which will lead to the positional middlegame situation you described above.
posted by onalark at 10:04 PM on April 2, 2006

doubt
posted by It ain't over yet at 10:18 PM on April 2, 2006

It actually sounds like en garde describes what you're talking about quite well, but I'm pretty sure that's a fencing-only term, and a fairly obvious one, to boot.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 11:56 PM on April 2, 2006

Impasse? A situation that is so difficult that no progress can be made; a deadlock or a stalemate?

Bart: Hey Lis, whaddya call those guys in chess that don't matter?
Lisa: Well, a blockaded bishop is of little value, but I think you're referring to a pawn.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 12:01 AM on April 3, 2006

Thanks! It is a pleasure to be proven wrong so quickly again, though I am chagrined to note that the article is on the first page of google results for "chess+fencing". I was using wrong keywords driven by my rather distorted memory, and it didn't even occur to me that the article itself would be online, which is a real boon.

Strategic Balance is exactly what I was looking for, and Jenovus' link is indeed the article I was referring to. I also flagged Zugzwang because it is so closely related, and will be nearly as useful for my purposes.
posted by Manjusri at 1:51 AM on April 3, 2006