Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CHESS, n.¹ [Fr. echecs. See Check.]

An ingenious game performed by two parties with different pieces,on a checkered board, that is, a board divided into sixty-four squares or houses. The success of the game depends almost entirely on skill. Each gamester has eight dignified pieces, called a king, a queen, two bishops, two knights, and two rooks or castles; also eight pawns. The pieces of the parties are of different colors. – Encyc.