Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A situation in a chess game in which a player is forced to make an undesirable or disadvantageous move.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun chess A situation in which a player is forced to make a move.
  • noun in figurative uses

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[German Zugzwang : Zug, pull, move (from Middle High German zuc, pull, from Old High German, from ziohan, to pull; see deuk- in Indo-European roots) + Zwang, compulsion (from Middle High German twanc, from Old High German).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From German Zugzwang, literally "compulsion to move"

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word zugzwang.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • A term used in chess to describe the position where a player is forced to make a move, where his best move, if possible, would be to pass.

    December 22, 2006

  • I am going to say this word over, and over, and over. Just cuz it's fun.

    October 26, 2007

  • AbraxasZugzwang would be so proud. :)

    October 26, 2007

  • German -- compulsion to move

    January 29, 2009

  • There's a neatly illustrated non-chess zugzwang over here.

    September 6, 2013