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C

Caissa: Goddess ( muse) of Chess.  The name is taken from a nymph in a poem composed by Sir William Jones in 1763.  It is based on Vida’s ‘Scacchia ludus’, in which the nymph is referred to as ‘Scacchis’.

Calculation of variants: The working out of chains of moves without physically moving the pieces.

Candidate: A player who competes in the eliminating contest for the privilege to challenge the World Chess Champion. The Candidates ’ matches are the final eliminating stage of the competition to decide the World Champion’s opponent in the title match.

Capture : The movement of a minor or major piece from the departure cell to the arrival cell and to capture a enemy piece in the process.  To capture, a player must make a legal move that lands a piece on a cell containing an enemy piece. The captured enemy piece is taken from the board and removed from the game.  To capture a MP/mp means to deprive your opponent ( :A or:B) of the use of that MP/mp.  The MP/mp has been taken and leaves the board.

Castling: A combined move of King and Rook permitted once for each side during a game. The King moves two squares to either side, and the Rook toward which it moves is placed on the square the King passed over. This is the only move in which the King moves more than one square at a time and in which more than one piece is moved.

Center: The four squares in the geometrical center of the board. The opening moves are meant to gain control of the center. The 'e'' and "d" files are the center files.

Check: It refers to a King that is being attacked by an enemy piece. The King should move out of check, place another piece between the King and the attacking piece, or the attacking piece must be captured.

Check Mate: An attack against the opponent's King which the King cannot escape. When a player Checkmates his enemy's King, he wins the game.

Clearance sacrifice: A move that sacrifices an obstructing piece to make way for a strong or better move.

Clock: Paired clocks used in all official tournaments and in club games. After a player moves, he depresses a lever that stops his clock and starts his opponent's. Each clock, therefore, registers only the elapsed time for one player. If a player exceeds the time limit set on his clock, a flag falls and he loses the game, even if he has a clear winning position.

Closed file: A file blocked by both black and white Pawns.

Closed game: A game which the position is obstructed by blocking Pawns. Such a position favors Knights over Bishops since Pawns often block diagonals.

Combination: A series of moves which will force an immediate win or an overwhelming advantage in material or position. Most combinations sometimes start with a sacrifice of material.

Connected passed Pawns: Two or more passed Pawns of the same color on adjacent files which can protect themselves.

Connected Pawns: Pawns adjacent to one another.

Correspondence Chess: Chess game played by Post or an electronic transmission.

Counter Gambit: A strategy in which a minor piece or Pawn is offered for sacrifice in response to an earlier Gambit by the opponent.

Counter play: When the player who has been on the defensive starts his own aggressive action.