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S

Sacrifice: The voluntary offer of material for compensation in space, time, Pawn structure, or even force. A sacrifice can lead to a force advantage in a particular part of the board. Unlike a combination, a sacrifice is not always a calculable commodity and often entails an element of uncertainty.

Schacchia Ludus: Medieval poem by Vida (the title means "The Game of Chess"), written in 1513. It inspired Sir William Jones's 1763 poem "Caissa".

Scholar's Mate: 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. Qh5 Nf6 4. Qxf7mate.

Score: A written record of a game containing all the moves; a player’s result in a game, match, or tournament.

Score Sheet: The sheet of paper on which a Chess score is recorded.

Sealed Move: The last move made before a game is adjourned. The move is not played on the board, but recorded on the player’s score sheet. Both players’ score sheets are then placed in an envelope which is sealed and presented to the arbiter.

Semi-open file: A file in front of a Queen or Rook that is occupied by just one enemy Pawn and none of your own. A file is still semi-open even if it contains pieces other than the Pawn.

Sham Sacrifice: A move which on the face of it appears to be a sacrifice, but if accepted will yield the player offering the piece a gain in material or a strong positional advantage.

Short Castling: Castling on the Kingside.

Simplify: To trade pieces to quiet down the position, to eliminate the opponent's attacking potential, or to clarify the situation. The player with the better position is more likely to simplify than the player with the worse position.

Simul: Another term for Simultaneous Display.

Simultaneous Display: Event where a single player (commonly a strong player) play several people all at the same time. Numerous boards are set up, in a circle or rectangle, and the single player stands “inside” this area, moving from board to board, usually playing a single move at a time. Also known as Simultaneous Exhibition or Simul.

Skewer: A threat against a valuable piece that forces that piece to move, allowing the capture of a less valuable piece behind it , on the same rank, file, or diagonal, after the attacked piece is moved.

SM: Senior Master.

Smothered Mate: A form of checkmate with a Knight where the King is unable to move because all the squares around him are occupied by Chessmen.

Solkoff Score: A tie-breaking system applicable to Swiss tournaments. A player's Solkoff Score is equal to the scores off all his opponents.

Sonneborn-Berger Score: A tie-breaking system. An individual's Sonneborn-Berger score equals the sum of the scores of the players beaten plus half the sum of the scores of players with whom draws were scored.

Soul of Chess: Philidor’s description of Pawns in Analyse du Jeu des Echecs (Analysis of Chess).

Space: The territory controlled by each player.

Span: Kmoch’s expression for the squares in front of and behind a Pawn.

Spanish Game: Also known as the Ruy Lopez. One of the oldest Chess openings, it was analyzed by Ruy Lopez in his 1561 book "Libro del Ajedrez".

Spite Check: A check by a player facing a mating attack which does not prevent the mating attack but only delays it.

Stalemate: A situation in which one side is unable to make a legal move although the king is not in check. A stalemate is a draw. For over 100 years this has been deemed a draw. Before that, stalemate was treated differently in different places, for example it has been held to be a win, a loss, and illegal, among others.

Staunton Chessmen: A pattern of Chessmen (the ordinary design found in plastic, wood, jade or whatever) named after Howard Staunton (1810 - 1874), a British Chess Champion . It was designed in 1835 by Nathaniel Cook who convinced Howard Staunton in 1852 that they should be designated Staunton Chessmen. They are the Chessmen required by FIDE.

Strategy: The reasoning behind a move, plan, or idea as opposed to the tactics: the carrying out of that plan.

Style: A player's way of playing Chess, which reflects his personality and preferences. Typically, in a game between players of opposing styles (for example, an attacker vs. a quiet positional player), the winner will be the one who successfully imposes his style on the other.

Swindle: A combination employed by a player with a losing position which converts his position into a win or draw. Such a combination is generally considered to be either avoidable by the opponent or the result of luck.

Swiss System: A method of pairing players at a tournament, developed in Switzerland in the 19th century by Dr. Julius Muller and first employed in 1895. The three fundamental rules of the Swiss System are:

a). No player meets the same opponent twice;
b). Pairings should match players with scores which are as similar as possible;
c). The number of games as White and as Black for each player should be kept as close as possible to equal throughout the tournament.

Symmetry: Position where the Chessmen of one side mirrors the position of the Chessmen of the other side.