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Writer's pictureclaire

Ajedrez-Chess/Vocab #1/Noun

Updated: Jun 19, 2020

Checkmate! Chess has always been one of my favorite childhood games and even today, there are national chess competitions (though I don't even have the intellectual capacity to beat my grandpa) In the post, I will be exploring the word for chess in spanish.



To be honest, it was quite nerve-wrecking to choose which word I would post first, but eventually it came down to a popular game most everyone had experience in playing.


Memory tool: 'Ajedrez' sounds like 'Ahead'. In chess, players must think ahead of their opponent to ultimately capture the king.

Meaning:

Ajedrez-Chess

Noun


Word Origin:

1. In North Africa (mostly Morocco), the Moors converted the Persian word ash-shatranj and shatranj into shaterej, which gave rise to the Spanish acedrex, axedrez, and finally, ajedrez (formerly pronounced ashedres, now a-khe-dreth)

Look below for credits


My sentences with Ajedrez

1. El ajedrez es un juego muy dificil (para/de) jugar

Question for readers: I am trying to say: Chess is a difficult game to play. Should I use para, de, or leave it as jugar?


2. Cuando era nina, jugaba al ajedrez con mi hermana, pero nunca era buena en este juego.

How about you guys? Comment down below :)


Pronunciation:

There are two ways of pronouncing 'ajedrez', depending on what region you are in

1) ah-heh-drehs (Latin America)

2)ah-heh-dreth (Spain)

Watch a video for more vocabulary immersion around chess in Spanish


Did you enjoy this blog post? Comment or like down below and make sure to come back daily for more! If I made any grammatical mistakes, please let me know. All suggestions are welcome


Bibliography:

1. Wall, Bill. “The Etymology of Chess.” The Etymology of Chess « ChessManiac, Chess Manic, 2015, www.chessmaniac.com/the-etymology-of-chess/.


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