Although I dabbled in my youth, I’m pretty much a post-Queen’s Gambit chess player. I’ve really gotten into it over the past few years, although I’m still at around 1000 ELO (Daily), so just thought I’d provide a bit of info on the scene in Taiwan and some useful vocab in Mandarin.

via GIPHY

Most of my interactions have been online, but there are some meet-ups in Taipei, also happy to play over-the-board with anyone in and around Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall over lunch times.

If you want to play for Taiwan, you can join Team Taiwan on Chess.com (you can only play for one country at a time, but they’re flexible about the flag displayed in your profile). Also, feel free to add me and play me.

Although Xiangqi (象棋) is more popular here, there is a growing community of chess players too, including stand-up comic, presenter and podcaster Brian Tseng. He’s yet to disclose his Chess.com username, but he’s mentioned chess a good few times in his podcast, particularly in the King’s Gambit (王翼棄兵) episode, where he talks about applying the lessons of chess to everyday life.

You can find some cool stickers on Instagram, by searching for “rvdtor.”

You can also follow the progress of World Chess Champion Ding Liren (丁立人) on Weibo, although he seems to be playing less these days. And check out this Taichung-based chess YouTuber!

Chess Vocab:

西洋棋 xī​yáng​qí chess
棋盤 qí​pán chess board
一盤棋 yī​pánqí​ a game of chess
下棋 xià​qí to play chess
下一步棋 xià​yī​bùqí to make a chess move
隻 zhī measure word for piece
國王 guó​wáng king
皇后 huáng​hòu queen
主教 zhǔ​jiào bishop
馬 / 小馬 / 騎士 ​mǎ / xiǎomǎ / qí​shì knight
城堡 chéng​bǎo rook/castle
斜線 xié​xiàn diagonals (measure word: 條 tiáo)
兵 / 小兵 bīng / xiǎobīng pawn
黑格 hēigé black square
白格 báigé white square
黑 / 白格主教 hēi / báigé zhǔ​jiào black / white-square bishop
吃 / 敲 chī / qiāo to take (a piece)
翻騎士 fānqí​shì to move a knight

出馬 / 出騎士 chūmǎ / chū qí​shì to bring out your knight
站起來 zhàn​qǐ​lai (of a pawn) to advance
威脅 wēi​xié to threaten (a piece)
保護 bǎo​hù to protect (another piece)
棄兵 qìbīng to sacrifice a pawn
供兵 gōngbīng to offer up a pawn
回撤 huíchè to retreat (a piece)
對手 duì​shǒu opponent
回 huí to counter (with a move)
運算 yùn​suàn to calculate
評估 píng​gū to evaluate
復活 fù​huó to activate (a piece)
走 zǒu to walk (a piece) (e.g. 對手走了個小兵B5)
盤 （所有的選項） pán (suǒ​yǒu de xuǎn​xiàng) to consider (all your different options)
二打二 èr dǎ èr two-on-two
隊友 duì​yǒu teammate
動 dòng to move (a piece)
跳進來 tiàojìn​lái (of a knight) to jump into a square
下預防性的一步 xià yù​fáng​xìng de ​yī​bù to make a defensive move
等級分 děng​jífēn ELO
王前兵 wángqiánbīng king’s pawn
白方 báifāng white (the person playing white)
黑方 hēifāng black (the person playing black)
一手棋 yī​shǒuqí an opening/a gambit/a system
轉變成 to transpose zhuǎnbiàn​chéng (into a different system)
支援中心 zhī​yuán zhōng​xīn to support the center
進攻 jìn​gōng to attack
防禦 fáng​yù defense
后翼棄兵 hòuyìqìbīng Queen’s Gambit
王翼棄兵 wángyìqìbīng King’s Gambit
王翼印度進攻 wángyì yìn​dù jìn​gōng King’s Indian Attack
后翼印度防禦 hòuyì yìn​dù fáng​yù Queen’s Indian Defense
現代防禦 xiàn​dài fáng​yù the Modern Defense

This is clearly not an exhaustive list, and will continue adding other terms! Also, feel free to reach out with your own hard-won vocab!