Glossary of Chess - W

W

Waiting move

A passive but harmless move, which is played while waiting for initiative from the opponent.

Weak square

A square that cannot be easily defended from attack by an opponent. Often a weak square is unable to be defended by pawns (a hole) and can be theoretically occupied by a piece. Exchange or loss of a bishop may make all squares of that bishop's color weak resulting in a "weak square complex" on the light squares or the dark squares.

WFM

Abbreviation for the Woman FIDE Master title.

WGM

Abbreviation for the Woman Grandmaster title.

White (See White and Black in chess)

The designation for the player who moves first, even though the corresponding pieces, referred to as "the white pieces", are sometimes actually some other (usually light) color. Similarly, the light-colored squares on the chessboard are often referred to as "the white squares" even though they often are not literally white. See also Black, First-move advantage in chess.

Wild

An extremely unclear or mind–bogglingly complicated position or move.

WIM

Abbreviation for the Woman International Master title.

Win

A victory for one of the two players in a game, which may occur due to checkmate, resignation by the other player, the other player exceeding the time control, or the other player being forfeited by the tournament director. Chess being a zero-sum game, this results in a loss for the other player.

Win/winning position

A position is said to be a win (or a winning position) if one specified side, with correct play, can eventually force a checkmate against any defence (i.e. perfect defence).

Windmill

A combination in which two pieces work together to deliver an alternating series of checks and discovered checks in such a way that the opposing king is required to move on each turn. It is a potent technique since on every other move, the discovered check may allow the non-checking piece to capture an enemy piece without losing a tempo. The most famous example is Torre–Lasker, Moscow 1925. Also called a see-saw.

Wing

The queenside a, b, and c-files, or the kingside f, g, and h-files, also called flank.

Wing Gambit

Is the name given to variations of several openings in which one player gambits a wing pawn, usually the b pawn.

Winning percentage

A number calculated by taking the percentage of games won by a player plus half the percentage of drawn games. Thus, if out of 100 games a player wins 40, draws 32, and loses 28, her winning percentage is 40 plus half of 32, i.e. 56 percent.

Woman FIDE Master (WFM)

A women-only chess title ranking below Woman International Master.

Woman Grandmaster (WGM)

The highest ranking gender-restricted chess title except for Women's World Champion.

Woman International Master (WIM)

A women-only chess title ranking below Woman Grandmaster and above Woman FIDE Master.

Woodpusher

A weak chess player, also referred to as a "fish", "patzer" or "duffer".

World Champion

A winner of the World Chess Championship.

Wrong bishop

See Wrong rook pawn.

Wrong rook pawn

With a bishop, a rook pawn may be the wrong rook pawn, depending on whether or not the bishop controls its promotion square.