Zugwzang

What is Zugzwang in chess?

• Zugzwang is a chess concept that describes a position in which you are forced to make a bad move. This occurs due to the nature of the game of chess (you cannot pass your turn) and the fact that you may find yourself in a position where the only legal moves you have are all very bad.
• There are certain concepts to understand that will improve your ability to use Zugzwang to your advantage, including opposition, triangulation, and trébuchets. Once you know these, you’re on your way to being a Zugzwang master.
• Zugzwang appears mostly in endgames, but it can also feature in the opening and middlegame. There are several examples of this occurring in chess history, including the ‘Immortal Zugzwang Game’, explained below.

Learning chess is like scaling a mountain; the higher you climb, the better the view gets. As you play, learn, and deepen your understanding of the game, the more patterns, concepts, and terms you will become familiar with, and the more beautiful and complex the game reveals itself to be.
Zugzwang is one of those concepts. Learning it is well worth your while: it can help you win a lot of games, especially in endgames where there are less pieces on the board, and using it to your advantage can be a very satisfying way to win a game.

Definition of Zugzwang

From the German words Zug, meaning ‘move’, and Zwang, meaning ‘force’, ‘pressure’, or ‘compulsion’, Zugzwang can be loosely translated into English as a ‘forced move’. While this concept can apply to other turn-based games (including, for example, checkers), in chess it means a player can be forced to make a disadvantageous move due to two facts:

1. You cannot skip a move in chess.
2. A player can find themselves in a position where they have no legal moves that do not lead to a serious disadvantage.

How to Pronounce Zugzwang (and How to Write it)

Before we go any further, let’s learn how to say it correctly. Chess is an international game and different chess concepts often come from different languages and cultures. As explained above, Zugzwang (pronounced [ˈtsuːktsvaŋ] or “tsoog-tsvahng”), comes from Germany.
Here’s an audio recording of how to say it.
If you want to describe a position like this in chess notation, the symbol “⊙” can be used to represent Zugzwang.

Key Zugzwang Concepts

To recognize Zugzwang and to play correctly when it appears on the chess board, there are a few concepts you need to know that go hand in hand with Zugwzang. These are:

• Opposition
• Triangulation
• Trébuchet

Here we’ll give a short explanation of each complementary concept.

Opposition

Opposition is another key chess concept that is essential to learn, especially if you want to learn how to win endgames. It refers to a position where both sides’ kings are facing each other across a rank or a file, separated by one square.Triangulation
Triangulation is a tricky way of putting your opponent in Zugzwang! As mentioned above, move order is critical, and typically when there are less pieces on the board, the more important it is that you pay close attention to who will have to move when. Triangulation refers to a specific technique to ‘waste’ one of your own moves in order to hand the burden of playing a move over to your opponent. The simplest example of triangulation is, again, a king and pawn endgame.Trébuchets
Normally, when there is Zugzwang on the board, one player is trying to win and the other to survive. A trebuchet is a special type of Zugzwang in which whichever player takes the opposition and forces their opponent into Zugzwang will win the game.Zugzwang in the Opening and Middlegame
Logically, Zugzwang is most likely to appear in the endgame, when there are less pieces on the board and so less potential moves for both players. However, that is not to say that it only ever occurs in endgames. Though rare, it can happen in the middlegame and even in the opening.
Grandmaster Jonathan Rowson (author of the excellent book and Chessable course, The Seven Deadly Chess Sins) came up with the phrase ‘Zugzwang lite’ to describe an early position in which neither side wants to move as they will be forced to make a (slight) concession to the other player, like for example, in the Symmetrical English. Even less commonly, Zugzwang can also occur to devastating effect in the middlegame, as has happened at various occasions throughout chess history.

FAQs

1. What does Zugzwang mean in chess?

Zugzwang is a concept that describes a chess position in which you are forced to make a bad move. This occurs due to the nature of the game of chess (you cannot pass your turn) and the fact that you may find yourself in a position where the only legal moves you have are all very bad.

2. What is the opposite of Zugzwang?

Although there are positions in which every move a player makes leads them to win the game, there is no real opposite of Zugzwang. It is much more common in chess for both players to be able to gain an advantage by moving their pieces, but only Zugzwang can force a player to make a losing move.

3. How do you play Zugzwang?

Knowing how to use Zugzwang to your advantage depends on your understanding of the complementary chess concepts introduced above, such as opposition, triangulation, and trébuchets. Playing Zugzwang correctly requires patience, imagination, strong calculation skills, and knowledge of endgame positions.

4. How do you pronounce Zugzwang?

Zugzwang is pronounced [ˈtsuːktsvaŋ] or “tsoog-tsvahng”.

5. What are in-between moves in chess?

An in-between move in chess, also known as Zwischenzug or intermezzo, is a forcing move that interrupts your opponent’s idea by making them respond (often coming with check), allowing you to change the position and play a winning move on the next turn. Although Zwischenzug is another German word beginning with the letter ‘z’, it is not closely related to Zugzwang.

6. What language is the word Zugzwang?

The word Zugwang is German, combining the word for ‘move’ (Zug) and ‘compulsion’ (Zwang) into a single concept that can loosely be translated into English as a ‘forced move’.