Editorial Standards

Our approach

We aim for precision, clarity, and practical value: definitions you can trust and examples that make sense over the board. Entries are checked against authoritative sources, and a human reviews an entry before it can appear in search results.

How our entries are written

We use AI to help draft and expand dictionary entries — it lets us cover more of chess’s vocabulary, faster. AI assistance is a drafting tool, not a substitute for editorial judgement, so we hold AI-assisted work to the same standard as anything else we publish:

• A human reviews before it can rank. An AI-drafted entry is kept out of the search index (and our sitemap) until an editor has reviewed it for accuracy and clarity and signed off. Until then it may exist as a draft but is marked noindex.
• Reviewer credits mean a real person. The “Reviewed by” credit on a page names an actual reviewer — we never auto-assign a reviewer to make an entry look vetted when it isn’t.
• Facts are still verified. Citations, external references, and images are curated by a person, not generated — AI does not invent sources.

Research and verification

Entries are fact-checked against the FIDE Handbook (Laws of Chess, tournament regulations, title requirements), established chess literature, and historically documented games. When we cite a source (the official rules, a famous game, or a published work), we link to it or note the reference so you can verify the claim yourself.

Writing guidelines

• Clear definitions. Terms are introduced with a short, plain-English definition before expanding into examples and context.
• Practical examples. Where possible, we illustrate concepts with annotated chess diagrams from real games or instructive positions.
• No jargon walls. Technical terms link to their own dictionary pages; we don’t assume you know 100 other terms before understanding this one.

Review process

Entries pass through editorial review before they are eligible to appear in search. Reviewers check factual accuracy, clarity of explanation, and appropriateness of examples; AI-drafted entries stay noindex until that review happens. We update entries when errors are found or when the rules change (e.g., FIDE amendments).

Limitations

This is a working reference, not a perfect one. Chess is a game with a long history and occasional disagreement about terminology. Where definitions vary (e.g., positional terms that different schools interpret differently), we note the common understanding and, where relevant, mention the alternatives.

Images and diagrams

Chess diagrams are rendered using Chesswick Visual Notation (CVN), our internal format for interactive board positions.

Feedback

Spotted an error or think something could be explained better? Use the Contact page to let us know. We take corrections seriously.