Chess Terms Misused, the Continuing Saga.

Credit: Ghost of a Flea blog. Your obedient servant often feels like the player with  the red pieces.

More evidence that not everybody plays chess is found in the definitions of this weekend's (24.2.2012) crossword puzzle in 7 Yamim ("7 Days"), Yediot Aharonot's ("Latest News") weekend section. Yediot Aharonot is Israel's largest daily newspaper.

The definition of "1 across" is "In chess: giving up pieces for positional advantage in the opening". Yes, they mean "gambit"-- which, incidentally, is the term used in Hebrew as well, the word having become an international one, like "Zugzwang" and similar chess-related words.

One is reminded of Edward Winter's article, Who was R. J. Buckley?, where he quotes Buckley's quip about one of his games with Bird: "The next game was a Muzio, in which we sacrificed several pieces, emerging with an excellent position, but no men."

Perhaps that's what the crossword writer meant. But I wouldn't bet on it.