Zugzwang, n.

zugzwang
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zugzwang_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1986; not fully revised

# Zugzwangnoun

## Earlier version

- Zugzwang in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun Zugzwang mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun Zugzwang. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

#### Entry status

OED is undergoing a continuous programme of revision to modernize and improve definitions. This entry has not yet been fully revised.

### How common is the noun Zugzwang?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1940 | 0.0004
1950 | 0.0006
1960 | 0.0008
1970 | 0.0011
1980 | 0.0015
1990 | 0.0017
2000 | 0.002
2010 | 0.0022

### How is the noun Zugzwang pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈtsuːktsvaŋ/

### Where does the noun Zugzwang come from?

Earliest known use

1900s

The earliest known use of the noun Zugzwang is in the 1900s.

OED's earliest evidence for Zugzwang is from 1904, in Lasker's Chess Magazine.

Zugzwang is a borrowing from German.

### Nearby entries

1. zucarine, adj. a1425
2. zucca, n. 1818–
3. zucchetto, n. 1853–
4. zucchini, n. 1916–
5. zuche, n. 1358–1676
6. Zuckerkandl, n. 1910–
7. zufolo, n. 1724–
8. zug, n. 1899–
9. zugtrompete, n. 1978–
10. Zugunruhe, n. 1950–
11. Zugzwang, n.1904–
12. zule | zulis, n. 1780–
13. Zulu, n. & adj. 1824–
14. Zulu, v. 1882–
15. Zuludom, n. 1867–
16. Zulu hat, n. 1879–
17. Zuluize, v. 1852–
18. Zulu time, n. 1959–
19. zumbador, n. 1758–64
20. zumbi, n. 1704–
21. zumboorukchee, n. 1840–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from German.
German, < zug move + zwang compulsion, obligation.

## Meaning & use

Chess.

1. 1904–
   A position in which a player is obliged to move but cannot do so without disadvantage; the disagreeable obligation to make such a move. Frequently in Zugzwang. Also transferred.
   1. 1904

      > White has struggled bravely and only loses by ‘Zugzwang’.

      Lasker's Chess Magazine vol. I. iv. 166
   2. 1930

      > The move..puts Black into a Zugswang [sic] position that speedily loses.

      British Chess Magazine vol. I. 196
   3. 1935

      > White has constrained his opponent to move, has placed him, as we say in Germany, in Zugzwang.

      Smith & Bone, translation of Tarrasch's Game of Chess i. 5
   4. 1942

      > Black now has only a few pawn moves left after which he is in complete ‘Zugzwang’.

      H. Golombek, 50 Great Games Modern Chess 53/2
   5. 1963

      > A doubling of the grab theme, in which a black unit is captured on a number of different squares, leading to zugzwang.

      M. Lipton et al., Chess Problems 259
   6. 1973

      > She is, to use a chess term, in complete Zugzwang. She could only make six tricks for a penalty of 200.

      Country Life 13 September 744/2
   chess
   1. stale 1423–
      = stalemate, n.
   2. ward c1475
      Chess. ? The protection afforded by a specified piece or pawn. Obsolete. rare.
   3. stalemate 1765–
      A position in which the player whose turn it is to move has no allowable move open to him or her, but has not his or her king in check.
   4. Zugzwang 1904–
      A position in which a player is obliged to move but cannot do so without disadvantage; the disagreeable obligation to make such a move. Frequently i…
   5. interference 1913–
      Chess. Obstruction of the line of action of one piece by another. Also attributive.
   6. half-pin 1917–
      A position in which two pieces of the same colour are positioned on a line between their own king and an opposing queen, rook, or bishop, so that…
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈtsuːktsvaŋ/

####

##### Consonants

- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- ɬrhingyll
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛtl/ but /ˈpɛtl̩i/.

##### Vowels

- iːfleece
- ihappy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- atrap, bath
- ɑːstart, palm, bath
- ɒlot
- ɔːthought, force
- ʌstrut
- ʊfoot
- uːgoose
- əletter
- əːnurse
- ɪənear
- ɛːsquare
- ʊəcure
- eɪface
- ʌɪpride
- aʊmouth
- əʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ãgratin
- ɒ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)

##### Other symbols

- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.

View the pronunciation model here.

## Frequency

Zugzwang typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

Zugzwang is in frequency band 2, which contains words occurring between 0.001 and 0.01 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands

Frequency data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of Zugzwang, n., 1940–2010

* Occurrences per million words in written English

Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.

The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.

For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole, n.¹, mole, n.², mole, n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.

Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.

Decade | Frequency per million words
--- | ---
1940 | 0.0004
1950 | 0.0006
1960 | 0.0008
1970 | 0.0011
1980 | 0.0015
1990 | 0.0017
2000 | 0.002
2010 | 0.0022

Zugzwang, n. was first published in 1986; not fully revised.

Zugzwang, n. was last modified in December 2024.