Glossary of Chess

K: Symbol used for the king when recording chess moves in English.
Keizer system: A pairing system where a players plays an opponent who is close in the ranking. Named after the Dutch inventor of the system, and useful when the number of participants exceeds the number of playing rounds. See also Swiss tournament and Round-robin tournament.
Key square: 1. An important square.; 2. (Pawn endings) A square whose occupation by one side's king guarantees the achievement of a certain goal, such as the promotion of a pawn or the win of a pawn.
KGA: The King's Gambit Accepted chess opening.
KGD: The King's Gambit Declined chess opening.
KIA: the King's Indian Attack chess opening.
Kibitz (see also kibitzer): As a spectator, making comments on a chess game that can be heard by the players. Kibitzing on a serious game while it is in progress (rather than during a post-mortem) is a serious breach of chess etiquette.
Kick: Attacking a piece, typically by a pawn, so that it will move.
KID: The King's Indian Defence chess opening.
King: see king
King Bishop: The bishop that was on the king-side at the start of the game. The terms King Knight and King Rook are also used. Sometimes abbreviated KB, KN, and KR respectively.
King hunt: A sustained attack on the enemy king that results in the king being driven a far distance from its initial position, typically resulting in its checkmate. Some of the most famous games featuring king hunts are Edward Lasker-Thomas, Polugaevsky-Nezhmetdinov, and Kasparov-Topalov.
King pawn: A pawn on the king's file, i.e. the e-file. Sometimes abbreviated KP. Also King Bishop Pawn (KBP), King Knight Pawn (KNP), and King Rook Pawn (KRP) for a pawn on the f, g, or h-file respectively.
Kingside: The side of the board where the kings are at the start of the game (the e through h files), as opposed to the queenside.
Knight: see knight
Knight pawn: A pawn on the knight's file, i.e. the b-file or g-file.
Knight's tour: A mathematical treatment of a knight "touring" the board.
Knockout tournament (Single-elimination tournament): A tournament conducted as a series of matches in which the winner of each match advances to the next round and the loser is eliminated. Well known chess tournaments held in the knockout format include London 1851 and the 2007 Chess World Cup. Cf. #Round-robin tournament and Swiss tournament.
Kotov syndrome: This phenomenon, first described by Alexander Kotov, can occur when a player does not find a good plan after thinking long and hard on a position. The player, under time pressure, then suddenly decides to make a move, often a terrible one which was not analysed properly.
Kt: The symbol sometimes used for the knight when recording chess moves in descriptive notation, mainly in older literature. An N is used instead in algebraic notation and in later descriptive notation to avoid confusion with K, the symbol for the king.