Luft

Luft, the German word for "air" (sometimes also "space" or "breath"), is used by some chess writers and commentators to denote a space left by a pawn move into which a castled king may move, especially such a space made with the intention of avoiding a back rank checkmate. A move leaving such a space is often said to "give the king some luft". In German itself, however, such a space would be called a Luftloch (air-hole).