Are you a chess player? Have you ever thought what those pieces are called in German? Here they are:

Apart from the king, the other pieces are not a literal translation.

• der König – king
• die Dame – queen (lit. the dame)
• der Turm – rook (lit. tower)
• der Läufer – bishop (lit. runner)
• der Springer – knight (lit. jumper)
• der Bauer – pawn (lit. farmer)

Of course, playing chess doesn’t help you much with your German, but you could read up on the rules in German. Wikipedia is a good start as it usually offers the topics in several languages, for example Wikipedia – Schach and Wikipedia – Chess tell you about the game in German and English.

This page give you a quick intro to chess for beginners: Schachregeln für Einsteiger

This one is a lot more advanced and therefore more complicated for German learners, even if they do play chess:  Vollständige Schachregeln

You could also watch this quick video which explains the rules in German:

Play online?  You need to read the instructions in German ☺ if you play here: Schach online spielen

Of course, you could also fill these chess pieces with red and white wine and speak German as you play. I’m sure your German will improve ?