Space
The relative amount of board territory controlled by a player's pawns and pieces.
A space advantage restricts the opponent's piece mobility and options, often making it harder for the cramped side to find active plans even without an immediate tactical threat.
Etymology
Space enters English c. 1300 from Old French espace, from Latin spatium, and by the late 14th century also means “ground, land, territory” — the territorial sense that chess uses. In chess it names controlled board territory rather than any object, which is probably why no coinage is recorded: no source consulted documents a first chess use, a coiner, or a date. Its status as a formal element of chess evaluation is documented, however: Grandmaster Larry Evans's four elements of chess are pawn structure, force, space (controlling the centre and piece mobility), and time.
Translations
Translations for this term haven't been added yet.