棋 (qí): chess, chess-like game, a game of chess
棋 (qí) is a Chinese character meaning “chess.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 木 (semantic) and 其 (phonetic). It ranks #2053 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 棋 wood. Its radical form 木 (tree) appears in many related characters such as 本 (běn, (bound form) root), 机 (jī, machine, opportunity), 条 (tiáo, strip).
Definitions
- chess
- chess-like game
- a game of chess
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 棋 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 棋
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 下棋verb | xià qí | to play chess |
| 棋盘noun | qí pán | chessboard |
| 国际象棋noun | guó jì xiàng qí | chess |
| 跳棋noun | tiào qí | Chinese checkers |
| 棋局noun | qí jú | state of play in a game of chess |
| 举棋不定phrase | jǔ qí bù dìng | to hesitate over what move to make (idiom) |
| 死棋noun | sǐ qí | dead piece (in Chess) |
| 棋手noun | qí shǒu | chess player |
| 棋艺noun | qí yì | chess skill |
| 悔棋verb | huǐ qí | to withdraw a move (chess) |
| 棋谱noun | qí pǔ | kifu (record of a game of go or shogi) |
| 五子棋noun | wǔ zǐ qí | five-in-a-row (game similar to tic-tac-toe) |
| 棋王noun | qí wáng | chess champion |
| 棋赛 | qí sài | chess game |
| 棋高一着 | qí gāo yī zhāo | to be a step ahead of the opponent (idiom) |
棋 appears in 41 compound words: 32 as the first character, 54 as the last, and 15 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 棋 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (7)
to be a step ahead of the opponent (idiom); to outsmart one's opponent
the Four Arts of the Chinese Scholar (i.e. qin, go, calligraphy, and painting)
Example Sentences
春天来了，院子里的棋木开始发芽抽枝。
chūn tiān lái le , yuàn zǐ lǐ de qí mù kāi shǐ fā yá chōu zhī .
Spring has arrived, and the chesswood tree in the yard has begun to sprout buds and branches.
希望看到燃油短缺致人民排队添油 陈棋雄:中小企应响应员工居家办公
xī wàng kàn dào rán yóu duǎn quē zhì rén mín pái duì tiān yóu chén qí xióng : zhōng xiǎo qǐ yīng xiǎng yīng yuán gōng jū jiā bàn gōng
Hoping to see people lining up to fill up amid fuel shortages: Chen Qixiong says SMEs should allow employees to work from home
陈智菡公然下指导棋!李贞秀遭批不够格
chén zhì 菡 gōng rán xià zhǐ dǎo qí ! lǐ zhēn xiù zāo pī bù gòu gé
Chen Zhihan openly interfered in the match! Lee Jeong-su was criticized for being unqualified
清朝棋圣范西屏与前世对手再战
qīng cháo qí shèng fàn xī bǐng yǔ qián shì duì shǒu zài zhàn
Qing Dynasty chess saint Fan Xiping fought again with his opponent in his previous life
波斯荣光与地缘棋局 伊朗在动荡中的求生之路
bō sī róng guāng yǔ dì yuán qí jú yī lǎng zài dòng dàng zhōng de qiú shēng zhī lù
Persian glory and geopolitical chess game Iran's path to survival in turmoil
棋仙战围棋决赛:王星昊小胜对手 扳平比分
qí xiān zhàn wéi qí jué sài : wáng xīng 昊 xiǎo shèng duì shǒu bān píng bǐ fēn
Chess Immortal Battle Go Final: Wang Xinghao defeated his opponent and equalized
您能教我下国际象棋吗？
Nín néng jiāo wǒ xià guójì xiàngqí ma?
Can you teach me to play chess?
等等！那边有很多黑棋。
Děngděng! nàbian yǒu hěn duō hēi qí.
Hang on a minute. There's quite a few black chess pieces over there.
你要跟我玩围棋吗?
Nǐ yào gēn wǒ wán wéiqí ma?
Will you play go with me?
他在国际象棋比赛中取得了冠军。
Tā zài guójìxiàngqí bǐsài zhōng qǔdé le guànjūn.
He carried off the first prize at the chess tournament.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 棋 (qí) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 棋 and 基?
How many strokes does 棋 have?
What is the radical of 棋?
What are the components of 棋?
What are common words containing 棋?
What characters sound the same as 棋 (qí)?
Is 棋 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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