Zugzwang

== German == === Etymology === From Zug (“move”) +‎ Zwang (“compulsion”). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈtsuːkˌtsvaŋ/, [ˈt͡suːkˌt͡sʋaŋ] (standard) IPA(key): /ˈtsʊxˌtsvaŋ/ (northern and central Germany; now chiefly colloquial) === Noun === Zugzwang m (strong, genitive Zugzwangs or Zugzwanges, plural Zugzwänge) zugzwang (games, especially chess) synonym of Zugpflicht (“the rule that a player cannot forgo a move”) (hence more specifically) a situation where this rule forces a player to make a disadvantageous move (by extension) a situation where someone is under pressure to take action, though not necessarily with disadvantageous consequences. ==== Declension ==== ==== Descendants ==== → Armenian: Ցուգցվանգ (Cʻugcʻvang) → English: zugzwang → French: zugzwang → Russian: цугцва́нг (cugcváng) === Further reading === “Zugzwang” in Duden online Zugzwang on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia de “Zugzwang”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎[1] (in German)