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Soheil1 Posted 14 years ago
Vocabulary

(chess)practically

Hi.
What does practically mean in

This practically forces the exchange of queens and leaves White with a won end-game. ?

thanks in advance!
  

Top answer

I'm not a chess expert, so there may be another meaning, but in general use, "practically" in this context is a somewhat-idiomatic adverb meaning "almost". If I practically force you to go grocery shopping, I may have begged and wheedled you to do so, to the point where you did not resist. I did not literally force you to go, such as physically pushing you to the grocery store.

— Leah S

  • I'm not a chess expert, so there may be another meaning, but in general use, "practically" in this context is a somewhat-idiomatic adverb meaning "almost".
  • If I practically force you to go grocery shopping, I may have begged and wheedled you to do so, to the point where you did not resist.
  • I did not literally force you to go, such as physically pushing you to the grocery store.
  • It is likely originating with "practical", meaning it would be reasonable to do whatever is "practically" necessary.
  • In the sentence "This practically forces the exchange of queens", the move leaves very little chance of anything but an exchange of the queens.
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11 Answers
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I'm not a chess expert, so there may be another meaning, but in general use, "practically" in this context is a somewhat-idiomatic adverb meaning "almost". If I practically force you to go grocery shopping, I may have begged and wheedled you to do so, to the point where you did not resist. I did not literally force you to go, such as physically pushing you to the grocery store. It is
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Can it mean 'in practice' here?
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Again - not a chess person. That would probably be an acceptable substitution, but "in practice" is usually used to differentiate between "in theory". For example, "in theory, the plan should have worked, but in practice, we found problems." So I would say that, contextually, it's probably not. My layman's interpretation of the sentence is that it's the first meaning.
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North America and Australia. Why?
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You spoke of the first meaning......................
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soheil1Can it mean 'in practice' here?
No. The word "practice" and the word "practical" are not as closely related as they look. They came into English from Medieval Latin by quite different routes.

If a queen exchange is forced, it means that if you do anything else besides take the enemy queen with your queen, you will either lose the game or lose y
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I was referring to
Leah S in general use, "practically" in this context is a somewhat-idiomatic adverb meaning "almost"
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enoon soheil1Can it mean 'in practice' here?No. The word "practice" and the word "practical" are not as closely related as they look. They came into English from Medieval Latin by quite different routes.If a queen exchange is forced, it means that if you do anything else besides take the enemy queen with your queen, you will either lose the game or lose your queen on the
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No event and any event, really. It's an idiomatic expression. It'a bit like "when you actually do it."
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