Examples of using "Zugzwang" in a sentence and their english translations:
Sometimes, one of the players manages to force the opponent to make a move that causes him to lose. It is then said that he put the opponent in zugzwang.
"Zugzwang" is a German word which, with reference to chess, means more or less the following: "obligation to make a move and, consequently, to lose the game".
White: rook on a1, pawn on b6, king on c8. Black: pawns on a7 and b7, king on a8, bishop on b8. White puts the opponent in zugzwang by playing the rook to a6, after which Black has only two options: take the rook on a6 or move his bishop to any other square on the diagonal b8-h2. In the first case, White advances his pawn from b6 to b7 and checkmates. In the second situation, the white rook takes the black pawn on a7, with the same result.