In games such as chess, shogi and xiangqi, a check is an immediate threat to capture the king. A king so threatened is said to be in check. Either the threat must be stopped (by interposing a piece between the threatening piece and the king) or the king must be moved to a space where he is no longer in check. In chess, if the king is in check and the threat cannot be stopped by interposing a piece, and the king cannot be moved without placing him back into check at the new location (or the king cannot be moved), the king is said to be checkmated and the game is over. In chess, when a check is answered by a check, particularly when this second check is delivered by a piece blocking the first, it is termed a cross-check. In this usage, the words "check" and "chess" come via Arabic from Persian shāh = "king". From left, a white king, black rook and queen, white pawn, black knight, and white bishop in Staunton chess pieces. ... Shogi (shōgi 将棋) is one of a family of strategic board games of which chess and xiangqi are also members, which originated from the 6th century Indian game of chaturanga or a close relative thereof. ... Xiangqi (Chinese: 象棋; pinyin: xiàngqí, Wade-Giles: hsiang-chi; roughly pronounced shyang-chee; literally translatable as either elephant chess or image/representational/symbolic chess) is one of a family of strategic board games of which Western chess and Japanese shogi are also members. ... Checkmate (frequently shortened to mate) is a situation in chess in which one player cannot avoid their king being captured on the next move - it is a check from which there is no escape. ... In chess, a cross-check is a check played in reply to a check, especially when the original check is blocked by a piece which itself either delivers check or reveals a discovered check from another piece. ...