The most common and standard way to sign 'chess' in ASL is to fingerspell the word: C-H-E-S-S. Hold your dominant hand in the standard fingerspelling space near your shoulder. Form the letters C, H, E, S, and S in a smooth, continuous sequence. To indicate the double 'S' at the end, give your hand a slight bounce or slide it slightly outward.
Sign 'want' and 'play', then fingerspell C-H-E-S-S. Raise your eyebrows at the end to indicate a yes/no question.
Point to the person, fingerspell C-H-E-S-S, and then sign 'champion' by bringing your dominant clawed hand down onto your non-dominant index finger.
Sign 'I', 'learn', and 'play', followed by smoothly fingerspelling C-H-E-S-S.
Sign 'want' and 'play', then fingerspell C-H-E-S-S. Raise your eyebrows at the end to indicate a yes/no question.
Point to the person, fingerspell C-H-E-S-S, and then sign 'champion' by bringing your dominant clawed hand down onto your non-dominant index finger.
Sign 'I', 'learn', and 'play', followed by smoothly fingerspelling C-H-E-S-S.
While some signers use a mimed gesture of moving a chess piece with a flattened 'O' handshape, fingerspelling C-H-E-S-S is the standard and most widely accepted way to sign it in ASL.
To indicate a double letter like 'S', you can either give your fist a slight bounce or slide it slightly outward (to the right for right-handed signers) while holding the 'S' handshape.
You can gently mouth the word 'chess' while fingerspelling it to help provide context, but avoid sounding out the individual letters.
