cờ người

Lễ hội làng tôi thường có biểu diễn cờ người.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • Human chess: A traditional Vietnamese chess variant in which the chess pieces are represented by real people, often in elaborate costumes, standing on a large outdoor board. This is typically performed as a cultural spectacle during festivals, especially in northern Vietnam.
   • Figurative, a complex strategic situation: Can be used metaphorically to describe a complicated, large-scale situation where people are manipulated like pieces in a strategic game.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Lễ hội làng tôi thường có biểu diễn cờ người. (My village's festival often features a human chess performance.)
  • Trận cờ người thu hút rất đông khán giả. (The human chess match attracted a large audience.)
  • Cuộc đấu thầu đó thực sự là một ván cờ người phức tạp. (That bidding war was truly a complex game of human chess.)

Advanced Usage

• "đánh cờ người": to play human chess (referring to the act of playing or performing this game).

  • Các cụ cao niên trong làng sẽ đánh cờ người trong ngày hội. (The village elders will play human chess on the festival day.)

• "ván cờ người": a match/game of human chess.

  • Ván cờ người kết thúc sau hai giờ đồng hồ. (The human chess match ended after two hours.)

Variants and Related Words

• Cờ tướng (n): Chinese chess, the standard board game upon which "cờ người" is based. The pieces and rules are the same; only the medium of presentation differs.
• Cờ người is a compound noun. The individual words are:
  • Cờ (n): chess; flag; a game of strategy.
  • Người (n): person; people; human.

Synonyms

• Human chess: The direct English translation.
• Living chess: An alternative English term emphasizing that the pieces are alive.

Related Phrases

• Làm quân cờ: to be a chess piece (can be used literally in "cờ người" or figuratively).
  • Trong ván cờ người, các bạn trẻ mặc trang phục để làm quân cờ. (In the human chess match, the young people wear costumes to be the chess pieces.)

Related Idioms

• Bị biến thành quân cờ: to be turned into a pawn/chess piece. This idiom derives from the concept of "cờ người" and is used figuratively to describe someone being used as a tool in someone else's scheme.

  • Trong âm mưu chính trị đó, nhiều người đã bị biến thành quân cờ. (In that political scheme, many people were turned into pawns.)

• Đi như quân cờ: to move like a chess piece. Used to describe someone moving in a very deliberate, strategic, or controlled manner, often without their own will.

  • Anh ta bị sếp điều khiển, đi như quân cờ vậy. (He is controlled by his boss, moving like a chess piece.)