melano- & leuco- terms for dark- & light squared weaknesses

I read an old chess book long ago that used some rarely heard terms apparently invented by the author. Among those terms were two words that I believe started with "melano-" (black) and "leuco-" (white) prefixes, words that meant "dark-squared weakness" and "light-squared weakness," respectively. I thought those might be convenient terms to use, so I was trying to look up those terms today online but I couldn't find them anywhere. Does somebody know what either or both of those terms were, or which book it was? I thought it was "My System" (Nimzovitsch), but a recent copy I saw didn't have anything like that, even though I was specifically looking for those terms in that book.

Pawn Power in Chess, by Hans Kmoch, I believe.

I think the two terms were leucopenia (insufficient control of the white squares) and melanpenia (insufficient control of the dark squares).

Yes, thanks! It looks like you're right, and I did read that book years ago, so that must be the one.

"monochromy and leucopenia and melopenia and telepower"

https://www.chess.com/blog/whiskeytown/pawn-power-in-chess-by-hans-kmoch

It's a really, really good book with really strange terminology.

The rim pawn has no lee!

There is a Pawn Power Glossary at Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwlOSiCBVMk&list=PLCMNc_5BaXsfpKki7gqXwnghI9NCTZgzm

I've also seen this glossary as a text some time ago but just can't find it right now.

Kmoch is my kind of guy! 

Here is a glossary for Kmoch book. I don't remember where I've found it and who is the author but he definitely did a good job!

Backward pawn, Straggler A half-free pawn on the second or third rank whose stop square lacks pawn protection but is controlled by a sentry.
Basic duo A duo where one of the pawns constitutes the base of a chain.
Buffer duo Two opposing duos facing each other with one rank in between.
Candidate Unopposed or half-free pawn.
Center lever A lever wholly within the two center files.
Center pawn Pawn on the d- or e-file.
Centerswap A capture from and to the d- or e-file that produces a doubled pawn.
Chain A diagonal pawn formations, identified by the number of their links (pawns).
Chain lever Adjacent levers in a diagonal formation, where the respective headpawns attack the base of the opposing chain, e.g., f5, g4 vs. g6, h5. Produces passed pawns.
Compound formation A formation consisting of several descriptive categories whose
defining characteristics depend on the perspective from which it is viewed, e.g., d4, e4 vs. d5 - could be described as a center ram, center duo, tight duo, lever duo, center lever, tight lever, duo lever, etc.
Conditional backwardness A pawn that is backward in only certain respects.
Counterpawn Directly opposing pawn.
Cross lever Four immediately and directly opposing pawns, two of each color, e.g., d4, e4 vs. d5, e5.
Dispersion The vertical splitting of pawns (most commonly, isolation) caused by captures.
Distortion The horizontal splitting of pawns caused by advances.

Double lever An innerpawn under simultaneous attack from both adjacent files. It may be loose or tight.
Double pawns, Twins Friendly pawns on the same file.
Doubling, Undoubling The creation or elimination of a double pawn formation.
Duo Two adjacent pawns of the same color on the same rank that mutually cover the other's stop square.
Dynamical Obstruction Opposing pawns on adjacent files.
Faker A half-free pawn with inadequate helpers.
Fork lever A lever attacking two units at once (can include a piece).
Free pawn, passed pawn, passer A pawn with no counterpawn and no opposing sentries.
Frontspan Vertical distance between a pawn and the forward edge of the board.
Front-twin The foremost doubled pawn.
Half-free pawn Pawn with opposing pawns or pawn on adjacent files.
Hanging duo An isolated pair of half-free pawns.
Head-duo The headpawn and a friendly pawn in contact with it.
Headpawn The foremost pawn in a pawn formation.
Helper A candidate's own pawn on an adjacent file.
Home pawn Pawn on the castled side of the board.
Home side The castled side of the board.
Inner lever A lever where the capture would move toward the center.
Innerpawn Pawn on one of the files b-g.
Interspan Vertical distance between two opposing pawns.
Innerswap A capture towards the center that produces a doubled pawn.
Lee Shorter side of the horizontal beam of the pawn cross.
Lever Two opposing pawns in contact that can capture each other.
Local majority A pawn majority on one wing.
Loose duo A duo not in contact with an opposing pawn(s).
Loose lever A lever where each side has the option of capturing or bypassing.
Loose twin A double pawn whose undoubling is a possibility.
Luff Longer side of the horizontal beam of the pawn cross.
Mechanical Obstruction Opposing pawn on the same file.
Mute chain lever A chain lever in which the bases of the opposing pawn chains are not attacked, e.g., a5, b4, c3 vs. a7, b6, c5. Doesnt produce passers.
Outer lever A lever where the capture would move away from the center.
Outerswap A capture towards the rim that produces a doubled pawn.
Outside passer A passed pawn removed from the bulk of opposing pawns.
Passed pawn, passer, Free pawn A pawn with no counterpawn and no opposing sentries.
Passer duo A duo of two passed pawns.
Pawn-cross Cross formed along the rank and file on which the pawn sits with the pawn itself at the center of the cross.
Pincer lever Two levers that convergingly attack a chain of two pawns, including it's base, e.g., b2, c3 vs. a3, d4.
Protected passer A passed pawn protected by one or more helpers.
Quart Four horizontal friendly pawns.
Quartgrip Prototype of the siege. A formation of four vs. four pawns in which the shorter frontspan constitutes a great advantage.
Ram Two deadlocked, directly opposing pawns.
Ranger Pawn on the uncastled side of the board.
Ranger side The uncastled side of the board.
Rearspan Vertical distance between a pawn and the rear edge of the board.
Rear-twin The least-advanced doubled pawn.
Rimpawn Pawn on either the a- or h-file.
Saw A zigzag pawn formation (most commonly seen in the Stonewall formation).
Sentry Opposing pawn on an adjacent file.
Sham twin A double pawn whose undoubling is assured beforehand.
Shielding A pawn or a piece being protected from frontal assault by the opposing pawn whose stop or telestop it is occupying.
Siege Shielded backwardness that paralyzes a whole formation of pawns.
Sneaker An unfree pawn or faker that may become a passer through a sacrificial combination.
Span The pawn's vertical distance from the edges of the board.
Straggler, Backward pawn A half-free pawn on the second or third rank whose stop square lacks pawn protection but is controlled by a sentry.
Stopsquare, stop The square directly in front of a pawn.
Symmetrical exchange An exchange eliminating a pawn and its counterpawn. Reduces
chances for levers and opens a file. Typically stabilizing. E.g., 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3. cxd5 cxd5.
Telestops Squares beyond the stop square in the frontspan of a pawn.
Tight duo A duo in contact with an opposing pawn(s), whose axis forms a ram.
Tight lever A lever including a ram, that offers only one side the option of both capture and bypass, e.g., c4, d4 vs. d5, e6.
Tight twin A double pawn whose undoubling by force is theoretically impossible.
Triad A group of three pawns including a non-isolated twin, e.g., b2, b3, c2. A triad of unfree pawns is unable to produce a passer against a duo.
Trio Three horizontal friendly pawns.
Twins, Double pawns Friendly pawns on the same file.
Undoubling, Doubling The creation or elimination of a double pawn formation.
Unfree pawn Pawn with a counterpawn.
Unsymmetrical exchange A dynamic exchange resulting in a half-open file and half-free
pawn for each side. E.g., 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3. cxd5 exd5.
Wedge Two converging chains reaching into enemy territory.
Wing pawn Pawn on the files a-c or f-h.

The glossary used to be posted on the Chessville site. No name was attributed to the creator of the glossary. If you try to find it with the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine now, all you get is a robots.txt message.   I do have a snapshot of the page, and the wording is idential to uri65's post.

I tried to read Kmoch's book few times and was so irritated by the jargon that had to stop.

I am curious about  2 things:

• is it worth an effort to translate Kmoch's book to "normal" language?
• is Kmoch's book still indispensable now that we have a book by Soltis, 2 books by Marovic and many general strategy book that cover pawn play too?

Right now I am reading recently reseased The Power of Pawns (Chess Structures Fundamentals for Post-Beginners) by Jorg Hickl - this book is excellent IMO.

Thanks for the glossary, uri65. I'm looking for exactly that type of leading edge terminology for my plan language / repertoire. If someone at some time believed a concept to be important enough to create a definition, then it's probably a concept of value that eventually other people will find useful, too. (Ever hear of a "vanguard pawn"? That's another obscure term I saw in some chess book.)

IMO, despite modern works about pawn structures, Kmoch still has a place.  While other books take a macro view, Kmoch is the micro view.

We should change all the chess terminology to Latin words, as they sound clearly better.

Just to clarify, I am talking seriously, Latin sounds better that every other language.

If Latin is so great, why is it a dead language?

SilentKnighte5.

1-He never said Lating was great, but that it sounded better, Latin is not practical at all but I tend to agree that things sound better.

2- If chess is considered a science then it should be translated to latin.

3- HI, DO YOU KNOW WHAT LOVE IS?

Stop the figthing and feel love.

You could probably blame that on the fall of the roman empire...not the language itself

Shh, no history classes here plz. We want to stay ignorant on the subject.

It is too great for ordinary people.

Latin is great (at least for some uses) exactly *because* it is a dead language, meaning it doesn't change. That is exactly why taxonomy uses Latin, in fact:

https://www.quora.com/Why-does-taxonomy-use-Latin

That is exactly what science in general uses it...