Breakdown of Wir spielen das Gambit, denn dieser Schachzug gilt als aggressiv.
spielen
to play
wir
we
dieser
this / that (fem.: diese, neut.: dieses)
denn
because
aggressiv
aggressive
gelten als
to be considered as
der Schachzug
the chess move
das Gambit
the gambit
Questions & Answers about Wir spielen das Gambit, denn dieser Schachzug gilt als aggressiv.
I thought words for "because" send the verb to the end of the clause. Why is gilt right after the subject here?
The word denn means "because", but it is a coordinating conjunction. This means it occupies "position 0" and doesn't change the standard word order of the clause that follows it. Therefore, the subject (dieser Schachzug) is in position 1 and the verb (gilt) is in position 2. If you used weil instead, the verb would indeed go to the end: ... weil dieser Schachzug als aggressiv gilt.
Why doesn't the adjective aggressiv take an ending here?
In this sentence, aggressiv acts as a predicate adjective describing the subject (dieser Schachzug). The phrase gelten als (to be considered as) functions similarly to the verb sein (to be). Just as you would say der Schachzug ist aggressiv without an ending, you say er gilt als aggressiv. The adjective remains uninflected.
If I wanted to say "is considered an aggressive move" instead of just "aggressive", what case would the noun phrase take?
It would take the nominative case. Because gelten als acts like an equals sign linking the subject back to itself (a copula verb), both sides of the equation are nominative. You would say: ... denn dieser Schachzug gilt als ein aggressiver Zug.
What is the infinitive of gilt and how does its meaning change when paired with als?
The infinitive is gelten, which on its own usually means "to be valid" (like a ticket or a rule). However, the fixed phrase gelten als means "to be considered [as]" or "to have the reputation of being". It is a very natural-sounding, active alternative to using a passive phrase like wird als aggressiv angesehen (is viewed as aggressive).
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