Protivnik čeka moj potez.

Protivnik means opponent, adversary, or sometimes rival, depending on context.

In this sentence, it most naturally means opponent, especially in a game, sport, chess, or any competitive situation.

It comes from protiv = against, so protivnik is literally someone who is against you.

Čeka is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb čekati, which means to wait.

So:

• ja čekam = I wait / I am waiting
• ti čekaš = you wait
• on/ona/ono čeka = he/she/it waits

In Protivnik čeka moj potez, čeka means is waiting for.

A useful note: in Serbian, čekati takes a direct object in many cases, so Serbian says literally waits my move, where English would normally say waits for my move.

Because moj has to agree with potez in gender, number, and case.

Potez is:

• masculine
• singular
• here in the accusative case

So the correct form is moj.

Compare:

• moj potez = my move (masculine singular)
• moja knjiga = my book (feminine singular)
• moje dete = my child (neuter singular)

Because potez is the direct object of čeka, so it is in the accusative case.

For masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular is the same as the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: potez
• accusative: potez

That is why you see moj potez, not moj poteza.

For comparison:

• Vidim sto. = I see the table.
  (sto is masculine inanimate, so accusative = nominative)

But with masculine animate nouns:

• Vidim protivnika. = I see the opponent.
  Here the accusative is different.

No. Potez has several related meanings.

It can mean:

• a move in a game, especially chess
• an action or step someone takes
• a stroke or line in drawing/writing
• sometimes a gesture or maneuver

In Protivnik čeka moj potez, the most natural meaning is:

• my move in a game, or
• more generally, my next action/decision

So it can be literal or figurative.

Because Serbian does not have articles like English a/an/the.

So protivnik can mean:

• an opponent
• the opponent

The exact meaning depends on context.

In this sentence, English would usually translate it as The opponent is waiting for my move, but Serbian simply says Protivnik čeka moj potez without any article.

The word order is fairly flexible, but Protivnik čeka moj potez is the most neutral and natural order.

This is basically:

• Protivnik = subject
• čeka = verb
• moj potez = object

Serbian can change word order to shift emphasis. For example:

• Moj potez čeka protivnik.
  More marked; it puts focus on my move.

• Čeka moj potez protivnik.
  Also possible, but less neutral and more stylistically marked.

For a learner, the original order is the best standard pattern to remember.

Not exactly. This is an important difference.

In English, you usually say:

• wait for someone
• wait for a move

But in Serbian, čekati often takes the thing/person directly, without a preposition:

• Čekam autobus. = I’m waiting for the bus.
• Čekam prijatelja. = I’m waiting for my friend.
• Protivnik čeka moj potez. = The opponent is waiting for my move.

So when using čekati, English speakers often need to remember: Serbian usually does not use a separate word for for here.

The letter č is pronounced like ch in church, but usually a bit firmer and more distinct.

So:

• čeka sounds roughly like CHEH-kah
• potez sounds roughly like POH-tez
• protivnik sounds roughly like PRO-teev-neek

A rough full pronunciation:

PRO-teev-neek CHEH-kah moy POH-tez

The j in moj is pronounced like English y, so moj sounds like moy.

Yes.

Even if the most obvious context is a game, especially chess, it can also be used figuratively to mean something like:

• The opponent is waiting for my next step
• The other side is waiting to see what I do
• The rival is waiting for my decision

So it works both literally and metaphorically. Context tells you which meaning is intended.