Learn Russian: Мы играем в шахматы.

In Russian, when you talk about playing a sport or a game, you must use the preposition в (literally 'in' or 'into') followed by the name of the game. So, Russians literally say 'We play in chess'.

What case is шахматы in here?

It is in the accusative case because it follows the preposition в used for playing games. For inanimate plural nouns like шахматы, the accusative case looks exactly the same as the nominative (dictionary) form.

Is the word шахматы plural?

Yes! In Russian, chess (шахматы) is always a plural word, similar to words like 'clothes' or 'scissors' in English. There is no singular form for it.

Why does the verb играем end in -ем?

The dictionary form of the verb is играть (to play). Because the subject is мы (we), we drop the -ть and add the standard 'we' ending -ем.