See quot. 1836. Chess-grass, 1736. N.E.D.

1

1805.  I then planted it [wheat] a proper depth in warm rich land; this was the 4th of October; none of them came up, except three small blades just before winter, which I suppose were chess.—The Balance, Oct. 15, p. 332/1.

2

1820.  He affirmed that Chess was a distinct grain, as well as wheat or oats, and that, wherever Chess sprung up, it had been sown with the last or a previous crop.—Letter on Chess, in The Ploughboy, May 20 (Albany, N.Y.).

3

1821.  On the spot, where the chess had been thrown, there sprang up a new crop of chess, as evenly spread, as if it had been sown by a skillful hand.—T. Dwight, ‘Travels,’ ii. 441.

4

1836.  Cheat and chess, which is the name of a weed, or species of broom, resembling wheat, and very frequently mingled with it,… is totally different from wheat. Chess grows in panniclos, and wheat in spikes.—Phila. Public Ledger, May 21.

5

1839.  Popular Errors…. That there is no danger in sowing chess with wheat, as chess does not grow. The truth is, chess does grow, and is a hardier plant than wheat.—‘Farmer’s Monthly Visitor,’ i. 11.

6

1842.  My wheat was unaccountably chessy, though I turned water upon it, and kept it moist all summer.—Mrs. Kirkland, ‘Forest Life,’ i. 194.

7

1843.  

        Or, save us the jest,
  As chess among sheaves,
That speck on the “Globe,”
  Mr. John C. Rives.
Nauvoo (Ill.) Neighbor, Aug. 23.    

8