Crossword Genius

A chess defeat: game over for dilettante (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

amateur

'dilettante' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'a chess defeat game over' is the wordplay.
'chess defeat' becomes 'mate' (checkmate).
'game' becomes 'ru' (rugby union).
'over' is a reversal indicator.
'ru' in reverse letter order is 'ur'.
'a'+'mate'+'ur'='AMATEUR'

'for' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for amateur that I've seen before include "Unpaid (sports)" , "Lover" , "lacking professional expertise" , "Layman" , "Dabbler" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun and The Times.
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