Absence of chess player, missing start (4)
I believe the answer is:
lack
'absence' is the definition.
(I know that absence can be written as lack)
'chess player missing start' is the wordplay.
'chess player' becomes 'black' (one of the two players in a game of chess).
'missing start' means to remove the first letter.
'black' with its first letter taken off is 'LACK'.
'of' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for lack that I've seen before include "Be wanting or without" , "Be without, need" , "Be without or short of" , "Absence, deficiency" , "Shortage" .)