Obvious mate approaching White capturing bishop (8)
I believe the answer is:
palpable
'obvious' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'mate approaching white capturing bishop' is the wordplay.
'mate' becomes 'pal' (I've seen this before).
'approaching' says to put letters next to each other.
'white' becomes 'pale' (I've seen this before).
'capturing' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'bishop' becomes 'B' (chess abbreviation).
'pale' placed around 'b' is 'pable'.
'pal'+'pable'='PALPABLE'
(Other definitions for palpable that I've seen before include "Able to be touched/felt" , "Able to be touched or felt - like a hit" , "Capable of being touched - obvious" , "Plain" , "Easily perceived by the senses" .)