Luft
In chess, luft designates the space or square left by a pawn move into which a king may then retreat, especially such a space made intentionally to avoid back-rank checkmate. A move leaving such a space is often said to "give the king some luft". The term "luft", "lufting", or "lufted" may also be used to refer to the movement of the relevant pawn creating luft.
Preventing an opponent from lufting a pawn is a tactic that may lead to checkmate. A king's access to his luft might also be denied by the opponent subjecting the area to attack.
The German "luft" is a close-heterograph to the English "lift"; e.g., and pawn luft.Examples
