Pieces for chess champion in peril (6)
I believe the answer is:
menace
'peril' is the definition.
(I know that peril can be written as menace)
'pieces for chess champion' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'pieces' could be 'men' (e.g. in chess) and 'men' is found within the answer.
'champion' could be 'ace' (both can mean a person excelling at something) and 'ace' is found in the answer.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'in' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for menace that I've seen before include "serious nuisance" , "Threat, danger" , "Harmful person" , "Act in a threatening manner" , "Intimidate" .)