chess player vs player

chess player and player both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
chess player	Yes	No	No	No
player	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, player is a hypernym of chess player; that is, player is a word with a broader meaning than chess player:

Other hypernyms of chess player include participant.

chess player (noun)	player (noun)
someone who plays the game of chess	a theatrical performer
	a person who participates in or is skilled at some game
	someone who plays a music as a profession
	a person who pursues a number of different social and sexual partners simultaneously
	someone who takes part in an activity