stalemate
Sign in to saveStalemate is a situation in chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check but has no legal move. Stalemate results in a draw. During the endgame, stalemate is a resource that can enable the player with the inferior position to draw the game rather than lose. In more complex positions, stalemate is much rarer, usually the result of a swindle that succeeds only if the superior side is inattentive. Stalemate is also a common theme in endgame studies and other chess problems.
Stalemate is a chess situation where it's your turn to move but you're not in check and have no legal moves available, which results in a draw instead of a loss. It matters because players with weaker positions can use it as a last resort to escape defeat, while it also appears frequently in chess puzzles and studies as an instructive theme.
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Article
25 sectionsContents
- Etymology and usage
- Examples
- Examples from games
- Anand versus Kramnik
- Korchnoi versus Karpov
- Bernstein versus Smyslov
- Matulović versus Minev
- Williams versus Harrwitz
- Carlsen versus Van Wely
- More complex examples
- Evans versus Reshevsky
- Gelfand versus Kramnik
- Troitsky versus Vogt{{anchor|Troitzky versus Vogt}}
- In studies
- In problems
- Double stalemate
- Proposed rule change
- Effect on endgame theory
- Rules in other chess variants
- Modern Asian variants
- Western chess variants
- See also
- Notes
- References
- External links
Stalemate is a situation in chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check but has no legal move. Stalemate results in a draw. During the endgame, stalemate is a resource that can enable the player with the inferior position to draw the game rather than lose. In more complex positions, stalemate is much rarer, usually the result of a swindle that succeeds only if the superior side is inattentive. Stalemate is also a common theme in endgame studies and other chess problems.
The outcome of a stalemate was standardized as a draw in the 19th century . Before this standardization, its treatment varied widely, including being deemed a win for the stalemating player, a half-win for that player, or a loss for that player; not being permitted; and resulting in the stalemated player missing a turn. Stalemate rules vary in variants and other games of the chess family.