The Chess Journal

Chess Tutorials For Beginners

  • Home
  • Start Here
    • How To Set Up a Chess Board
    • How To Solve Chess Puzzles
    • How To Read Chess Notation
    • Complete List of Official Rules of Chess
    • Chess Terminology
  • Strategy
    • Openings
    • Checkmates Patterns
    • Tactics
  • Players
  • Resources
    • Best Chess Books By Rating Bracket
    • Books Mentioned In The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix (Real and Fake Books)
    • 7 Best Chess Books For Beginners To Cut The Learning Curve
  • About Us
  • Editor
  • Sign Up
No Result
View All Result
The Chess Journal
  • Home
  • Start Here
    • How To Set Up a Chess Board
    • How To Solve Chess Puzzles
    • How To Read Chess Notation
    • Complete List of Official Rules of Chess
    • Chess Terminology
  • Strategy
    • Openings
    • Checkmates Patterns
    • Tactics
  • Players
  • Resources
    • Best Chess Books By Rating Bracket
    • Books Mentioned In The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix (Real and Fake Books)
    • 7 Best Chess Books For Beginners To Cut The Learning Curve
  • About Us
  • Editor
  • Sign Up
No Result
View All Result
The Chess Journal
No Result
View All Result

Home » Chess Strategy » Stalemate: Everything About The Stalemate Draw Rule in Chess

Stalemate: Everything About The Stalemate Draw Rule in Chess

Editorial Staff by Editorial Staff
in Chess Strategy, Glosssary
Stalemate Chess Draw Rule Example
A Stalemate position ending the game in a Draw.

There are few things not just in Chess, but in life, that are more frustrating than seeing the dreaded Stalemate announcement when you were clearly dominating your opponent and should have easily gotten the victory.

When I started playing on Chess.com, I had many games that resulted in a stalemate with me in utter disbelief with no clue why or how the game concluded with this. This page is meant to clarify what a stalemate is, how it happens so you know how to avoid this if you can.

Page Navigation

  • What is a Stalemate?
  • Examples of Draw by Stalemate
    • Example #1
    • Example #2
  • When Stalemates Commonly Occur

What is a Stalemate?

A Stalemate is one of the draw rules in Chess and occurs when the the player who whose turn it is has no legal moves to make. Not to be confused with checkmate. Stalemate is when the player does not have a legal move to make and is also not in check. When Stalemate is declared, the game is over with the result being a draw, even if a player has a significant material advantage.

Stalemates are most commonly seen in the endgame while a King is being attacked by multiple pieces. The player doing the attacking needs to be cautious while attacking the opposing King making sure there is a legal move that can be made after every turn until checkmate.

Examples of Draw by Stalemate

Example #1

This game is one of mine that I recently played, the game resulted in a draw by stalemate which was a victory for me because I was completely losing the game. My opponent however, didn’t see that he would be leaving me without a legal move to make.

Example #2

This example is from a game that took place in 1995 between Johan Upmark and Robin Johansson that earned the title, “A Stale Joke”. The game ended in a Stalemate after just ten moves.

Black has no legal move and therefore, the game automatically ends in Stalemate.

When Stalemates Commonly Occur

Stalemates usually occur by accident when one side is up a Queen and isn’t paying full attention while attacking the enemy King, even more common when the player is also low on time and is making quick moves toward the King to get into a better position to deliver a checkmate pattern.

So you must remember to take more calculated moves while attacking the opposing King and make sure the player will be able to have at least one legal move in order to avoid stalemates.

 

I hope this article on the Stalemate rule in Chess helped you clearly understand exactly how it happens so you can now avoid it when possible.

Previous Post

10 Best Chess Players of All Time (Ranking The Top Players In History)

Next Post

10 Best English Chess Players (Ranking England’s Top Grandmasters)

Editorial Staff

Editorial Staff

The Chess Journal is all about bringing people interested in chess together to improve, learn, and become a chess genius.

Related Posts

Queens Gambit Chess Opening: Ultimate Guide

by Editorial Staff
March 26, 2023
Chess Openings

...

Read more

Chess Playing Styles: A Dive into Diverse Playing Styles

by Editorial Staff
March 22, 2023 - Updated on March 25, 2023
Chess Strategy

...

Read more
Must Read Chess Guides
Checkmate PatternsChess PiecesChess EnginesChess GambitsChess LibraryChess Openings

Chess Guides

  • 7 Tips on How To Get Better at Chess
  • 7 Tips on How To Stop Blundering in Chess
  • Does Chess Make You Smarter?
  • How Does Age Affect Chess Abilities

About The Chess Journal

The Chess Journal is a free resource for chess players to learn and master the ultimate game.

Support

  • About The Chess Journal
  • Terms of Use and Policies
  • Cookies
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms

Categories

  • Chess Strategy
  • Chess Players
  • Chess Programming
  • Chess Resources and Tools

© 2022 - The Chess Journal - All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Start Here
    • How To Set Up a Chess Board
    • How To Solve Chess Puzzles
    • How To Read Chess Notation
    • Complete List of Official Rules of Chess
    • Chess Terminology
  • Strategy
    • Openings
    • Checkmates Patterns
    • Tactics
  • Players
  • Resources
    • Best Chess Books By Rating Bracket
    • Books Mentioned In The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix (Real and Fake Books)
    • 7 Best Chess Books For Beginners To Cut The Learning Curve
  • About Us
  • Editor
  • Sign Up

© 2022 - The Chess Journal - All Rights Reserved

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OkNoPrivacy policy