Stalemate vs. Checkmate In Chess

Stalemate vs Checkmate Chess
Stalemate vs Checkmate Chess

It is no surprise that games have different rules. Chess, for one, is a game with a large set of rules, and mastering the game comes only through understanding all of them.

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If you’ve played chess enough times, you’ve probably reached a situation in which you found your king had no more possible moves without moving into check. Well, that is called a stalemate!

Main Ways To End A Chess Game

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There are two main ways a chess game may end. The first is with a win, and the second is with a draw.

A player can win a match both by checkmating his opponent or through a forfeit, in which case the other player gives up the match. However rare, there are a few instances of players forfeiting matches throughout the long history of chess.

Draws are much rarer than the usual win-lose result, but some players, upon realizing they are soon to arrive at a situation in which a defeat is imminent, prefer to recur to strategies that score them draws.

Why Is It A Good Thing To Draw?

Well, the main reason is that in a draw each player is awarded half a point, which is better than the absolute zero points a player would receive for losing a match.

Can a player call a draw anytime during a match? It’s actually possible, but only if both players agree with the result. However, it is an extremely rare situation.

What most experienced players do is ‘force’ a draw when they find themselves on the verge of losing the match. But how can that be done?

Through stalemates, of course! Even if you’re not acquainted with the chess lingo, there’s a big chance you heard about checkmate somewhere.

chess checkmate stalemate

Chess Stalemate vs. Checkmate

  Stalemate Checkmate
Game Ends Yes Yes
Points Awarded Half-point to each player One to the winner and zero to the loser
Good for the ‘winning’ side No Yes
Good for the ‘losing’ side Yes No
King can move No Yes
King is in Check No Yes

A checkmate is a winning situation in which a player has the possibility to move the king but no matter where it goes, it will invariably be captured. It’s the classic winning move. But what is a stalemate?

A stalemate, different from a checkmate, doesn’t cause a win-lose result but a draw. In a stalemate, the king has no possible safe square to which it can move.

There are various situations in which a stalemate can occur and, unlike with a checkmate, the king is not in a check position. However, due to the fact that the king cannot safely move anywhere, the piece gets stuck, thus the draw is forced.

By the rules of chess, a player must always have a possible move in order for the game to continue and a stalemate breaks exactly this rule.

Stalemates Don’t Commonly Occur Naturally

They are normally provoked by the player who is facing imminent defeat.

As the player who is at a disadvantage realizes the game is heading to an unwelcome outcome, in order to prevent losing it to an opponent’s checkmate, he or she can cause a stalemate.

It’s one of the main defense moves in these situations. Surely, it takes quite a great deal of training and practice to be able to pull a stalemate off, but if we’re talking about the great masters, it won’t be such a hard task.

3 Ways A Player Can Cause A Stalemate

The first is due to insufficient pieces, which can happen, for example, when both players only have their kings left on the board.

The second way is to bring the king to a place in which it is not in check by any of your opponent’s pieces but it also cannot move anywhere without being captured.

The third way is through a repetition of checks, in which the players understand they would probably spend the whole eternity moving around without the king ever being in a situation in which a checkmate can happen.

The last situation is more common when one player only has the king and the other has only one piece besides the king.

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