Just like any other game, chess normally ends with a winning and a losing side. Chess can also end with a draw in some situations, and there are actually five different ways a chess match can end with no win.
However, in the large majority of cases, chess matches end with a checkmate, which means a win.
Check Before Checkmate
The checkmate is the final winning move, and it happens when one of the players has no more possible moves that could keep the king safe from threat. It’s extremely important that the king is put in check before the checkmate is called, or else a stalemate may be called.
A stalemate is a modality of a draw in chess and is normally only interesting for the player who is about to lose the game and can even be used as a strategic move in some types of chess.
Chess is a game in which players normally attack from the first moves, also called openings. Being a game based on medieval figures, the king sits in the highest position in the hierarchy.
That means he should be the most protected piece on the board as the match is lost with his death. But how can a player kill the opponent’s king?
How To Kill The King In Chess
The answer is simple: the king can be killed just like any other piece on the board can. Simply position one of your pieces on the same square as an opponent’s, and you’ll capture or kill, that piece.
Since the hierarchy of pieces on a chess board doesn’t mean anything when killing moves are made, even a pawn, considered by most players to be the weakest piece and the first one to be sacrificed, can kill a king, the most important piece.
Can The King Kill?
On the other hand, the king, the most important and valuable piece on a chess board, simply cannot kill the opponent’s king. Where is the hierarchy when a pawn can do something a king has no right to do?
That is because, among the rules of chess, one of the main ones points out that a player is not allowed to deliberately move the king to a position where he is in threat. That is indeed a clear demonstration of the importance of the hierarchy in chess.
Protecting The King Is The Top Priority
In the same way, once the king is in check, the defending player is obligated to make a move to save the piece, which re-estates the importance of the king on the board.
The rules of the game indeed forbid a king from killing the other, but that doesn’t mean it cannot be used to build check or checkmate stances.
However, as it is of the utmost importance that the king is preserved from any form of harm, any move, especially attacking ones, has to be made with extreme care. One little slip and your king is gone.
And how good can a dead king be in the protection of his kingdom?