What Not to Do While Checkmating - Chess
“A draw can be obtained not only by repeating moves, but also by one weak move.” Savielly Tartakower, the famous chess player is popularly quoted to have said this about the game he fell in love with. The quote is about draws, a condition which neither of
the player wants but sometimes has to compromise with and accept.
Draws occur in chess for various reasons. There is a fifty-move rule in which a draw can be claimed by either of the players if no pawn has been moved nor any capture made in the last fifty moves of the game. another situation in which a draw is claimable
by both the players is called the three-fold repetition. This happens when a chess position is repeated three times during a particular chess game. when this happens, any player can ask for a draw. The third type of draw is the stalemate. This is the type
we are going to talk about and discuss ways of avoiding.
A stalemate is a position in which the player whose turn it is to move is not under a check but she cannot make any legal moves either. Before the 19th century, a stalemate position was not treated as a draw. In some cases, it was considered to
be a victory for the player who made the stalemate. Other scenarios included giving a half win or even a loss to the stalemating player. There were some variations prevalent in regional chess games that made it a rule not to allow the players to make a move
that created a stalemate.
In endgames, the weaker player tries to create a situation in which she is stalemated. In this way, a loss is avoided as a draw is reached. in this article, we will now explain to you the ways to avoid a stalemate.
Stalemate most commonly occurs in endgames that have a queen and two kings. If a player loses her focus and does not concentrate while trying to make a checkmate, she can unintentionally fall into a stalemate. Following is an example of a stalemate caused
by the three pieces involved.
If the enemy king is restricted to any side of the board and the opposing queen and king are placed on the same file or rank but leaving a file or rank in between, a stalemate can occur. A position where the enemy king is not in a corner, and the opposing
queen is place one file or rank above it, with the king one file or rank below it or vice versa, the situation will be a stalemate.
Another example of a stalemate is when an endgame has a rook and two kings. For a stalemate to happen, the enemy king has to be in a corner of the board. When the rook and king are placed in a diagonal with the enemy king, a stalemate will result. Obviously,
the rook should have to come first in the diagonal, with the king defending it.
Another variation of such a stalemate is when a cornered enemy king is restricted to its file or rank by the rook in control of the adjacent file or rank from that of the enemy king. In this position, if the rook’s king comes so close to the enemy king that
a square’s distance is left, a stalemate results as the enemy king has no where to move legally even though it is not under a check.
That brings us to the conclusion of our article which we will end in the words of Bent Larsen: “A draw may be the beautiful and logical result of fine attacks and parries; and the public ought to appreciate such games, in contrast, of course, to the fear-and-laziness
draws.”
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