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Stalemate Traps - When all else fails
IM Paul Littlewood - Photo David Tipper, Position from Bachar-Mestel, black to move

Stalemate Traps - When all else fails

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Sometimes you may reach an apparently lost position which contains a saving resource based on stalemate.
In this week's blog (the first in a series on common tactical patterns) English IM Paul Littlewood provides us with some examples of stalemate traps from this year's British Chess Championships in Liverpool, as featured in his article in the September edition of the ECF's monthly ChessMoves magazine.
Try and solve the positions by finding the correct moves for the defender to force stalemate or for the attacker to avoid it (answers at the end).

Tactics by IM Paul Littlewood (from ECF ChessMoves – September 2025) 

Observing the recent British Chess Championships, it struck me that there were quite a few times when stalemate traps were set by the opponent who was clearly losing. For example, consider the following position:

Daniel Fernandez – Richard Pert
Round 8, British Chess Championships, 09.08.2025
Black to move

As a last cunning try Daniel has just played g4. Now 1...e1=Q would be a bad mistake, because White could then reply 2.Qg7+! and after 2...Kxg7 it would be stalemate. However, Richard avoided this by promoting to a rook instead, and Daniel resigned.It is vital to be on the look-out for stalemate possibilities when you are easily winning, as you can be sure that your opponent will be trying his hardest to lure you into the trap.

My next example is taken from a junior tournament played some years ago.

Bachar Kouatly – Jonathan Mestel

Black to move

Jonathan is clearly losing, but he saw an interesting way to achieve a stalemate if his opponent faltered. The game continued 1...Ra1 2.a6? (2.Bc4 is winning for White) 2...g3+ 3.Kf3 Ra3+ 4.Kxf4 (4.Ke4 Re3+) Rxa6! with a draw, because if rook or bishop takes a6 it is stalemate, and otherwise the white rook can be chased along the eighth rank by the black rook—for example, 5.Rh8 Rh6 etc —the ‘mad rook’ manoeuvre we have talked about before.

As I have constantly reiterated, it is important to stay vigilant at all times, because there are all kinds of tactics out there waiting to catch you out!

Here now are two examples for you to solve, with the answers given at the end of the article.

IM Richard Pert – IM Peter Roberson
Round 9, British Chess Championships, 10.08.2025
Black to move

Peter played 1...Re2 and went on to win. Why didn’t he play the natural 1...Rg7 to defend his bishop?

Istvan Bilek – Wolfgang Heidenfeld
Lugano 1968 
White to move

After toiling for many hours White had built up a winning position, but then replied 1.c4 to his opponent’s check. Why was this a mistake?

Answers:
Richard Pert – Peter Roberson
If 1...Rg7 then 2.Qxc6+! Kxc6 and it is stalemate.
Istvan Bilek – Wolfgang Heidenfeld
White should have played 1.Kb4, as after 1.c4? Black replied 1...Qg3+! After 2.Qxg3 it’s stalemate.