The 5 Ways To Draw In Chess

There are few things better in chess than when your opponent is about to checkmate you, but they don’t, and accidentally stalemate! (Maybe there are a lot of things better than that, but you get the point.) But aside from stalemating, there are 4 more ways to draw on Chess.com. One of which I’m sure you haven’t heard about. (I hadn’t until I researched into it.) He are the 5 ways to draw on Chess.com.

1: Draw By Agreement

This is the most common way to draw a chess game. One player offers a draw, and the other players accepts the draw offer.

2: Draw By Stalemate

This draw is when the king is not in check, but does not have any other legal moves he can make (even with other pieces). Why does this exist?

3: Draw By Threefold Repetition

This draw happens when three of the same moves are played in a row. It can even happen when those three moves were spread out throughout the game. 

4: Draw By Insufficient Material

This draw is when both players don’t have enough material to checkmate the other opponent. It could be that both players just have a king, or it could be something different.

5: Draw By 50 Or 75 Move Rule

You’ve probably heard of the 50 move rule (it’s a draw if no one moves a pawn or captures a piece for 50 consecutive moves). But have you heard of the 75 move rule? It states that after 50 moves without a capture or pawn move, a player may claim a draw. If neither player claims a draw after 75 moves of the same, an arbiter may step in and declare a draw.

NOTE: The 75 move rule only applies in IRL chess tournaments.

I hope you learned something new today because I certainly did!