Draw??

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Avatar of Motorheadmatt1967

Hi. I'm new to chess, and it's addictive.  While playing the computer, I've has several matches come up as draws, like this one:

I'm white. How is this a draw??? It looks like I won. Thanks for your time 

Avatar of Splashy64

this is called stalemate. It is really annoying and happens when you move your pieces and black can't move anywhere while they're not in check. search it up/.

Avatar of vd2010g

To avoid stalemate, be sure that opponent either has a legal move or is checked by you. (Side note: at the position you present, Qa3# would win instead.)

Avatar of vd2010g

P.s. might be unrelated, but you can analyze your games once they're finished, allowing you to see your mistakes (with explanations if using premium report). This might help understanding some simple things and blunder less.

Avatar of NoemiS05

Always make sure the opponent King has a square to move to on his move unless your move is checkmate. If the King can't move and he's not in checkmate, it's a draw.

Avatar of NoemiS05

Queen to a3, or Rook to a8 would have won you the game.

Avatar of idk13243

Its called stalemate, your opponent has no legal moves to play so it ends in a draw. I recommend you search up en passant as well as it might get tricky if u encounter it.

Avatar of magipi
Mittens742689 wrote:

Its stalemate

What is the point in butting in days later and repeating what a dozen guys have already said?

Avatar of Reputationlover

Yeah. It happens when the king can't go anywhere but it is not check

Avatar of Motorheadmatt1967
vd2010g wrote:

To avoid stalemate, be sure that opponent either has a legal move or is checked by you. (Side note: at the position you present, Qa3# would win instead.)

Thanks for the answer, but couldn't the black king taken the white queen in that case?

Avatar of Motorheadmatt1967
NoemiS05 wrote:

Queen to a3, or Rook to a8 would have won you the game.

Why couldn't the queen take the rook in that case? This is what's confusing me.

Avatar of AgileElephants
Motorheadmatt1967 wrote:
vd2010g wrote:

To avoid stalemate, be sure that opponent either has a legal move or is checked by you. (Side note: at the position you present, Qa3# would win instead.)

Thanks for the answer, but couldn't the black king taken the white queen in that case?

The black King on a7 cannot take the Queen on a3.

Avatar of AgileElephants
Motorheadmatt1967 wrote:
NoemiS05 wrote:

Queen to a3, or Rook to a8 would have won you the game.

Why couldn't the queen take the rook in that case? This is what's confusing me.

You must mean the King, not the Queen. The black King wouldn't be able to take the Rook on a8 because the Rook would be defended by the Bishop on d5.

Avatar of Motorheadmatt1967
AgileElephants wrote:
Motorheadmatt1967 wrote:
NoemiS05 wrote:

Queen to a3, or Rook to a8 would have won you the game.

Why couldn't the queen take the rook in that case? This is what's confusing me.

You must mean the King, not the Queen. The black King wouldn't be able to take the Rook on a8 because the Rook would be defended by the Bishop on d5.

Thanks, but the black king looks completely trapped. It is blocked by the white queen and the white rook in all directions. That's why I don't understand how this is a draw.

Avatar of AgileElephants
Motorheadmatt1967 wrote:
AgileElephants wrote:
Motorheadmatt1967 wrote:
NoemiS05 wrote:

Queen to a3, or Rook to a8 would have won you the game.

Why couldn't the queen take the rook in that case? This is what's confusing me.

You must mean the King, not the Queen. The black King wouldn't be able to take the Rook on a8 because the Rook would be defended by the Bishop on d5.

Thanks, but the black king looks completely trapped. It is blocked by the white queen and the white rook in all directions. That's why I don't understand how this is a draw.

Others have already explained: it is a stalemate. According the rules of chess it is a draw: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalemate

Avatar of NoemiS05
Motorheadmatt1967 wrote:
AgileElephants wrote:
Motorheadmatt1967 wrote:
NoemiS05 wrote:

Queen to a3, or Rook to a8 would have won you the game.

Why couldn't the queen take the rook in that case? This is what's confusing me.

You must mean the King, not the Queen. The black King wouldn't be able to take the Rook on a8 because the Rook would be defended by the Bishop on d5.

Thanks, but the black king looks completely trapped. It is blocked by the white queen and the white rook in all directions. That's why I don't understand how this is a draw.

Do some Mate-in-1 puzzles about Checkmates - once you learn the difference between Checkmate and Stalemate you will remember it for the rest of your life happy.png There will be a Lesson or two on this site about it.

Basically the opponent's King doesn't have any squares to move to in either case, but in Checkmate it is under direct attack and will be captured if there was another move, but in Stalemate he escapes and can never be captured because he isn't directly under attack but has no legal moves happy.png So ask "If White had one more move, could the Black King be captured?" If not, it is Stalemate and a draw.

And the Rook on a8 would be defended by the Bishop (the King can't capture a defended piece because it would mean the King can be captured on the next move = Game Over!).

It sounds complicated but you will get the hang of it all after a few days doing Mate in 1 puzzles. happy.png

Practicing on the Analysis board (or in the Practice Drills section) against computer simple King and Queen vs King checkmates will help you understand how to avoid stalemate too. Watch a YouTube video and practice this! happy.png

Avatar of MichaelBanfield
Hi
Avatar of ZitroneO4
Yeah guys, its a stalemate
Avatar of omnipaul
AgileElephants wrote:
Motorheadmatt1967 wrote:
AgileElephants wrote:
Motorheadmatt1967 wrote:
NoemiS05 wrote:

Queen to a3, or Rook to a8 would have won you the game.

Why couldn't the queen take the rook in that case? This is what's confusing me.

Thanks, but the black king looks completely trapped. It is blocked by the white queen and the white rook in all directions. That's why I don't understand how this is a draw.

Others have already explained: it is a stalemate. According the rules of chess it is a draw: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalemate

When new players first encounter stalemate, it is usually in this kind of instance - one player is so dominating the position that it is impossible to understand why the other player should be awarded a draw.
The thing is, the stalemate rule covers a variety of situations and simplifies the rules (rather than have 2-3 different rules for what happens in a stalemate-type situation. 
Stalemate can happen, as here, where player A is dominating and player B has no available move. It can also happen in situations where player A has the extra material but stalemates themself (usually, these are composed positions, but it is possible).
But where stalemate really comes into play most of the time at the higher levels is in subtle situations where one player has only a slight advantage, but the other player has stalemate tricks to help them try to save the game. One example is the K+P vs K endgame. Without stalemate, the K+P will always win. With stalemate, you have to know what you are doing to win with the K+P. Another example is where you may be one move away from being checkmated, but you have a rook that you can use to check the opposing king by moving right next to it and where taking the rook would leave a stalemate.

Avatar of Motorheadmatt1967

Thank you, everyone! I'll check out the training videos.