There is also a stalemate when there is no possible checkmate because the only pieces left on the board are kings or maybe the occasional bishop
How a stalemate occurs
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bigD521 wrote:
There is only one stalemate which is a specific type of draw, of which you gave a very nice example of with your image. Everything else are different types of draws.
Draw of 50 consecutive moves. (50 moves made by each player- the one hundredth move results in a draw.) If a pawn is moved or a piece is captured, then the count starts over!
Draw of 3 fold repetition. While it takes a move to create a position it is not about the moves but the position. Each player can make numerous moves with a variety of pieces, but still end up in the same position. Think of 3 matching photographs with every piece on the board matching. Along with this it must be the same players turn to move in each. The same right to castle in each. An En passant position has not occurred.
Draw by insufficient mating material. One person does not have sufficient mating material, and when the other person loses a piece resulting in a lack of sufficient mating material the game ends in a draw.
Edited to add - To avoid a stalemate - A stalemate cannot occur as long as the King is checked. When you are going to make a move that does not check the King, look carefully at all of the pieces making sure the King has a space to move to without being in check, and your move does not take away the only space the King has to move to.
Buket_mn wrote:
true
Absolutely not true. Neither of you seem to know what stalemate is, and you confuse it with "draw".
Look up what stalemate is. And don't spread misinformation.
Dec 1, 2025
0
#8
asdfkhbrwieuh wrote:
There is also a stalemate when there is no possible checkmate because the only pieces left on the board are kings or maybe the occasional bishop
That is draw by Insufficient Material.
Insufficient material on this site is when both sides have any combination of the following pieces. Lone King. KB or KN. In addition, if one side has a LONE King and the other KNN it is also a drawn game.
Dec 1, 2025
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#11
Stalemates are frustrating to run into especially when you have a winning position. Here's what I do to avoid it.
1. Keep checking the enemy king.
2. Make sure the enemy king has at least 1 legal move
3. Advance your king before your major piece with basic mates
4. Review positions where you have stalemated. It's more likely to stay in your long term memory and you're more likely avoid that mistake in the future if you take the time to review it and understand it.
And the good news is when you understand stalemating patterns better you can use it against your opponent in a losing position. This was a pretty cool one I saw on YouTube recently (https://youtube.com/shorts/tiAPqyswPYc?si=qpmjbOa5CE-XtUh4):
Bf3+ !!, and although black is up 4 points in material, this is a stalemate sequence that black cannot avoid. The sequence goes:
1. Bf3+ Qxf3
2. Rb8+ Rxb8
3. Rxb8+ Kxb8
1/2 - 1/2
I offer online chess lessons if you're interested. First lesson is free. Here is the link to my website:
https://dans-board.squarespace.com/
Stalemate and draw are basically the same thing anyways
Dec 1, 2025
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#14
asdfkhbrwieuh wrote:
Stalemate and draw are basically the same thing anyways
Wrong stalemate is a type of draw they're not the same
Dec 1, 2025
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#15
asdfkhbrwieuh wrote:
Stalemate and draw are basically the same thing anyways
Every stalemate is a draw. However, not every draw is a stalemate.
asdfkhbrwieuh wrote:
There is also a stalemate when there is no possible checkmate because the only pieces left on the board are kings or maybe the occasional bishop
What you are describing is a draw by insufficient material, not a stalemate, unless the lone king was cornered and had nowhere to go. Even then, it would have been a draw by insufficient material before you could stalemate someone.
Sounds the same to me
Sorry guys I am more of a snakes and ladders player, chess is a bit tricky for me
Fun fact: the opening post was changed. Now it's almost correct.
A stalemate will happen when you or the opponent have no moves left but are not in check. An example of a stalemate:
(If this was white's turn it would be a stalemate as the king has nowhere to move but is also not in check)
Good luck! đź‘Ť