please, please, please make sense
the definition of stalemate is: "player to move doesnt have a legal move, but isnt in check"
its simple but no one gets it correct
How is this a stalemate? Isn't it supposed to be a checkmate??
Sort:
Most languages just call it "mate", but English kindly calls it "checkmate", trying to ensure that there is no confusion, even beginners will see that a check is required. Apparently even that's not enough.
thunder6131 wrote:
but u can move other pieces
Llampozhil25 was making a point that if the OP concluded that the position in the OP's post was checkmate (since the king cannot move as he mentioned in post #2), then his given position would also be valid.
spurrthespurrow wrote:
I have the white king cornered in every direction. He can't move left, right, diagonally, or upwards. So, why is this considered a stalemate and not a checkmate???????
Unlike some other games such as xiangqi (Chinese chess) where "stalemate" is a win for the stalemating player, it is not the case for the game of English chess.
Normally, you would want to allow the king room to move before delivering the final check. Having four queens on the board increases the risk of stalemate, so you have to be very careful about promoting to four queens
(We might think that promoting to multiple queens means having the agenda of torturing our opponent, but we would become a laughing stock if we fall to the victim of our own agenda - splitting half a point equally to both players when we could have earned the full point)
spurrthespurrow wrote:
damn that an annoying rule
no it isn't! I love that and the "draw by 3 fold repetition" rule! i've drawn a bunch of games with my lone king facing ARMIES of idiots tripping over each other's feet and have drawn games against QUEEN PAIRS a few times. that's what happens when idiots try to show off instead of just sticking to the basics. in fact, i generally promote to ROOKS if that's all i need to win an endgame 1. for style and 2. to minimize stalemates.
there's a reason they're called CHECKmates and not THREATmates
Sure