MOST STUPID RULE : STALEMATE

A lone king can, however, stalemate (at least with the opponent having certain material such as an a pawn +stuff, an h pawn +stuff, some other subsets of material) . If stalemate is made a win then a lone king can win. If a lone king can win then a lone king can also win on time. That is the side effect if stalemate is ever made a win. Note that King + Knight can deliver a stalemate against a lone king, as can King + Bishop. So even if a checkmate is impossible (K+N vs K+8Q) a stalemate is still possible (the opponent can lose all of its non-king material) and K+N or K+B can win one time against ANY opposing material.

Think things through before trying to change such a fundamental rule, as you will often find that such a change would actually be detrimental.

I AM THE STALEMATE KING !!!!!

FEAR THE STALEMATE KING !!!!

A lone king cannot win on time in standard chess rules because it's impossible to checkmate with only a king.

🙄

Currently that is true. If some short-sighted people ever make stalemate a win that scores equally with a checkmate win then there are a number of positions where a lone King CAN stalemate an opposing king. If that abomination ever comes to pass then a lone king CAN win on time in positions where a potential stalemate is possible (at least in FIDE rules, and US Chess rules would probably follow closely behind - with chess.com rules following after).

In standard chess, a lone king cannot checkmate, so running out of time with just a king results in a draw, even with other pieces on the board. If stalemate was made a win, a lone king could potentially win on time in stalemate-possible positions.

This is made so because when your opponent runs out of time, you have no material to checkmate with. Although this can be countered with the fact that you should win if you had a lone king and ur opponent lost on time, you should gain the win because your opponent literally lost on time. This is not so because if there was no clock, you will have no chance of winning through your lone king, and that your only chance was by stalemate

Stalemate is the backbone of all endgame theory. Those of us who have learned those endgames for our entitled lives, are not about to throw all that knowledge out, because one or two crybabies got on the internet and complained.

Why has this forum stayed alive for nearly 8 years

my immediate thought as well, seeing the title

Because they keep making new chess players. And as long as they keep making new chess players, a small number of those players will get it in their heads that stalemate is a dumb rule. Then those new chess players become older or more experienced chess players, who eventually understand the stalemate rule.

But as soon as that happens, another batch of new chess players are made. And the cycle repeats. 8 years is nothing. Beginners have felt this way for many decades.

😱

The question becomes should stalemate become a win even if checkmate isn't possible. Most people would say once checkmate isn't possible the game should be a draw, regardless of stalemate possibilities because the game is drawn then. So whether stalemate is possible with the remaining pieces or not becomes irrelevant as the game has already ended via insufficient material. But then you have these insufficient mating material positions where stalemate can be forced:

The whole idea of stalemate being a win is that a side not having any legal moves to make should lose the game? Correct? But if checkmate is no longer possible due to insufficient mating material, doesnt that then relieve both players of the obligation to keep making moves at all? But if stalemate is a win, maybe both sides shouldn't be relieved of this obligation. It becomes circular reasoning and this is the main reason I think stalemate should stay a draw. Otherwise you literally have arguments for certain stalemates being a draw and others being a win, which is silly.

Stalemate

In chess, stalemate is a draw because the king is not in check, even though there are no legal moves available.

Stalemate is an important rule. Black's position is near hopeless, but White must be careful. Unless White understands that the h-pawn must be sacrificed, a win is not possible.
White to move

Mmm