Hi TimDulger--the obvious answer is "leave your opponent with a legal move," but you probably figured that out by now. A common trap early in one's chess career is to take everything and then worry about mate. People do this almost instinctively because they fear counterplay or think that getting rid of more stuff will lead to winning faster. In fact it's the other way around; if you have an extra queen on the board that can mop up all the enemy pawns, she could just as easily deliver checkmate in the same number of moves. So as soon as you get to a large material advantage, really take time to look at the board. Do you have enough pieces to mate? If so, can your opponent stop you with what's left on the board? If you can't mate, do you need to promote a pawn to get there, or just remove some defenders? Make sure you understand the basic mates, especially K + Q vs. K and K + R vs. K; you'd be amazed how many games end up simplifying into one of those. If all else fails, put the opponent in check or keep your distance until you bring more attackers nearby.
Stalemate
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Stale mate is when its your turn to move, you are not in check but have no legal moves remaining. Stalemate is considered a draw (the game ends as there are no moves left, but you have not been able to mate the king)
It easily happens if you dont pay attention when having a big material advantage against a lone king - as the oppent may have very few squares available.
I was wondering how to avoid a stalemate. It seems whenever I am dominating and my opponent is left with only his King, it goes to stalemate. But when it's my turn to be dominated I lose and it doesnt go to stalemate. Why?