Draws
Stalemate, insufficient material, repitition, fifty-move rule and mutual agreement
Stalemate
Stalemate is a position on the board in where it is a players turn to move but has no legal moves available. This position is deemed as a draw for both players.
In this position black has no legal moves, all the king's squares are covered by white's queen and the H5 pawn is blocked.
Insufficient material
A game can also be drawn if both sides have do not have the sufficient material possible to checkmate.
This position is a draw as it is impossible for checkmate to occur if neither side have any material.
Such a position is known as a dead position. Other dead positions incude:
- King and minor piece (knight or bishop) vs king:
- Only kings and bishops (of the same color):
Repetition
The three-fold repetition rule states that if a position occurs three times in the same game, either player may claim a draw. In online chess the game is drawn automatically. The purpose of this rule is that if the same position occurs three times, no real progress is being made and the game could hypothetically continue indefinitely.
Fifty-move rule
A player can claim a draw if no capture has been made and no pawn has been moved in the last fifty moves. The purpose of this rule is to prevent a player with no chance of winning from continuing the game indefinitely or trying to win by tiring the opponent.
Note:
On July 1st 2014 FIDE introduced the five-fold repitition rule and the seventy-five move rule, in where if these conditions are met the game is automatically drawn as opposed to a draw being claimed by either player.
Mutual agreement
In chess, a player may offer a draw at any stage of a game. If the opponent accepts, the outcome of the game is a draw by mutual agreement.