Reference / Chess

Draws by rule

Rule, beginner

Also called Threefold repetition, Fifty-move rule, Insufficient material, Dead position.

Besides stalemate, a game is drawn by repetition, the fifty-move rule, agreement, or a position where no one can ever mate.

Threefold repetition: the same position three times, with the same side to move and the same castling and en passant rights. The three need not come one after another. Over the board you claim it; at five times the game is drawn on its own.

Fifty-move rule: fifty moves each with no capture and no pawn move. You claim it; at seventy-five moves it is automatic.

Dead position: no series of legal moves can ever give mate, so the game is drawn at once. Examples are king against king, king and bishop or king and knight against king, and king and bishop against king and bishop with both bishops on the same colour. King and two knights against king is not dead: mate is possible, though it cannot be forced, so the game goes on.

Running out of time loses, unless your opponent could not possibly mate you. Then it is a draw.

Online sites apply most of these automatically; over the board you claim them.

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