The game of chess is a battle of minds. It is an arena where only the strongest minds and the smartest tactics prevail. There is no place for weakness in the world of the 64 squares as the game aims to crush the opponent’s mind.
The primary aim of any chess player in a chess game is to win. The cleanest and most popular way of winning a chess game is by checkmate. However, a draw can also occur. Draws can happen for numerous reasons; a draw can happen through mutual agreement, insufficient mating material, or stalemate. In this article, we will focus on two ways a chess game can end — Stalemate vs Checkmate.
What is Stalemate?
A stalemate is a situation in a chess game where a player who has the next move (whose turn it is to move) has no legal moves, and their king is not in check. The outcome of a stalemate in a game of chess is a draw.
A stalemate wasn’t known to be a draw until the 19th century. However, before the stalemate-draw rule came into being, the treatment of a stalemate position varied widely among chess players.
In some places, a stalemate was deemed a win for the stalemating player; other places deemed a stalemate to be a half-win for the stalemating player. Some other applications even considered a stalemate a loss for the stalemating player.
In some chess variants, like Losing Chess, a stalemate is treated as a win for the stalemated player.
How Does Stalemate Occur?
Now that you know what a stalemate is, it is important to know how a position can become a stalemate.
A position becomes a stalemate when a player can not make legal moves with any piece, and their king is not in check.
This means that for a stalemate to happen, there must be absolutely no possible legal move a player can make; this can happen when the player only has a king, the other pieces on the board are pinned, or there are no free squares available to any piece.
In addition, the king must also not be in check.
How To Avoid Stalemate
For a chess player to fully understand and win a chess game, they must know how to prevent a stalemate. Ways in which you can avoid stalemate include:
1. Solve Stalemate Puzzles
Stalemate puzzles are positions created to educate players on how to deal with stalemate positions. Solving stalemate puzzles is a good way of learning how to tackle potential stalemate positions. Regular practice with stalemate puzzles will ensure you spot a potential stalemating move and prevent it from happening.
2. Don’t Capture Every Chess Piece
Stalemate occurs when an opponent has no legal moves with his king or any other piece. So you don’t have to capture them all when you have a huge lead in material advantage and your opponent has a few harmless pawns laying around the board. If the game goes on and your opponent doesn’t have any more legal moves in the game, those idle pawns will ensure the game goes on.
3. Remember To “Check” Your Opponent
One of the conditions in which a stalemate can happen is when the king is not in check. Therefore putting your opponent in check ensures that a position cannot become a stalemate, as a stalemate cannot occur if an opponent’s king is in check.
What is Checkmate?
Checkmate is a situation in a chess game where a player’s king is in check, and there is no possible legal move the king can use to escape.
Checkmate is derived from the Persian word “Shah mat,” which directly translates to “the king is dead.”
Checkmate can be performed by any piece on the board except the King.
Stalemate vs Checkmate: Conclusion
To recap, a stalemate happens when a player’s king is NOT in check, but it CANNOT move out of check due to the placement of pieces. It does not matter who has more pieces at this point. The game ends in a draw. A checkmate happens when it is impossible for the king to move out of check or protect itself from being captured by taking the piece that put it in check. The player who delivers the checkmate wins the game.
Here’s a suitable contrast:
- When a game ends in a stalemate, there is no clear winner, while the game ends with one clear winner by checkmate.
- For a game to end in stalemate, the opponent’s king must not be in check, while in the case of checkmate, the opponent’s king must be in check.
- Stalemate only results in a draw, while checkmate results in a win for the player delivering the checkmate and a loss for the player on whom it is delivered.
And there you have it! Now, you know what stalemate and checkmate are and their respective differences.
