In chess, a draw is one of the possible outcomes of a game, the others being a win for white and a win for black. Chess is a recreational and competitive Game played between two players. A draw is the same as a tie. To tie or draw is to finish a Competition with identical or inconclusive results Traditionally, in tournaments a win is worth one point to the victor and none to the loser, while a draw is worth a half point to each player.

Draws in all games

Rule 5. 2 of the FIDE Laws of Chess detail the ways a game may end in a draw:

• Mutual agreement - a player may offer a draw to his opponent at any stage of a game. Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation is an international organization that connects the various national Chess federations around the The rules of chess (also known as the laws of chess) are rules governing the play of the game of Chess. In Chess, a draw by (mutual agreement is the outcome of a game due to the agreement of both players to a draw. If the opponent accepts, the game is a draw.
• Stalemate - if the player on turn has no legal move but is not in check, this is stalemate and the game is a draw. Stalemate is a situation in Chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check but has no legal moves
• Threefold repetition - if an identical position has occurred three times, or will occur after the player on turn makes his move, the player on move may claim a draw (to the arbiter). In Chess and some other Abstract strategy games, the threefold repetition rule (also known as repetition of position) states that a player can claim a This page explains commonly used terms in Chess in alphabetical order In such a case the draw is not automatic - a player must claim it. Article 9. 2 states that a position is considered identical to another if the same player is on move, the same types of pieces of the same colors occupy the same squares, and the same moves are available to each player; in particular, each player has the same castling and en passant capturing rights. Illustration Example in opening In this line from the Petrov Defence, White can capture the pawn on d5 en passant on his sixth move
• Fifty move rule - if at least fifty moves (by each side) have passed with no pawn being moved and no capture being made, a draw may be claimed by either player. The fifty move rule in Chess states that a player can claim a draw if no capture has been made and no pawn has been moved in the last fifty consecutive The pawn (♙♟ is the weakest and most numerous piece in the Game of Chess, representing Infantry Here again, the draw is not automatic and rather must be claimed.

Draw: no sequence of legal moves can lead to checkmate; note that no piece can cross the center line of the board

• Impossibility of checkmate - if a position arises in which neither player could possibly give checkmate by a series of legal moves, the game is a draw. Checkmate (frequently shortened to mate) is a situation in Chess (and in other Boardgames of the Chaturanga family in which one player's This is usually because there is insufficient material left, but it is possible in other positions too (see the diagram). Combinations with insufficient material to checkmate are:

• king versus king
• king and bishop versus king
• king and knight versus king
• king and bishop versus king and bishop with the bishops on the same color. This page explains commonly used terms in Chess in alphabetical order In Chess, the King (♔ ♚ is the most important piece. The object of the game is to trap the opponent's king so that it would not be able to avoid capture A bishop (♗♝ is a piece in the Board game of Chess. Each player begins the game with two bishops The knight (♘ ♞ sometimes referred to by players as a 'horse' is a piece in the Game of Chess, representing a Knight (armoured cavalry

Any number of additional bishops on the same color due to underpromotion do not affect the situation. Promotion to various pieces Promotion to a queen is the most common in practical play since the queen is the most powerful piece

It is popularly considered that perpetual check – where one player gives a series of checks from which the other player cannot escape – is a draw, but in fact there is no longer a specific rule for this in the laws of chess, because any perpetual check situation will eventually be claimable as a draw under the fifty move rule or by threefold repetition, or (more likely) by agreement. In the game of Chess, perpetual check is a situation in which one player can force a draw by an unending series of checks Such a situation typically arises

It should be noted that although these are the laws as laid down by FIDE and, as such, are used at almost all top-level tournaments, at lower levels different rules may operate, particularly with regard to rapid play finish provisions. Fast chess, also known as blitz chess, lightning chess, bullet chess and rapid chess, is a type of Chess game in which each side is

Draws in timed games

In games played with a time control, there are other ways a draw can occur. A time control is a mechanism in the tournament play of almost all two-player Board games so that each round of the match can finish in a timely way and the tournament can

Possible checkmate position for Black. If White runs out of time with this combination of material, Black wins because of this possible checkmate. This is a list of articles related to Chess. The articles are in three broad groups and are alphabetical within the group However, in a sudden death time control, if White can convince the arbiter before the time is up that Black is merely stalling to win on time, the game is nevertheless declared a draw.

• In a sudden death time control (players have a limited time to play all of their moves), if it is discovered that both players have exceeded their time allotment, the game is a draw. This page explains commonly used terms in Chess in alphabetical order (The game continues if it is not a sudden-death time control. )

• If only one player has exceeded the time limit, but the other player does not have (theoretically) sufficient mating material, the game is still a draw. Law 6. 10 of the FIDE Laws of Chess states that: "If a player does not complete the prescribed number of moves in the allotted time, the game is lost by the player. Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation is an international organization that connects the various national Chess federations around the However, the game is drawn, if the position is such that the opponent cannot checkmate the player's king by any possible series of legal moves, even with the most unskilled counterplay. " For example, a player who runs out of time with a king and queen versus a sole king does not lose the game. It is still possible to lose on time in positions where mate is extremely unlikely but not theoretically impossible, as with king and bishop versus king and knight.

• Because of this last possibility, article 10 of the FIDE laws of chess states that when a player has less than two minutes left on their clock during a rapid play finish (the end of a game when all remaining moves must be completed within a limited amount of time), they may claim a draw if their opponent is not attempting to win the game by "normal means" or cannot win the game by "normal means". "Normal means" can be taken to mean the delivery of checkmate or the winning of material. In other words, a draw is claimable if the opponent is merely attempting to win on time, or cannot possibly win except by on time. It is up to the arbiter to decide whether such a claim will be granted or not.

Frequency of draws

In chess games played at the top level, a draw is the most common outcome of a game: of around 22,000 games published in The Week in Chess played between 1999 and 2002 by players with a FIDE Elo rating of 2500 or above, 55 percent were draws. The Week in Chess (often abbreviated to TWIC) is one of the first if not the first Internet -based Chess news services Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation is an international organization that connects the various national Chess federations around the The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games such as Chess and Go. Roughly 36 percent of games between top computer chess programs are draws (more than are won by White or won by Black) ^[1].

Articles on draw rules

• Stalemate
• Threefold repetition
• Fifty move rule
• Draw by agreement

See also

• Rules of chess
• First move advantage in chess

Notes

References

• Just, Tim & Burg, Daniel B. (2003), U. S. Chess Federation's Official Rules of Chess (fifth ed. ), McKay, ISBN 0-8129-3559-4 

• Schiller, Eric (2003), Official Rules of Chess (second ed. Eric Schiller (born March 20, 1955 in New York) is an American Chess player trainer arbiter and author ), Cardoza, ISBN 978-1-58042-092-1 

Further reading

• McCrary, John (2004), “The Evolution of Special Draw Rules”, Chess Life (no. Chess Life is a monthly Chess magazine published in the United States. November): 26-27 

External links

• FIDE Laws of Chess
• article by International Grandmaster Joel Benjamin