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Welcome back. Perhaps you'd like to tell me what you'd like me to call you this lesson.
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Have you learnt all about CHECK AND CHECKMATE, kiddo?  Yes, I understand about CHECK and CHECKMATE. I'm still confused about CHECK and CHECKMATE |
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You learnt in the last lesson that you can win a game by getting CHECKMATE. Now you're going to learn one way to draw a game of chess. This is called STALEMATE. 
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First, look at this position. It's White's move. He's not IN CHECK at the moment, but what can he do? He has no moves with his king which do not put him into CHECK. And he has no other pieces to move. When you were playing CAPTURE THE FLAG you lost the game if you couldn't move anywhere, but in a complete chess game this position is a DRAW. In this position we say that it is STALEMATE, that White has been STALEMATED.
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But THIS position ISN'T STALEMATE. White is NOT in CHECK and his KING has no moves. But he has a pawn on the board, so he has to move it. After he's moved his pawn Black will be able to get CHECKMATE by moving his queen from d3 to e2.
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Look very carefully at this position. It looks at first as if White can move the pawn on c3. But look again and you'll see that moving the pawn would leave him IN CHECK from the bishop on a5. You are NOT ALLOWED to play ANY move that leaves your KING IN CHECK. So this position is STALEMATE. This is called a PIN. The bishop is PINNING the pawn. The pawn is PINNED by the bishop.
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That's the end of the lesson, kiddo.
Guess what? It's time for a REALLY HARD EXAM about STALEMATE. No problem. I understand STALEMATE. Can I repeat the lesson first? I'll do it later - I have to go now These exams are really stale, mate. |