Example of stalemate (Harkness 1967:48)

Black to move is in stalemate. He has no legal move since each square to which the king might move is attacked by the white bishop or queen.

This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.

Stalemate is a situation in chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check but has no legal moves. One of the rules of chess is that stalemate ends the game, with the result a draw. Often during the endgame, stalemate is a resource that enables the player with the inferior position to draw the game. In more complicated positions, stalemate is much rarer, usually taking the form of a swindle that succeeds only if the superior side is inattentive. Stalemate is also a common theme in endgame studies and other chess problems.

The outcome of a stalemate was standardized as a draw in the 19th century but, before that and depending on the location, it was sometimes deemed a win for the stalemating player, a half-win for that player, or even a loss for that player. In some times and places it either was not allowed or the stalemated player missed a turn.

Some regional chess variants have not allowed a player to play a stalemating move. In different versions of suicide chess, another chess variant, stalemate may or may not be treated as a draw.

The word "stalemate" is also used for a metaphor when a conflict has reached an impasse and resolution seems difficult or impossible, i.e. a no-win situation.

Diagram 1 Black to move is in stalemate	Diagram 2 Black to move is in stalemate
Diagram 3 Black to move is in stalemate	Diagram 4 Black to move is in stalemate

Simple examples

With Black to move, Black is stalemated in diagrams 1 to 4. (Chess diagram convention has white playing up the board, black down.) Stalemate is an important factor in the endgame – the endgame set-up in diagram 2, for example, quite frequently is relevant in play (see King and pawn versus king endgame). The position in diagram 2 occurred in an 1898 game between Amos Burn and Harry Pillsbury¹ and also in a 1925 game between Savielly Tartakower and Richard Réti.²

The position in diagram 4 is an example of a pawn drawing against a queen. Stalemates of this sort can often save a player from losing an apparently hopeless position (see Queen versus pawn endgame). In that position, even if it were White's move, there is no way to avoid this stalemate without allowing Black's pawn to promote. (White may be able to win the resulting queen versus queen ending, however, if the white king is close enough).

Stalemate in the endgame

As the previous section suggests, stalemate is a typical element of the endgame (Pachman 1973:17), often enabling the player with the inferior position to draw the game (Hooper & Whyld 1992:387). Below are some examples of this from actual play.

Anand versus Kramnik

Anand-Kramnik, 2007

Before 65... Kxf5, stalemate.

In this game between Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik from the 2007 World Chess Championship,³ Black must capture the pawn on f5, causing stalemate (Benko 2008:49). (Any other move by Black loses.)

Korchnoi versus Karpov

Korchnoi-Karpov 1978

Position after 124. Bc3-g7

An intentional stalemate occurred on the 124th move of the fifth game of the 1978 World Championship match between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi.⁴ The game had been a theoretical draw for many moves (Karolyi & Aplin 2007:170), (Griffiths 1993:43-46). (Even if White wins the black pawn, the black king can get to the a8 corner and set up a fortress. See fortress (chess)#Fortress in a corner and Wrong rook pawn#Korchnoi-Karpov.) However the players were not on speaking terms so neither would offer a draw by agreement. Korchnoi said that it gave him pleasure to stalemate Karpov and that it was slightly humiliating (Kasparov 2006:120). (Incidentally, as of 2008 this is the longest game played in a World Chess Championship final match, and also the only World Championship game to end in stalemate (Fox & James 1993:236).)

Bernstein versus Smyslov

Bernstein-Smyslov, 1946