Automatic Draw

I was just exposed to an automatic draw which was caused by an unknown to me event. Turns out I had 10 pieces including a Rook and a Queen and he was only with his King and the game came up at a draw when I cornered him and left him no place to move. I heard that you must always leave an out or put him in check! This really ticked me off since I was so far ahead of him and the win was a no-brainer. I learned a tough lesson on this one.

Originally posted by Relayman
I was just exposed to an automatic draw which was caused by an unknown to me event. Turns out I had 10 pieces including a Rook and a Queen and he was only with his King and the game came up at a draw when I cornered him and left him no place to move. I heard that you must always leave an out or put him in check! This really ticked me off since I was so far ahead of him and the win was a no-brainer. I learned a tough lesson on this one.

It's called stalemate, and it's a normal (though not often-occuring) part of chess.

Richard

Originally posted by Relayman
... when I cornered him and left him no place to move. I heard that you must always leave an out or put him in check!

Why didn't you leave him with a square where he could move the king to? Were your moves forced?

Originally posted by FabianFnas
Why didn't you leave him with a square where he could move the king to? Were your moves forced?

doesn't appear to be.

Game 3146395

Avoiding giving stalemate is just one of those things you have to learn, like castling and the en passant rule. Along with trying to get a draw by repetition, it gives a hope of rescuing something to a player who is down on material. Actually, it's quite surprising that you have been playing this long and not run into it before.

It's interesting to consider what alternative there could be to the stalemate rule: if you haven't checkmated your opponent, you clearly haven't won, but if he has no legal move, the game has to stop; neither player has won, so it must be a draw. One might that the rules could forbid you to make a move that would lead to stalemate, but what if you had no other legal moves yourself? - stalemate again!

Originally posted by RolandYoung
Avoiding giving stalemate is just one of those things you have to learn, like castling and the en passant rule. Along with trying to get a draw by repetition, it gives a hope of rescuing something to a player who is down on material. Actually, it's quite surprising that you have been playing this long and not run into it before.

It's interesting to co ...[text shortened]... uld lead to stalemate, but what if you had no other legal moves yourself? - stalemate again!

Black to move.

1. Re5+ Kb6 1/2-1/2

And as a bonus Re5+ is the only move that draws for Black.

Maybe he could have backed his King out and promoted a Pawn or two?