Impasse in a game of chess

Also, if I had played well in a game, hadn't made any huge big mistakes, and had a higher rating at least points than my opponent, and he is really behind in material, I wouldn't like the thought that he would play on hoping for a blunder that would cost me the game. This is when I am really in a winning position. If you don't think a position is hopeless, play on. If you sincerely believe that when your opponent continues to play as he has done so far you are going to lose whatever you try, resign.

If you think it might end up as a draw, but you're not sure, continue and try to make it a draw. This post is misleading. I don't know where this term impasse is used, and it is unnecessary for both players to agree. When a position has occurred three times, or is about to be repeated for the the third time with the same player to move each time, the player to move may claim a draw.

Some players use the term "perpetual check" to describe this rule. That terminology is also misleading, as no check is necessary for repetition to occur. Nor is the term perpetual check found in the current rules. Both the terms impasse and perpetual check might describe particular instances of repetition. The game is drawn, upon a correct claim by the player having the move, when the same position, for at least the third time not necessarily by a repetition of moves.

Positions as in a and b are considered the same, if the same player has the move, pieces of the same kind and colour occupy the same squares, and the possible moves of all the pieces of both players are the same. Positions are not the same if a pawn that could have been captured en passant can no longer in this manner be captured or if the right to castle has been changed temporarily or permanently.

Forums General Chess Discussion. Nov 16, 0. So it depends on the position and the opponent. Is that helpful? See, now I never resign. It's not that I'm fighting for a draw usually , but that I'm still new to chess and so I like to see how my opponent wins the game. With en passant, though, things are a little different. This type of capture is the only one in chess where the capturing piece doesn't land on the same square as its victim.

To perform this capture, you must take your opponent's pawn as if it had moved just one square. You move your pawn diagonally to an adjacent square, one rank farther from where it had been, on the same file where the enemy's pawn is, and remove the opponent's pawn from the board. This type of capture cannot happen if the capturing pawn has already advanced four or more squares. Another instance where this capture is not allowed is when the enemy pawn lands right next to your pawn but only after making two moves.

The notation for an en passant capture is the same as any other pawn capture. Note, though, that you should write down the square where the pawn has landed, not the one where the captured pawn was. The diagram below shows what the move 3. The en passant move is closely related to another rule that was created centuries ago to make chess more interesting. In the olden times, pawns could move just one square at a time.

To make games faster, people modified pawn moves: they could now jump two squares when leaving their home squares.

When the pawn moves changed, however, the dynamics of the game also changed. A passed pawn is an excellent advantage for the player who has it. But since a pawn could now move two squares on its first move, it was easier to create a passed pawn. A passed pawn is a criminal which should be kept under lock and key. Mild measures, such as police surveillance, are not sufficient.

The en passant rule was then created to prevent such a radical change in the dynamics of the game. This rule prevented players from being able to create passed pawns by merely jumping to the side of an enemy pawn, making chess more exciting to play.

A pawn is usually promoted to a queen. Only pawns may be promoted. If a pawn moves out two squares on its first move, and by doing so lands to the side of an opponent's pawn effectively jumping past the other pawn's ability to capture it , that other pawn has the option of capturing the first pawn as it passes by.

This special move must be done immediately after the first pawn has moved past, otherwise the option to capture it is no longer available. Click through the example below to better understand this odd, but important rule.

One other special chess rule is called castling. This move allows you to do two important things all in one move: get your king to safety hopefully , and get your rook out of the corner and into the game. On a player's turn he may move his king two squares over to one side and then move the rook from that side's corner to right next to the king on the opposite side.

See the example below. However, in order to castle, the following conditions must be met:. Notice that when you castle one direction the king is closer to the side of the board. That is called castling " kingside ". Castling to the other side, through where the queen sat, is called castling " queenside ". Regardless of which side, the king always moves only two squares when castling. The player with the white pieces always moves first. Therefore, players generally decide who will get to be white by chance or luck such as flipping a coin or having one player guess the color of the hidden pawn in the other player's hand.

White then makes a move, followed by black, then white again, then black, and so on until the end of the game. Being able to move first is a tiny advantage that gives the white player an opportunity to attack right away.

There are several ways to end a game of chess: by checkmate, with a draw, by resignation, by forfeit on time The purpose of the game is to checkmate the opponent's king.

This happens when the king is put into check and cannot get out of check. If a king cannot escape checkmate then the game is over. Customarily the king is not captured or removed from the board, the game is simply declared over. Checkmate can happen in the early stages of the game if one of the players does not act carefully. Below, you will find an example of the Fools mate , a checkmate that happens in just 2 moves.

Occasionally chess games do not end with a winner, but with a draw. There are 5 reasons why a chess game may end in a draw:. With the move Qc7, black is not threatened and can't move. The game is declared a draw by stalemate. Get your king to the corner of the board where he is usually safer. Don't put off castling. You should usually castle as quickly as possible. Remember, it doesn't matter how close you are to checkmating your opponent if your own king is checkmated first!

Don't carelessly lose your pieces! Each piece is valuable and you can't win a game without pieces to checkmate. There is an easy system that most players use to keep track of the relative value of each chess piece. How much are the chess pieces worth? At the end of the game, these points don't mean anything—it is simply a system you can use to make decisions while playing, helping you know when to capture, exchange, or make other moves.

You should try and control the center of the board with your pieces and pawns. If you control the center, you will have more room to move your pieces and will make it harder for your opponent to find good squares for his pieces. In the example above white makes good moves to control the center while black plays bad moves. In the example above white got all of his pieces in the game! Your pieces don't do any good when they are sitting back on the first row.

Try and develop all of your pieces so that you have more to use when you attack the king. Using one or two pieces to attack will not work against any decent opponent. The most important thing you can do to get better at chess is to play lots of chess! It doesn't matter if you play at home with friends or family, or play online, you have to play the game a lot to improve. These days it's easy to find a game of chess online!

While most people play standard chess rules, some people like to play chess with changes to the rules. These are called "chess variants". Each variant has its own rules:.

Chess follows all the rules of standard chess, except for the starting position of pieces on the back rank, which are placed randomly in one of possible positions. Castling is done just like in standard chess, with the King and Rook landing on their normal castled squares g1 and f1, or c1 and d1. Many tournaments follow a set of common, similar rules. These rules do not necessarily apply to play at home or online, but you may want to practice with them anyway. Maybe all this information can overwhelm you a little bit.

That is why we put at your disposal these frequent questions that usually occur in those people who are beginning to enter the world of chess.