Bare king

In chess

Chess

Chess is a board game played between two players. The current form of the game emerged in Southern Europe during the second half of the 15th century after evolving from a similar, much older game of Indian origin...

 and related games, a bare king is a situation in which one player has only the king

King (chess)

In chess, the King is the most important piece. The object of the game is to trap the opponent's king so that he would not be able to avoid capture . If a player's king is threatened with capture, he is said to be in check, and the player must move so as to remove the threat of capture...

 left on the board, while the fifteen other pieces and pawns have been captured.

In some old versions of chess for example "baring chess" , as well as the game of shatranj

Shatranj

Shatranj is an old form of chess, which came from India to Persia and has been popular in Persia and the Middle East for almost 1000 years. Modern chess has gradually developed from this game.-Etymology and origins:...

, leaving the opponent with a bare king was one way of winning the game. The relative weakness of the pieces in Shatranj may have made this form of a win desirable.

In chess

Chess

Chess is a board game played between two players. The current form of the game emerged in Southern Europe during the second half of the 15th century after evolving from a similar, much older game of Indian origin...

 and related games, a bare king is a situation in which one player has only the king

King (chess)

In chess, the King is the most important piece. The object of the game is to trap the opponent's king so that he would not be able to avoid capture . If a player's king is threatened with capture, he is said to be in check, and the player must move so as to remove the threat of capture...

 left on the board, while the fifteen other pieces and pawns have been captured.

In some old versions of chess for example "baring chess" , as well as the game of shatranj

Shatranj

Shatranj is an old form of chess, which came from India to Persia and has been popular in Persia and the Middle East for almost 1000 years. Modern chess has gradually developed from this game.-Etymology and origins:...

, leaving the opponent with a bare king was one way of winning the game. The relative weakness of the pieces in Shatranj may have made this form of a win desirable. A possible exception to the bare king rule was if the king immediately after being bared was able to recapture, leaving the opponent with a bare king as well. This situation, called a "Medinese victory", was often considered a draw

Draw (chess)

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 . Traditionally, in tournaments a draw is worth a half point to each player, while a win is worth one point to the victor and none to the loser...

.

Under the modern rules

Rules of chess

The rules of chess are rules governing the play of the game of chess. While the exact origins of chess are unclear, the modern rules first took form in Italy during the 16th century. The rules continued to be slightly modified until the early 19th century, when they reached essentially their...

, a player with a bare king does not automatically lose, and may continue playing. However, a bare king can never give check, and can therefore never deliver a checkmate

Checkmate

Checkmate is a situation in chess in which one player's king is threatened with capture and there is no way to meet that threat. Or, simply put, the king is under direct attack and cannot avoid being captured...

. (A bare king can in some situations deliver a stalemate

Stalemate

Stalemate is a situation in chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check but has no legal moves. A stalemate ends the game in a draw. Stalemate is covered in the rules of chess....

.) Therefore a bare king can never win, and if the opponent of a bare king for instance oversteps the time limit

Time control

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 proceed. Time controls are typically enforced by means of a game clock...

, the game is drawn. If both players are left with a bare king, the game is immediately drawn.