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Draw (chess)
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In chess, a draw is one of the possible outcomes of a game, the others being a win for White (loss for Black) and a win for Black (loss for White). 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. There are proposals to change this (see draw by agreement#Steps taken to discourage draws or short draws).
For the most part, a draw occurs when it appears that neither side will win.
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Encyclopedia
In chess, a draw is one of the possible outcomes of a game, the others being a win for White (loss for Black) and a win for Black (loss for White). 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. There are proposals to change this (see draw by agreement#Steps taken to discourage draws or short draws).
For the most part, a draw occurs when it appears that neither side will win. Draws are codified by various rules including stalemate (when the player to move has no legal move and is not in check), threefold repetition (when the same position occurs three times), and the fifty-move rule (when fifty successive moves are made by both players without a capture or a pawn move). A draw also occurs when neither player has sufficient material to checkmate the opponent.
Unless specific tournament rules forbid it, players may agree to a draw at any time. Ethical considerations may make a draw uncustomary in situations where at least one player has a reasonable chance of winning. For example, a draw could be called after a move or two, but this would likely be thought unsporting.
Draw rules
The rules allow for several types of draws: stalemate, the threefold repetition of a position (with the same player to move), if there has been no capture or a pawn being moved in the last fifty moves, if checkmate is impossible, or the players may agree to a draw. In games played under time control, a draw may result under additional conditions . A stalemate is an automatic draw, as is a draw because of insufficient material to checkmate. A draw by threefold repetition or the fifty-move rule may be claimed by one of the players with the arbiter (normally using his score sheet), and claiming it is optional.
A claim of a draw first counts as an offer of a draw, and the opponent may accept the draw without the arbiter examining the claim. Once a claim or draw offer has been made, it cannot be withdrawn.
Draws in all games
Article 5 of the FIDE Laws of Chess details the ways a game may end in a draw, and they are detailed in Article 9: .
- Stalemate - if the player on turn has no legal move but is not in check, this is stalemate and the game is automatically a draw.
- Threefold repetition - if an identical position has occurred three times with the same player to move, or will occur after the player on turn makes his move, the player on move may claim a draw (to the arbiter). In such a case the draw is not automatic - a player must claim it if he wants the draw. Article 9.2 states that a position is considered identical to another if the same player is on move, the same types of pieces of the same colors occupy the same squares, and the same moves are available to each player; in particular, each player has the same castling and en passant capturing rights. (A player may lose his right to castle; and an en passant capture is available only at the first opportunity.)
- fifty-move rule - if at least fifty moves (by each side) have passed with no pawn being moved and no capture being made, a draw may be claimed by either player. Here again, the draw is not automatic and must be claimed if the player wants the draw.
- Impossibility of checkmate - if a position arises in which neither player could possibly give checkmate by a series of legal moves, the game is a draw. This is usually because there is insufficient material left, but it is possible in other positions too (see the diagram). Combinations with insufficient material to checkmate are:
- king versus king
- king and bishop versus king
- king and knight versus king
- king and bishop versus king and bishop with the bishops on the same color. (Any number of additional bishops of either color on the same color of square due to underpromotion do not affect the situation.)
- Mutual agreement - a player may offer a draw to his opponent at any stage of a game, ostensibly with the understanding that an eventual draw by other means is the likely result. If the opponent accepts, the game is a draw.
It is popularly considered that perpetual check – where one player gives a series of checks from which the other player cannot escape – is a draw, but in fact there is no longer a specific rule for this in the laws of chess, because any perpetual check situation will eventually be claimable as a draw under the threefold repetition rule or by the fifty-move rule, or (more likely) by agreement .
It should be noted that although these are the laws as laid down by FIDE and, as such, are used at almost all top-level tournaments, at lower levels different rules may operate, particularly with regard to rapid play finish provisions.
Draws in timed games
In games played with a time control, there are other ways a draw can occur , .
- In a sudden death time control (players have a limited time to play all of their moves), if it is discovered that both players have exceeded their time allotment, the game is a draw. (The game continues if it is not a sudden-death time control.)
- If only one player has exceeded the time limit, but the other player does not have (theoretically) sufficient mating material, the game is still a draw. Law 6.10 of the FIDE Laws of Chess states that: "If a player does not complete the prescribed number of moves in the allotted time, the game is lost by the player. However, the game is drawn, if the position is such that the opponent cannot checkmate the player's king by any possible series of legal moves, even with the most unskilled counterplay." For example, a player who runs out of time with a king and queen versus a sole king does not lose the game. It is still possible to lose on time in positions where mate is extremely unlikely but not theoretically impossible, as with king and bishop versus king and knight.
- Because of this last possibility, article 10 of the FIDE laws of chess states that when a player has less than two minutes left on their clock during a rapid play finish (the end of a game when all remaining moves must be completed within a limited amount of time), they may claim a draw if their opponent is not attempting to win the game by "normal means" or cannot win the game by "normal means". "Normal means" can be taken to mean the delivery of checkmate or the winning of material. In other words, a draw is claimable if the opponent is merely attempting to win on time, or cannot possibly win except by on time. It is up to the arbiter to decide whether such a claim will be granted or not.
Frequency of draws
In chess games played at the top level, a draw is the most common outcome of a game: of around 22,000 games published in The Week in Chess played between 1999 and 2002 by players with a FIDE Elo rating of 2500 or above, 55 percent were draws. Roughly 36 percent of games between top computer chess programs are draws (more than are won by White or won by Black).
Drawing combinations
Yuri Averbakh gives these combinations for the weaker side to draw:
Terminology
- A "book draw" or a "theoretical draw" is a position that is known to result in a draw if both sides play optimally.
Articles on draw rules
See also
Further reading
External links
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