Before learning about what’s a checkmate, you should know what a check is. The King is said to be in the “Check” position if the King gets attacked by the opponent. Generally, beginners need to announce a check as it happens to be certain that the opponent gets acknowledged of the situation. Among a lot of different chess players, a lot don’t like it to announce a check. It is not allowed to move your King into a check legally. When the King gets into a check position, you need to prevent the King from getting captured. You can do so by:
1. Moving the King
Move the King to a relatively safer position. When the King gets moved to the place, it no longer is in check.
2. Blocking the Check
You will need to block the check if the first method doesn’t seem suitable for you. It is technically also termed as interposition.
3. Capturing the Attacker
If none of the two methods mentioned above seem to be working for you, you can protect your King by capturing the invader piece.
Checkmate vs Stalemate: What’s the difference?
Checkmate
When all of the situations fail and the King is in no position to get defended, it results in a checkmate. For instance, a White King can enter a checkmate when it is under attack by three black pawns on the front. As there will be no safe space for the King to move ahead, the King will be in no position to continue the game resulting in a checkmate. In this situation, the White wins the game.
The checkmate officially puts an end to the game, so correcting or not correcting the checkmated king into the new position wouldn’t be a point of concern.
Stalemate
A stalemate usually takes place when a player is in no position to make a legal move and is not in the check. This results in a draw and the game discontinues. For instance, a White King might seemingly be in danger given the position of the opponent, however, it might not be in check. Also, the other white pieces left on the board are blocked by the opponent which leaves the player with no legal move to make in the game. When such a situation happens, the game ultimately results in a draw and ends immediately.
Stalemate usually occurs in novice games in which the players are trying to grasp some basic checkmating techniques. It is highly important to be attentive in the endgame for even a cockeyed game can end up in a draw because of a stalemate.
To put into a few lines, in a checkmate, the game draws out a clear winner and it requires a player to get into a check. These situations do not imply a stalemate, where the game ends up in a tie and there is no check.
Situation 1 – It is the White’s turn, and the Black king only has the paler square for moving, but the White’s King cannot approach without a stalemate as the red move will take the yellow square that leaves the Black King with no moves to make.
Situation 2 – the White has made the right move and can checkmate the opponent properly. Firstly, the king in the white will advance and then the queen will be delivering the checkmate by supporting the king. The best move is to move the queen away from the opponent king to have enough room for the king to move. Let’s see how else you can avoid a stalemate.
How Do You Avoid Stalemate?
When there is a king in a corner with a queen, try avoiding putting the queen diagonally two squares starting from the corner. The king will not be enabled to approach near enough, and you get into a risk for a stalemate. Rather, put the queen in the second row, in the fourth column. It will give the enemy king two squares that you will not stalemate, and the king will approach from the fourth row for a checkmate.
You can avoid a stalemate by understanding the opponent’s moves. By thinking ahead of the curve, you will be able to know what is the incentive of your opponent? For instance, black is offering the bishop to the white so there might be a hidden incentive involved. For an instance, think, if you were white, what incentive must be there to offer the bishop? It can be a trick to do a stalemate. For instance, as soon as the king would capture the bishop of the opponent, the white king will be entering the stalemate.
The white’s rook and queen are getting in the form to attack the black’s king in one instance, but the square where the king is safely standing and the black have no legal moves to make anymore. In that occurrence, the black will get a stalemate. What will be the best possible way to avoid such a stalemate and what can white do to win the game through a checkmate? If you think that the white king should make a move somewhere else for getting out of check, then it is better to attack with the rook. This will be a great move.
For the white to checkmate the black, one will have to get out of the check and move to the available squares by avoiding the check situations. Then it should be moving its rook on g6 to deliver a checkmate. One of the points you can acquire from this situation is that if the opponent is deliberately losing the pieces then there is a probability that they want the game’s end in a draw.
The article highlighted some of the situations that end the game with a win and lose situation, and by a draw, termed as checkmate and a stalemate respectively.