What is a Stalemate in chess?

Where the term comes from

Stalemate has not always been a draw. In some medieval and early modern traditions it was a win for the stalemating side, and in eighteenth-century England it was scored as a loss for the player delivering it. The modern draw was settled across Europe in the nineteenth century — and it is what makes many hopeless endgames saveable.

Stalemate FAQ

Train this pattern on your own games

Reading a definition is not the same as spotting the pattern with a clock running. Chessiro's free game review runs Stockfish 18 over every move you play, names the concept behind each mistake, and turns the positions where it cost you into training puzzles. You can also see the idea in action in the classic games collection, where the greatest players in history demonstrate it.

Related terms

• Fortress→
• Drawing Resource→