Objectives of winning - Check and Checkmate

The purpose of playing the game of chess is to checkmate the opponent's king so that king cannot move to a safer position.  This happens when the king is put into check and cannot get out of check.  There are three ways a king can get out of check - move out of the way ( he cannot castle after giving check),  block the check with another piece, or capture the piece threatening the king.  If a king cannot escape checkmate then the game is over.  Let us see what is check and checkmate.

Check :
Threatening a king with capture is treated differently from an ordinary piece. The king is not only royal but the objective of the entire game. A player declares "check" when he moves in a manner which threatens an opponent's king with capture. However, the term is only used if  the king has a means of escape. The opponent  must  get the king out of check immediately. This can be done in one of three ways: 1) Move the king. 2) Capture the attacking piece. 3) Move a piece so that it blocks the attack. A king cannot castle if it is in check.

Checkmate:

The game is won when an opponent's king is inescapably placed in a position where it would be captured on the next turn. Actually capturing the king and removing it from the board like a common piece would have been unthinkable when chess was invented, and so this is not done. Instead the winner says the word checkmate and the game ends.

Sometimes a king is placed in check several times and never checkmated. Other times a king is placed directly in checkmate. There is no rule saying a king must be placed in check before it is placed in checkmate and there is no limit on the number of times a king can be placed in check.

If a player foolishly exposes his king to check, he is allowed to take the move back. Obviously there is no glory in winning by breaking rules and the rules say one cannot move in a way which exposes one's king to check. Likewise, if there is a means of escape and a player foolishly doesn't take it, the move must be replayed. On the other hand, if a player assumes the game is hopelessly lost and resigns, he or she automatically loses even if later analysis indicates that the situation was not hopeless. Resigning a game is risky but is the sign of an experienced player. Resigning is a way to save face by not pointlessly prolonging the game.

A game can end in a draw in four different ways:

1. Stalemate: This means there is no legal move an opponent can make when it is his or her turn to move. This often occurs when a king is trapped in a position where its only move would be to move into check
2. The fifty-move rule: If a piece has not been captured or a pawn moved in fifty moves then a player can declare a draw on his or her turn.
3. Both sides agree to a draw.
4. Neither side has enough pieces left to setup a checkmate.

 Here are the links to other articles in this blog.

History of Chess
Introduction to Chess
Special Rules in Chess
Check and Check Mate
How Games are Drawn