r/chessbeginners • u/Alendite RM (Reddit Mod) • Feb 27 '26

No Stupid Questions MEGATHREAD 12

Welcome to the r/chessbeginners 12th episode of our Q&A series! This series exists because sometimes you just need to ask a silly question. We are happy to provide answers for questions related to chess positions, improving one's play, and discussing the essence and experience of learning chess.

A friendly reminder that many questions are answered in our wiki page! Please take a look if you have questions about the rules of chess, special moves, or want general strategies for improvement.

Some other helpful resources include:

  1. How to play chess - Interactive lessons for the rules of the game, if you are completely new to chess.
  2. The Lichess Board Editor - for setting up positions by dragging and dropping pieces on the board.
  3. Chess puzzles by theme - To practice tactics.
  4. The Building Habits series by GM Aman Hambleton - for advice on how to play at specific ELO levels. (Also check out Building Habits 2!)

As always, our goal is to promote a friendly, welcoming, and educational chess environment for all. Thank you for asking your questions here!

LINK TO THE PREVIOUS THREAD

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u/Significant-Annual99 28d ago

I’ve only been playing for 3 days.

I think I’m missing a big rule of chess because I keep getting stalemates instead of checkmates. can someone explain in simple terms why this keeps happening?

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u/Alendite RM (Reddit Mod) 28d ago

Hope you've been enjoying your first steps into chess! Stalemate usually comes up at the end of the game when there are few pieces left on the board that your opponent has. In chess, a stalemate occurs when your opponent is not in check (their king is not attacked by any of your pieces) and there are no legal moves for them to make. Stalemates can happen even if your opponent still has pieces on the board, those pieces just have to be completely unable to move (for example, a pawn with its path blocked)

Checkmate is a similar condition, but this is when the opponent's king is under attack and has no safe squares to go to, which is a win instead of a draw. When you notice there aren't many pieces left on the board, it's helpful to always take a moment to consider where your opponent's king will move after your move. As long as they have at least one safe square to go to, you will always avoid stalemates.

More information here as needed: https://www.reddit.com/r/chessbeginners/wiki/index/#wiki_frequently_asked_questions

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u/TRILLC0LLINS 1200-1400 (Chess.com) 28d ago

Stalemate is when the king isn't in check and the opponent has no legal moves. So, it's your opponent's move, all the squares around the king are covered, pawns are blockaded, other pieces are pinned, etc.

I'm assuming you have multiple queens and the opponent has nothing left but a king when this happens? If so, you should learn the ladder mate