Editing Rules of chess (section)

==== Draws ====
{{Main|Draw (chess)}}
{{Chess diagram
|tright
|
|  |  |kd|  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |ql|bl|  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |kl|  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|Black to move is in stalemate, since Black's king has no legal move, and is not in check. The game is drawn.<ref>{{Harvcol|Harkness|1967}}</ref>
}}

The game ends in a [[draw (chess)|draw]] if any of these conditions occur:{{sfn|FIDE|2023|loc=articles 5.2.1, 5.2.2, and 5.2.3}}
* The player to move is not in check and has no legal move. This situation is called a [[stalemate]]. An example of such a position is shown in the adjacent diagram.
* The game reaches a [[#Dead_position|dead position]].
* Both players [[Draw by agreement|agree to a draw]] after one of the players makes such an offer.

In addition, in the FIDE rules, if a player has run out of time (see below), or has resigned, but the position is such that there is no way for the opponent to give checkmate by any series of legal moves, the game is a draw.{{sfn|FIDE|2023|loc=articles 6.9 and 5.1.2}}

[[#Competitive rules of play|FIDE's competitive rules of play]] allow a player to claim a draw in either of two situations:
* Fifty moves have been made by each player without a capture or pawn movement (this is the [[fifty-move rule]]);{{sfn|FIDE|2023|loc=article 9.3}}
* The same position has appeared three times (or has appeared twice and the player claiming the draw can force the third appearance); this is the [[threefold repetition]] rule.{{sfn|FIDE|2023|loc=article 9.2}}
These rules help prevent games from being extended indefinitely in tournaments.

There is no longer a rule specifically defining [[perpetual check]] as a draw. In such a situation, either the threefold repetition rule or the fifty-move rule will eventually come into effect. More often, the players will simply agree to a draw.<ref>{{Harvcol|Staunton|1847|pp=21–22}}</ref><ref>{{Harvcol|Reinfeld|1954|p=175}}</ref>

===== Dead position =====
{{Chess diagram
| tright
| Example of a dead position{{sfn|FIDE Arbiters' Commission|2022|loc=page 8 (article 1.5)}}
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |bd|  |kd|  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |pd
|pd|  |pd|  |pd|  |pd|pl
|pl|pd|pl|  |pl|  |pl|
|  |pl|  |bl|kl|  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| White has just played h5; neither side can open up the position.
}}
A ''dead position'' is defined as a position where neither player can checkmate their opponent's king by any sequence of legal moves.{{sfn|FIDE|2023|loc=article 5.2.2}} According to the rules of chess the game is immediately terminated the moment a dead position appears on the board. 

Some basic endings are always dead positions; for example:
* king against king;
* king against king and bishop;
* king against king and knight.

Blocked positions can arise in which progress is impossible for either side, such as the diagrammed position;{{sfn|FIDE Arbiters' Commission|2022|loc=page 8 (article 1.5)}} these too are dead positions.

[[United States Chess Federation|USCF]] rules, for games played under a time control that does not include delay or increment, allow draw claims for "insufficient losing chances".{{sfn|Just|2019|loc=chapter 1, section 14H}} For example, if each player has only a king and a knight, checkmate is only achievable with the co-operation of both players, even if it is not a dead position.