Answers.Body: <p>According to the rules of chess, a stalemate (draw) occurs when the player whose turn it is to move has no legal move.  That's the situation here where upon your capturing the bishop, the  White king cannot move without placing itself in check, which is illegal.  Accordingly, the result is a draw by stalemate.</p>
  
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Answers.CreationDate: 2020-12-22T19:29:39.927Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2024-07-04T23:53:19.847Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2024-07-04T23:53:19.847Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: CConero
Answers.Body: <h1>Stalemate</h1>
  <blockquote>
  <p><strong>Stalemate</strong> is a situation in the game of chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check but has no legal move. ... In popular usage, the word stalemate refers to a conflict that has reached an impasse, and in which resolution or further action seems highly difficult or unlikely.</p>
  </blockquote>
  <p>In the above position, your opponent had no legal moves but was not on check hence stalement. The objective of chess is to;</p>
  <blockquote>
  <p>The object of the game is to checkmate the opponent; this occurs when the opponent's king is in check, and there is no legal way to remove it from attack. It is never legal for a player to make a move that puts or leaves the player's own king in check.</p>
  </blockquote>
  <p>So if this is not achieved there is no winner unlike in checkers where you can win if your opponent has no legal move</p>
  
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Answers.CreationDate: 2020-12-16T11:27:01.343Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2020-12-16T11:27:01.343Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Owen Kelvin
Body: <p>I'm new to chess and I don't have much knowledge. But I was playing a game as Black, and I was up by a lot of material and played Nxc4 to capture White's last bishop. The game ended in a stalemate, even though the king was trapped, I think.</p>
  <pre><code>[FEN &quot;2qk1b2/4n2p/1n3p2/3p4/b1BK4/5r2/7r/8 b - - 0 1&quot;]
  
  1... Nxc4
  </code></pre>
  <p>Can anyone explain to me please why this happened and why I didn't win?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2020-12-16T11:29:53.527Z
Comments.Text: It's not "even tho" the king is trapped. That's what stalemate means: you've "trapped" him so he has no moves, **without putting him in check**. That's called a stalemate; don't do that if you want to win.
Comments.UserDisplayName: bof
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2020-12-16T20:04:10.720Z
Comments.Text: that was an unfortunate move, as Qxc4 is mate :)
Comments.UserDisplayName: njzk2
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2020-12-16T22:00:44.217Z
Comments.Text: With that much of a material advantage, you have no need of capturing every last piece, and as you discovered, leaving at least one piece can actually be useful, as it can help avoid stalemate. If you ever find yourself in such a situation again, you should try to deliver check with every move if you can do so without losing pieces, since there's never a stalemate if the king is in check.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Acccumulation
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2020-12-16T22:08:28.033Z
Comments.Text: @njzk2 So is ... n - f5 is it not?
Comments.UserDisplayName: Prime Mover
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2020-12-17T03:11:30.233Z
Comments.Text: Rh5 is also mate.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Martin Argerami
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2020-12-17T16:17:15.073Z
Comments.Text: @PrimeMover yes, there are a few mate in 1 moves. I found that Qxc4 is interesting because it's the closest to what OP played (xc4). (Nf5, Nc6 - the bishop covers c5, Rh4 are also mate. Rd2 - Bd3 (forced) - Rxd3 as well)
Comments.UserDisplayName: njzk2
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2020-12-18T13:55:40.747Z
Comments.Text: Amusingly, so is n-c6, which is particularly delightful because it blocks the queen off from preventing K - c5, while at the same time opening up the diagonal for the bishop to attack that square instead.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Prime Mover
Tags: <checkmate><stalemate><kings>
Title: Why was this stalemate?
ThreadText: # Why was this stalemate?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2020-12-16)
  
  I'm new to chess and I don't have much knowledge. But I was playing a game as Black, and I was up by a lot of material and played Nxc4 to capture White's last bishop. The game ended in a stalemate, even though the king was trapped, I think.
  [FEN "2qk1b2/4n2p/1n3p2/3p4/b1BK4/5r2/7r/8 b - - 0 1"]
  
  1... Nxc4
  
  Can anyone explain to me please why this happened and why I didn't win?
  
  **Tags:** checkmate, stalemate, kings
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: It's not "even tho" the king is trapped. That's what stalemate means: you've "trapped" him so he has no moves, **without putting him in check**. That's called a stalemate; don't do that if you want to win.  
  > **username_2**: that was an unfortunate move, as Qxc4 is mate :)  
  > **username_3**: With that much of a material advantage, you have no need of capturing every last piece, and as you discovered, leaving at least one piece can actually be useful, as it can help avoid stalemate. If you ever find yourself in such a situation again, you should try to deliver check with every move if you can do so without losing pieces, since there's never a stalemate if the king is in check.  
  > **username_4**: @username_2 So is ... n - f5 is it not?  
  > **username_5**: Rh5 is also mate.  
  > **username_2**: @PrimeMover yes, there are a few mate in 1 moves. I found that Qxc4 is interesting because it's the closest to what OP played (xc4). (Nf5, Nc6 - the bishop covers c5, Rh4 are also mate. Rd2 - Bd3 (forced) - Rxd3 as well)  
  > **username_4**: Amusingly, so is n-c6, which is particularly delightful because it blocks the queen off from preventing K - c5, while at the same time opening up the diagonal for the bishop to attack that square instead.  
  
  ---
  
  ## 2 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_7 on 2020-12-16. Score: 11 | Accepted answer
  
  # Stalemate
  
  > **Stalemate** is a situation in the game of chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check but has no legal move. ... In popular usage, the word stalemate refers to a conflict that has reached an impasse, and in which resolution or further action seems highly difficult or unlikely.
  
  In the above position, your opponent had no legal moves but was not on check hence stalement. The objective of chess is to;
  
  > The object of the game is to checkmate the opponent; this occurs when the opponent's king is in check, and there is no legal way to remove it from attack. It is never legal for a player to make a move that puts or leaves the player's own king in check.
  
  So if this is not achieved there is no winner unlike in checkers where you can win if your opponent has no legal move
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_6 on 2020-12-22. Score: 0
  
  According to the rules of chess, a stalemate (draw) occurs when the player whose turn it is to move has no legal move. That's the situation here where upon your capturing the bishop, the White king cannot move without placing itself in check, which is illegal. Accordingly, the result is a draw by stalemate.
  
  
  ---
  
  