Expert: Len Molden - 3/30/2007

Question
Do u know anything of a 15 move rule at the end of a game when a player only has a king he moves 15 spaces, is it a stailmate or is it a win or lost if u can anwser this question i would really appreciate it thank you

Answer
Hi Richie - Here's the official rules on draws from FIDE (World Chess Federation), see #5 with regards to your specific question about the king (it's 50 moves):

  1. The game is drawn when the player to move has no legal move and his king is not in check. The game is said to end in `stalemate`. This immediately ends the game, provided that the move producing the stalemate position was legal.

  2. The game is drawn when a position has arisen in which neither player can checkmate the opponent`s king with any series of legal moves. The game is said to end in a `dead position`. This immediately ends the game, provided that the move producing the position was legal.

  3. The game is drawn upon agreement between the two players during the game. This immediately ends the game. (See Article 9.1)

  4. The game may be drawn if any identical position is about to appear or has appeared on the chessboard at least three times. (See Article 9.2)

  5. The game may be drawn if each player has made at least the last 50 consecutive moves without the movement of any pawn and without any capture. (See Article 9.3)

9.3 States: The game is drawn, upon a correct claim by the player having the move, if

  1. he writes his move on his scoresheet, and declares to the arbiter his intention to make this move which shall result in the last 50 moves having been made by each player without the movement of any pawn and without any capture, or

  2. the last 50 consecutive moves have been made by each player without the movement of any pawn and without any capture.

The entire set of FIDE rules can be found here:

http://www.fide.com/official/handbook.asp?level=EE101

Wikipedia also has good information on this as well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rules_of_chess#Draws

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifty_move_rule

Regards,

Len