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Stalemate

Stalemate is a draw: the side to move has no legal move, yet the king is not in check. It most often appears in queen endgames, where the attacker greedily takes every escape square and accidentally freezes the enemy king. When you are winning, always leave the defender a move; when you are losing, the stalemate trick rescues half-points out of nowhere.

a8b7c6d5e4f3g2h1

Black to move: the king is not in check but g8 and h7 are both covered — stalemate, draw.

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