English Chess Forum

Hi Folks, following on from the recent and very interesting "stalemate" topic, I'm planning a short story, and I'm using the rather cliched device of having a chess game going on in the background, and since I'm writing this primarily for fun, I see no reason why I shouldn't indulge my personal desires to write something cheesy. So, two adversaries, one very good at chess, the other not so much. The less able player realises early on that there's absolutely no way that they can win the game as they're simply not up to it (could be some haemorrhaging of pieces etc). So, if you can't win a game, the only thing you can do is to avoid losing it, hence going for stalemate. The hubris of the better player (one hopes) means that they assume that their opponent is also playing to win, and thus somehow they get lured into stalemate.

There are a few probs that I can think of (there may be more!). Namely, if you do have a vastly superior player, it would prob have to be a 'taking eye off ball and oops' moment of monumental proportions that gets them into stalemate, and that's hard to write because it needs to be slightly flukey, slightly hard to see coming if you weren't looking for it. Possibly a draw would be easier to write, but that would (I think) require more of an even balance of skills.

In terms of what I need, it's not so much a complete game, but the endgame by which stalemate can be achieved
a). with some element of it being unexpected and credibly 'missable' by a superior player
and
b). one player in a seriously worse off state at endgame.

I might do some snap shots sentences of earlier bits of the game, but nothing too specific.

Any help and suggestions would be hugely appreciated.

Cheers,

NM

This is a famous "oops" stalemate:

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1252040

Weaker player has lone king. Stronger player decides to promote all their pawns to rub in their superiority/express annoyance at lack of recognition. Accidentally stalemates their opponent.

I sometimes like to think that my entire chess career was kickstarted when an opponent stalemated me with Q+R+K vs K in the LPSCA U9s. Which was followed by beating the best player in the age group when he fell for a back rank checkmate when a piece up and only R+N+Ps vs R+Ps left on the board!

I saw a good one a few years ago while playing in the coventry league - our guy was two pawns down in an endgame but thanks to the unusual structure of the pawns he was actualy able to hold it for a draw, even though his opponent did try to win on time and refused to accept the existence of the 2 minute rule.

There was one in the gloucester league this week where somebody was several pieces up and tried to queen one pawn too many, thus stalemating.

Another nice one was a game I played several years ago where my opponent was several pieces up and looking fairly close to mate but allowed a combination where I was able to take three pieces in a row with my queen, eventually forcing his king into a corner of the board where it had to capture the queen for stalemate.

Joey Stewart wrote:I saw a good one a few years ago while playing in the coventry league - our guy was two pawns down in an endgame but thanks to the unusual structure of the pawns he was actualy able to hold it for a draw, even though his opponent did try to win on time and refused to accept the existence of the 2 minute rule.

I think I know which game you mean - if I'm right ISTR it actually ended in repetition rather than stalemate, although the player in question couldn't claim because he was in time trouble and had ceased recording the moves.

You could have any 'desperado' one, which I saw a good example of in a junior tournament 10 years or so ago - weaker player has king, one piece (usually a rook, since with a bishop or knight it's easy to avoid checks without capturing the checking piece), and maybe some pawns; stronger player can have more or less anything. Weaker player's pawns, if any, are all blocked, and the king is trapped in the corner. Weaker player's rook (or possibly queen) chases stronger player's king around the board with a series of checks - on a square adjacent to the king if necessary, since the piece cannot be captured without giving stalemate. Occasionally it doesn't work - the stronger player might be able to capture with a piece other than the king and give the weaker player's king an escape square, or might be able to move the king to block a line of attack - but in many positions it does.

Here's one from a blitz game - I'd been playing a clearly lost position in the hope of stalemate, and after Black's 71st move the following positionhad been reached: WKe7, WPf5, h5, BKg7. There followed 72. f6+ Kg8, at which point I noticed that as long as my king was on h7 rather than h8 when the f-pawn promoted, unless my opponent happened to see it coming and underpromote, it would be stalemate. He duly obliged with 73. f7+ Kh7 74. f8Q.

Maybe Something like this

White Ra6 Rb1 Qb8 Bd8 Kh3 Pf3, g2

Black Bd3 Kh5 ph4

White can obviously win easily but decides to win by sacrificing their queen, so Qb5+ (Bxb5 Rxb5 mate). Black decides that he shoudln't give White the satisfaction so plays Bf5+. Of couse White can take the Bishop and it's mate but he would rather checkmate with a pawn so g4 mate. hxg3 whoops!
Hope that works. Somebody with a board can hopefully improve it.

Some fab ideas, thanks. Keep them coming! I'll let you know how I get on.

In the last example, I think the white queen can still just take the bishop, but it it must be possible there somehow...

It doesn't work, because White can then respond Qxf5+ to escape the check, instead of Kxg3 (or Kg2).

However, I liked the idea, and with the refinement of the ep. capture making a double check, so that White has no choice but to move the king, it could work. I've come up with the following development of the idea:

White Kf3, Qg4, Rg3, Rc1, Bf8, Ne7, Pb7,d3,e2,h5
Black Ke5, Rf5, Bb3, Nc4, Pc6,e6,f4,g5,h6

As can be seen, White has some material superiority (Q+R for a P!) and is about to queen again, and that is the fastest way to win, as an engine will tell you.

So White play: 1.b8=Q+, and Black sees nothing better than 1. ...Nd6 (everything else gets mated as quickly)
White then follows up with 2.Bg7+ and Black is forced to play 2. ...Rf6
White then has a choice of ways to proceed, but opts for 3.Rc5+ and Black replies Bd5+

White should now win with 4.Rxd5+, mating in two (cxd5 Nc6#) and many other moves also win, albeit more slowly, but he decides to be even more sadistic with 4. e4?? and is rather embarrassed when he realises that after 4. ...fxe3 ep.+, his two legal moves of Kxe3 and Ke2 both leave Black stalemated.

White 'Smith' is the stronger player.
Black 'Jones' is OK as a player but not in Smith's class.

Years ago Jones had thrown away a brilliant game by playing a6.
against Smith.

The missed win was published around the world and even 20 years
after the event it was still appearing in chess books.

Smith had given him the nickname 'a6 Jones' and for more
than 20 years he has had to endure the giggles everytime
someone (or some book) reminded him of the game.

They meet again for the 2nd time in The British.
Jones is well out of the running but Smith needs a win to be
British Champion for the first time. A draw is no good to him.

White Smith Black Jones

Black to play.



Smith leans across the table and whispers.

"My outside passed rook pawn wins. And look, You can still play a6
and resign like you did 20 years. "

"...Why thank you, so I can!"

Black then marches his King to a5 and then plays his final move....a6.

White can do nothing but run the h-pawn. His King is to far away
to stop Black.

It end thus with White to play.



Stalemate next move.

Now when you call Jones 'a6 Jones' he smiles.....

Put all the flesh on that tale, pad it out , sell it too CHESS and you can buy me a pint.

(stalemate not original, I have seen may variations on that theme.)

I have a genuine stalemate in 30 moves.
(anybody got lower from a genuine game - not composed)

I just made a post on RHP so you can skip through it.

(Carl forum needs a fen for diagrams and a game moving thingy thing.)

http://www.redhotpawn.com/board/showthr ... did=134562

I now have a board, so here goes

White Qe5 Rf6 Rf1 Bd1 Ne1 Ng1 Kh2 Pf4,f2,g2,h3
Black Kh5 Bf5 Ph4, f3, e6

White has Bxf3 mate but opts for g4 instead missing the en passant
fxg3+, K or fxg3 is stalemate so Kh1
g2+, Nxg2 is stalemate so Kh2
gxf1(N)+ Kh1
Ng3+ and draw.