Jeffrey Ashton

A Stalemate is type of draw that occurs when the person to move has no legal moves and is not in check. You often see this happen in games between inexperienced players due to one side being a bit careless. Sometimes at more advanced levels of chess you see tactics executed by the losing side that result in a draw by stalemate. One time former World Champion Anatoly Karpov carelessly stalemated Judith Polgar when he was ahead a queen and bishop (he was very low on time). In the following three games you will see some of the most unique stalemates in chess history. These games are "compositions". Both players first memorized these clever moves, then played them out in a game to result in a friendly draw. Click here for the stalemate "compositions". (I also included the game where Karpov stalemated Polgar).

I've shown this game to many of my classes. White plays a somewhat simple game with a very nice attack on Black's king. I hope you enjoy! For the less experienced players: when viewing the games on this website, do not get caught up too much in the "side variations". Concentrate on the main lines (the moves in bold print). Click here for the game! Updated November 4, 2013: There is a broken link above. I will try to find the game. I believe it is Waterman-Pachmann. It is a Ruy Lopez where Waterman plays this exciting Qc6 move.