Stalemate resource

Stalemate occurs when the player to move has no legal move and the king is not in check. Under the FIDE Laws, the game is immediately drawn. A stalemate resource is not always the final stalemate position itself. It may be a threat that forces the attacker to change plans or return material.

Common mechanisms

• Sacrifice the last mobile piece or pawn so that the king is left with no legal move.
• Offer a piece whose capture removes every legal move available to the defender.
• Deliberately confine the king while preserving one specific reply that produces a draw.
• Create a choice in which the attacker must allow repeated checks or decline an apparently winning capture.

Before capturing, the attacker should check three facts: whether the enemy king is in check, which legal squares remain, and whether any pawn or piece can still move. This is especially important in queen endings, where one capture can remove all of the defender's mobility at once.

The Saavedra position contains a classic example. The natural queen promotion permits a rook sacrifice ending in stalemate, while a less common promotion avoids the trap.