Threefold repetition

Threefold repetition occurs when the same position appears at least three times during a game. The occurrences need not be consecutive, and the exact sequence of moves does not have to repeat. Under the rules of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) for over-the-board play, meaning play in person on a physical board, the player to move must make a correct claim to obtain a draw, a result with no winner.

When two positions count as the same

• The same player has the move.
• Pieces of the same type and color occupy the same squares.
• The same legal moves are available. This includes castling rights, the special move made with a king and rook, and any en passant capture, the special pawn capture available immediately after an opposing pawn advances two squares.

A player may claim after the third occurrence has just appeared and it is that player's turn. A player may also announce, before moving, a move that will create the third occurrence. If a scoresheet is used, meaning the paper or electronic move record, the player records that move and declares the intention to the arbiter, the official who applies tournament rules. The announced move can no longer be changed.

Threefold repetition is not automatic under the over-the-board laws, so play may continue if nobody claims. In official FIDE online competition, the platform declares the draw automatically on the third occurrence. Fivefold repetition ends an over-the-board game automatically.

A perpetual check, a forced sequence of repeated attacks on the king, is a common way to create repeated positions, but repetition can occur without any checks. Under the over-the-board laws, a claim under this rule also counts as a draw offer, a proposal to end the game without a winner if the opponent accepts.