Forced draw

A forced draw exists when a player has a method that guarantees a draw without relying on the opponent’s cooperation. The player may need a precise series of replies, but if those replies are found, no legal alternative by the opponent changes the result.

The mechanism may be perpetual check, a continuing series of checks from which the king cannot escape without allowing repetition; a forced repetition of the position; stalemate, where the player to move has no legal move and the king is not in check; or a transition to a position that the rules declare drawn. In some low-piece endgames, an endgame tablebase, a database containing perfect-play results, can prove the draw.

The phrase describes an analytical property, not a separate rules category. The rules determine when a game ends in a draw; calling it forced means that a line inevitably reaches one of those outcomes. It often proceeds through a forced sequence made of several forced moves.

It is not the same as an equal position or a position that merely offers good defensive chances. It is also the counterpart of a forced win: both claims concern the result against the best possible resistance.