Win

A win is a final result, not merely an advantage on the board. The central way to win is checkmate: attacking the opposing king so that no legal reply exists. The game ends at that moment.

Concluded winWinning position, game ongoing

Checkmate that ends the game

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7

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a1

b

c

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Start

Qb7#

Before checkmate

White is to move. Qb7 places the queen next to the black king while keeping it protected by the king on c6.

A player can also win when the opponent resigns, runs out of time, or loses through an infringement or competition rule. The last type may be recorded as a forfeit win, without the game ending through normal play on the board.

The result is written 1-0 when White wins and 0-1 when Black wins. A win normally scores one point, although event regulations may use another system. In certain time-expiration or resignation cases, the result is a draw if the player who would benefit could not checkmate through any legal sequence, for example because of insufficient material, when the remaining pieces cannot produce any legal checkmate.