In the diagram above, it is white’s turn to move. While white’s king appears to be in danger, he is not attacked. However, black’s pieces are attacking every square white’s king could possibly move to. As white is not allowed to move his king into check, and has no other pieces to move, he has no legal moves, and the white king is stalemated. The game has ended in a draw. Note that if it were black’s move, black could win the game by moving his queen to either d2 or a1. Either move would result in a checkmate.
Stalemates are common among beginners who have yet to learn basic checkmating patterns. It is important to be careful in the endgame; even the most lopsided game can become a draw because of an unfortunate stalemate.
