How a chess game is drawn due to the 50-move rule

   At any time a player may call upon his opponent either to give checkmate or to concede a draw within 50 moves. The count of moves begins anew whenever a pawn moves or there is a capture. The purpose of this rule is to prevent the game continuing indefinitely without any real progress being made by either side on the chessboard. Because of this rule, it is necessary for the aspiring chess player to learn the elementary chess endings.

   In exceptional (and thus, rare) cases, a player is allowed greater than 50 moves to achieve checkmate. Click here to investigate these positions.