Fighting For A Draw

Those who resign early, or put little effort into fighting on, often lack an understanding of just how rich the game of chess truly is, and how resourceful and tenacious you can be while on the defending side of a worse position. Here I will outline a few strategies and tips to help you fight for a draw and become a rock-solid defender.

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1. Simplify the Position

• Trading pawns This strategy is particularly effective in the endgame. Trading off all pawns will force your opponent to checkmate you with the pieces they already have. This way, you won't need to sacrifice one of your pieces in order to get rid of a freshly-minted Queen. Also, there are several pawnless endgames where you can be down a full piece and still achieve a draw with best play.

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• However, If you are still in the opening/middlegame, trading pawns may open up the position in your opponent's favor.
  • In this case, find a way to close the position or keep it closed-- this can also be a good strategy when you are down material. If you employ this method, then avoiding pawn trades would be the way to go. When the pawn structure becomes locked/closed, your material disadvantage won't be as apparent as it would be on an open board.
  • Closed positions are often harder infiltrate.

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• Head toward known drawn endgames. As you trade down to more simple positions, aim for endgames that you know will give you the best chances for a draw. For example, rook + pawn vs. rook is often drawn with correct technique.

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2. Fortresses

• Fortress: a position that the opponent cannot break through, despite having a material or positional advantage. A draw can occur because the better side can't make any progress without giving stalemate or losing too much material.
• How to build a fortress:
  • Blockade entry points. Create setups where the opponent cannot break through
  • Recognize fortress patterns. Examples:
    • Rook pawn + wrong-color bishop.
    • Grid-locked pawn structures
    • Stalemate is often a crucial feature in fortresses

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3. Perpetual Check or Stalemate Tactics

• Perpetual check. Look for ways to expose your opponent's king (even sacrificing material to do so), and patterns to deliver perpetual check.

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• Stalemate ideas. Use stalemate to your advantage. This is where resourcefulness and creativity come into play. Figure out how to paralyze your own king and pawns, then stalemate tricks will become more likely.

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4. Threefold Repetition & 50-Move Rule

• Things you should always keep track of when fighting for a draw OTB (keep track mentally or with your scoresheet):
  • Threefold Repetition: Repeat moves intentionally. If the position can’t be improved, aim to repeat the position 3 times so you can claim a draw. Remember, it does NOT have to be consecutive repetitions, you can claim a draw if at any point the position repeats itself three times, so be vigilant!
  • 50-move rule. Especially useful in endgames where no pawn move or capture has occurred. Keep track on your scoresheet, and keep recording your moves even if you are under five minutes when there's a chance of 50 moves without progress. When you want to claim a draw, you can pause your clock and call an arbiter over to confirm using your scoresheet.

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5. Active Defense vs. Passive Defense

• Active Defending: This is where you choose not to sit back and wait for your opponent to make more progress; sometimes best defense is activity (e.g., rook behind passed pawn in endgames, creating counter-play on the other wing, creating passed pawns, etc.).
  • Even if you are totally losing, creating counter-play can give your opponent headaches. There's a chance that they get too distracted by it and eventually falter with their own attack, or fail to deal with your counter-play appropriately when suddenly you will have chances.
• Passive Defending: This is where you directly respond to your opponent's threats and activity.
  • Examples of passive defending:
    • Making luft for your king,
    • kicking your opponent's pieces back,
    • Prophylaxis: Addressing your opponent's plans before they happen
    • directly responding to your opponent's ideas and threats, etc.
    • Retreating your pieces to defensive posts
      • Sometimes, it really is best to just hunker down and hold the fort. Ever hear the phrase "With a Knight on f8, there is no mate."?

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6. Psychological & Practical Factors

• Offer a draw at the right moment: The context of the Tournament matters here, so think about it from your opponent's perspective. Are they playing for rating, norms, or a place in the tournament? Draw offers can be especially effective if the position is messy/unclear or you're playing a lower-rated player.
• Body Language: Remain calm-- If your opponent senses that you are nervous or frustrated with your play, this may give them then confidence they need to continue pressing for a win.
• Time Pressure: In blitz or rapid, or if your opponent is just low on time, find ways to complicate the game.
• Remain Focused and Defend Resiliently. Many opponents over-press winning positions or get flustered when they can't find a breakthrough due to strong defending—give them chances to go wrong and keep them on their toes.

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7. Endgame Knowledge

• In Rook+pawn endgames and positions with opposite colored bishops, very often being down a pawn or even two can be holdable. So strive to make piece exchanges to get into these types of positions.

• Learn defensive resources such as:

  • Philidor position (rook endgame).

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  • Opposition and distant opposition in K+P endgames

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  • Mined squares (K+P endgames)

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  • Drawing techniques in opposite-colored bishop endings.

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8. Unusual material imbalances and strange positions

• Sometimes, going for unusual material imbalances can throw your opponent off-rhythm
• It can force your opponent into waters they are not very comfortable in, or create problems that require unconventional solutions

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9. Playing Higher-Rated Players

• Play to your strengths: Play openings you know well, and whichever style suits you best
• Playing solid vs. making things complex/messy: Either strategy can work, just depends on what your playing strengths are and those of your opponent.
• They're human too: Don't always try to play for a draw, you can't go wrong by playing the best moves. And don't forget, they can make mistakes too, so don't feel like you need to fight for a draw from move 1!

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Putting it all together
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