How To Practice Avoiding Stalemates? • page 1/1 • General Chess Discussion • lichess.org

A very large amount of my games ends with me having a very advantageous setup, however I always end up screwing it up and throwing it by forcing the enemy into a position resulting in a stalemate instead of a checkmate.

I've looked at doing some of the endgame checkmate patterns, but I have a hard time applying that to the games because there are pieces all over and can mess the pattern up, and I find it hard to logically move. I generally can get the opposing king into a corner using a pattern, but end up screwing those last few moves up by throwing my pieces into a stalemate.

How do I best practice avoiding doing this?

A very large amount of my games ends with me having a very advantageous setup, however I always end up screwing it up and throwing it by forcing the enemy into a position resulting in a stalemate instead of a checkmate. I've looked at doing some of the endgame checkmate patterns, but I have a hard time applying that to the games because there are pieces all over and can mess the pattern up, and I find it hard to logically move. I generally can get the opposing king into a corner using a pattern, but end up screwing those last few moves up by throwing my pieces into a stalemate. How do I best practice avoiding doing this?

#2

abunickabhi

#3

Even Grandmasters get into a stalemate in speedchess.

The best way to avoid this situation for you is to play slower time controls.

Even Grandmasters get into a stalemate in speedchess. The best way to avoid this situation for you is to play slower time controls.

Ryne_Taylor

#4

A few days ago I berserked a 3+2 game and stalmated it in 2.4 sec in my brother's account.😀

SaNyob

#5

@Diwaditya i don't even reach stalemate.
It's a loss for me.

@Diwaditya i don't even reach stalemate. It's a loss for me.

NM MrPushwood

#6

In order for it to be a stalemate, all of those "pieces all over" are most likely your own. So rather than letting them mess you up, hold some of them back. As I say, your opponent must have little if anything to fight back with (otherwise he couldn't get stalemated)...so take your time and approach the task carefully. Putting a R or Q on the 7th rank is a good way to contain the enemy king on his 1st rank; then you should be well-set to finish the job.

And whatever you do, don't be one of those guys who queens 5 or 6 pawns (then wonders how their opponent with his lone king ever managed to get a draw out of it). ;)

In order for it to be a stalemate, all of those "pieces all over" are most likely your own. So rather than letting them mess you up, hold some of them back. As I say, your opponent must have little if anything to fight back with (otherwise he couldn't get stalemated)...so take your time and approach the task carefully. Putting a R or Q on the 7th rank is a good way to contain the enemy king on his 1st rank; then you should be well-set to finish the job. And whatever you do, don't be one of those guys who queens 5 or 6 pawns (then wonders how their opponent with his lone king ever managed to get a draw out of it). ;)

grravity

#7

@Diwaditya those don't look entirely different from the checkmate practices under https://lichess.org/practice, just as a study instead? Maybe I just need to do more of the checkmate practices and I'll start to pickup on the situation when at play a bit more? Most of the time I try to be cautious about avoiding a stalemate, but still end up doing it. I can't figure out how to arrange the pieces in such a way to checkmate instead of stalemate. I assume it just takes playing more and doing the practices, but still the practices don't exactly translate into the game because there are pieces scattered everywhere that can block a pattern to checkmate, and the pieces you're using vary.

https://lichess.org/@/grravity/all
Check my games, only level 1&2 stockfish lol, and like 90% of them I basically win but then screw it up by throwing it to a stalemate. They're all casual games, no speed games like @abunickabhi thought lol.

@Diwaditya those don't look entirely different from the checkmate practices under https://lichess.org/practice, just as a study instead? Maybe I just need to do more of the checkmate practices and I'll start to pickup on the situation when at play a bit more? Most of the time I try to be cautious about avoiding a stalemate, but still end up doing it. I can't figure out how to arrange the pieces in such a way to checkmate instead of stalemate. I assume it just takes playing more and doing the practices, but still the practices don't exactly translate into the game because there are pieces scattered everywhere that can block a pattern to checkmate, and the pieces you're using vary. https://lichess.org/@/grravity/all Check my games, only level 1&2 stockfish lol, and like 90% of them I basically win but then screw it up by throwing it to a stalemate. They're all casual games, no speed games like @abunickabhi thought lol.