Chess question

[NomoneyNohoney]

I was playing chess with my son, and was happily picking off his pieces one by one. He moved a rook one space to the right, then one space to the left, and repeated this move three times, in a row. He said he'd rather claim a draw than lose, so he demanded a draw, after his three move repetition.

This feels fundamentally wrong, from what I can see researching it, it doesn't even have to be same moves repeated directly one after the other, it can be a total of three repeated moves at any three times in the game.

Has anyone got something definitive that I can use to prevent this malarky?

[mc2fool]

It's a threefold repetition of the positions, not moves. I.e. the board looking identical three times. But, yeah, you can prevent it by moving your pieces such that the repetition of positions doesn't occur.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threefold_repetition

[Lootman]

It's a threefold repetition of the positions, not moves. I.e. the board looking identical three times. But, yeah, you can prevent it by moving your pieces such that the repetition of positions doesn't occur.

Correct. And in fact any pawn move by you, or piece capture, will ensure that that prior position can never happen again in the game.

There is another rule that says that if 50 moves happen without a pawn being moved or a piece being captured, then it is a draw without position repetition.

[NomoneyNohoney]

Thanks guys: eminently sensible explanations which solve the 'misunderstanding.'

[jfgw]

To clarify, it has to be exactly the same game position. Not only does the board have to look the same, but any rights to castle (even if not currently possible) or to capture en passant must be the same. It does not matter if identical pieces (such as two knights of the same colour) have swapped places, however.

Upon the third occurrence of a game position, a player may claim a draw. If a draw is not claimed, the game continues. Upon the fifth occurrence, the game is automatically a draw.

There is another rule that says that if 50 moves happen without a pawn being moved or a piece being captured, then it is a draw without position repetition.

Similarly, a player may claim a draw after each player has made 50 moves without a pawn being moved or a piece being captured. If a draw is not claimed, the game may continue until each player has made 75 such moves, whereupon the game is automatically a draw.

The current FIDE rules are here, https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/E012023. The five-repetition rule and 75 move rules were introduced in 2014 (and yes, I do realise that it is only four repeats).


Julian F. G. W.