The chess game is completed when one side is unable to move its king without it being captured. Playing chess need not be carried out to its conclusion. If a player believes his or her loss is inevitable, he or she may elect to “resign.” Playing chess can also end in a draw if both the kings on both sides are unable to make a legal move which would not endanger them with “check.” Another possible outcome to a chess game is for a game to result in a draw. A draw may occur in one of three ways. The first is called a stalemate, which is when a player has not remaining legal moves remaining in the chess game but his or her king is not in check. The second is called threefold repetition. Threefold repetition is when the same position occurs three times, although these movements need not occur sequentially. It may even occur if two different pieces of the same type exchange positions. This is considered a draw because it is presumed that if the same organization of pieces has occurred in a chess game no further progress will be made. The only time this is not a draw is when it is the continual movement of a king in and out of check. The third time a draw may be called is known as the fifty-move rule. This can be invoked during chess games if there has not been a pawn move or piece capture during the last fifty successive moves. Although players may agree to a draw as early as they desire, unless specifically forbid by tournament rules, ethical considerations generally preclude this course of action while one participant in the chess game still has a reasonable chance of victory. Another way that chess games may conclude is if players run out of time. Outside of when two people play chess casually, games are played with varying amounts of time. When a player’s time runs out they lose, so long as their opponent has enough pieces to force a checkmate.

The first publication of the rules of dictating how competitors were meant to play chess matches was in 1497 by Luis Ramirez de Lucena. People began to playing chess tournaments in the sixteenth century. Wilheim Steinitz was crowned the first official World Chess Champion in 1866. People have continued to play chess in an attempt to take the title since that time. The title of World Chess Champion is currently heard by Viswanatan Anad. However the game is played by a wide variety of people from all walks of life. Playing chess is popular across many demographics. Although playing chess is very simple to learn, mastery is impossible.

Since then the ability to play chess online has become commonplace. Many programs exist which allow people to engage in online chess matches. Some of those competing in online chess games elect to play against computer opponents, as Kasparov did against Deep Blue, but many others chose to play chess online against other people. Some of these online chess matches pit players against complete strangers, who can have a variety of skill levels. For people just beginning to play chess online it may be a better idea to engage a computer with the difficulty lowered to its easiest setting. Some chess masters elect to play chess online against computers with the computer’s skill level set to its most difficult option included in the program so they can attempt to simulate live opponents they would face in live tournaments.

Online chess programs have become ubiquitous in helping new players learn advanced strategies in chess. Some people that participate in online chess correspondence games make use of computers to analyze their games, leading some to contend that the distinctions between novice players and masters are almost non-existent when they play chess online. It remains to be seen in what other ways online chess play will change the climate and culture of tournament chess play. It is possible that online chess will result in players who have learned to play chess online begin to play by rote and repeat moves which they have seen their computer trainers make without understanding the particular benefits or drawbacks of a particular opening scheme. The only reason these young players would know to use a particular routine of moves is because they were programmed into the computers by other people in the first place. An alternative is that a generation of chess players who been taught to play chess online might be able to diagnose flaws in traditional chess stratagems because of an increased detachment. Perhaps the fact that talented young players will not be limited in their ability to find equally talented opponents will result in a future World Chess Champion having a higher skill level than has ever been encounter in the history of chess.