Are there checkmates or stalemates in checkers? The quick answer is no. Those are situations that arise in chess and make sense with chess rules. Neither situation is a part of checkers rules.
Why No Checkmates in Checkers?
In chess, checkmate is the game winning move that puts the enemy king in check and doesn’t leave it any way of escaping to a safe square or blocking the check.
Check isn’t applied to enemy kings in checkers. Unlike in chess, a checkers king that’s under attack doesn’t have to move to safety. So, you never say “check” or “checkmate” in checkers.
A game of checkers isn’t won by checkmate. It’s won by:
- Capturing all of your opponent’s pieces, or
- Rendering your opponent unable to move
To sum it up, last move wins.
Why No Stalemates in Checkers?
A stalemate is a board position in chess where one player can’t make a legal move, resulting in a draw. That’s the key point here: a stalemate is a draw in chess.
Stalemates don’t exist in checkers because if a player can’t move, it’s not a draw, it’s a loss! So, the position where a player has no legal move can exist in checkers but it’s not called a stalemate. It’s simply a win for the other player.
