defence · recognise → explain → apply

Keep a stalemate shelter in reserve

Your king has no safe moves and your last mobile unit might be exchanged.

Explanation styleChoose any style. Age is not playing strength; no birth date is needed.

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Firouzja,Alireza – Carlsen,M

Titled Tue 18th Apr Late · 2023.04.18 · 1/2-1/2

76. Kh8 · Black to move

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What to notice at 76. Kh8

Black’s recorded ...Rxg7 produces genuine stalemate. The lesson does not claim that accepting the pawn was forced.

A legally replayed historical example, not a claim that every move is best. A game’s result does not prove every defensive position was lost or drawn.

Game source ↗

Your thinking first

Name the signal, choose a plan, and test the opponent’s most challenging response.

What do you notice?What is your plan, and why?How could the opponent resist?

Recall and explain

1. What happens if Black captures White’s last pawn on g7?

Explain it in your own words before revealing.

Make it memorable

No check plus no move means no defeat.

Teach this to a friend in one minute. Then return to a different example and look for the same signal without being told its name.

Reflect and revisit

This is your self-assessment, not an engine grade or a promise of mastery.

Connect the ideas

Practise pawn transformations →

Sources and further reading

Original LumaChess teaching and game analysis. Topic references are credited below; no affiliation or endorsement is implied.

FIDE — Laws of Chess, Articles 5 and 9 ↗