Free tool
Chess Draw & Result Checker
Paste a position (FEN) or a complete game (PGN) to check for checkmate, stalemate, repetition, long sequences without a pawn move or capture, and common material-only dead positions. The checker distinguishes automatic draws from claimable draws and tells you when the input lacks enough history for a verdict.
Check a position
Paste a FEN or PGN and press Check. A PGN carries move history, so the checker can count completed repetitions. A FEN contains only one position: it includes a halfmove clock, but not the earlier positions needed to establish repetition.
What the checker can establish
- Stalemate — the side to move has no legal move and is not in check.
- Common material-only dead positions — positions such as king against king in which no legal sequence can end in checkmate. Material is a shortcut for these cases; the rule itself is about possibility, not whether mate can be forced.
- Threefold and fivefold repetition — the same position, with the same side to move and the same possible moves, occurs three or five times in the supplied PGN. Threefold normally permits a claim; fivefold is automatic.
- Fifty- and seventy-five-move thresholds — the FEN halfmove counter records individual turns since the last pawn move or capture. Fifty moves by each player normally permits a claim; seventy-five makes the draw automatic unless the last move was checkmate.
- Recorded results — a PGN can say that a game was drawn, but a result tag alone cannot reveal an agreement, an arbiter decision or a claim made away from the board record.
Limits of a rules checker
This is a careful first check, not an arbiter. It cannot reconstruct repetition history from FEN, infer a draw agreement, evaluate an intended move that has not been played, or recognise every unusual dead position. For a dispute in an organised event, preserve the position and clock state and call the arbiter.