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Games won by the stalemated player?

Chess Asked by Dag Oskar Madsen on November 8, 2021

Here is a quote from Davidson’s "A short history of chess" (Link), chapter 8, which I used in an answer to an earlier question.

[…] In Italy, however, from the very beginning, players could not
accept stalemate as a victory for anybody. They argued that since no
legal move was possible, the game simply stopped. Consequently in
medieval Europe four different stalemate rules were simultaneously in
effect, and travelling players had to agree in advance as to whether
they were playing by the Spanish (victory for White), French
(forfeited move for Black), British (victory for Black), or Italian
(drawn game) rules. The Italian practice eventually spread throughout
the Continent, partly because of the tremendous influence which Italy
exercised on all European culture, partly because of the fame of
Italian chess players, and partly because the rule seemed inherently
logical. By the end of the eighteenth century every part of Europe
(except Britain) had agreed that stalemate was a drawn game.

So in Britain for a long time stalemate was actually a win for the stalemated player.

Question: Are there any records of historical chess games from Britain ending with a win by stalemate for the stalemated player?

Here is a bit more context from Wikipedia:

The rule in England from about 1600 to 1800 was that stalemate was a loss for the player administering it, a rule that the eminent chess historian H. J. R. Murray believes may have been adopted from Russian chess (Murray 1913:60–61,466). That rule disappeared in England before 1820, being replaced by the French and Italian rule that a stalemate was a drawn game (Murray 1913:391).

2 Answers

You can search up Armageddon games on chessgames.com or any other database. Black always has drawing odds in those games, so there's bound to be games where black wins by getting stalemated.

Answered by Razetime on November 8, 2021

It seems strange that stalemated games may be won, but there is another case.

White stalemates Black but neglects to stop the clock. Black 'stares in bewilderment' at the position. White is happy that he managed to draw. Suddenly, the chess clock starts beeping. White jumps up in surprise, to see that he hadn't completed his move! His time had run out just before the end of the game.

Thus, we see that the stalemated player may win.

Answered by user24344 on November 8, 2021

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