5. Scoring & Winning
Results
- A game ends in one of two results: a win for one player and a loss for the other, or a draw (7.1, 7.1.1, 7.1.2)
- A player wins when the opponent resigns, with or without reason (7.2.1)
- A player wins when the opponent has the move but cannot move because all pieces are blocked (7.2.2)
- A player wins when the opponent has no pieces left (7.2.3)
- A player wins when the opponent refuses to comply with the rules (7.2.4)
- A draw arises by mutual consent, or when the drawing rules apply (7.3, 7.3.1, 7.3.2)
Draw Rules
- Threefold repetition — the same position occurring a third time with the same player to move is a draw (6.1)
- 25-move rule — if only kings move for 25 successive moves each, with no man moved and no capture, the game is drawn (6.2)
- 16-move endings — with three kings, two kings and a man, or one king and two men against a lone king, each side may play at most 16 further moves; a capture during them does not reset the count (6.3)
- If the lone king occupies the long diagonal, that allowance drops to 5 moves (6.3)
- Two kings, king and man, or king against king is drawn after 5 further moves each (6.4)
- The exception that decides games: if the last of those moves produces a position lost under 7.2.2 or 7.2.3 — the opponent is blocked or has no pieces — that takes precedence and the game is a loss, not a draw (6.3, 6.4)
Notation
- Because the active squares are numbered 1 to 50, every move can be recorded and a whole game replayed or transcribed (8.1, 2.6)
- Write the starting square then the arrival square (8.2.1)
- Separate them with a hyphen for a simple move (8.2.2) and a cross for a capture (8.2.3)
- Move-quality signs:
!strong,!!very strong,?weak,??very weak (9.1.3–9.1.6) ?!marks a move that looks weak but is strong;!?the reverse (9.1.7, 9.1.8)*marks a forced move, any alternative losing (9.1.9);+a win and=a draw (9.1.10, 9.1.11)+1,+2record men won and-1,-2men lost after the final move (9.1.12, 9.1.13)- a.l. (ad libitum) indicates a free choice between captures of the same result (9.1.14)