Article 1: The nature and objectives of the game of chess
Articles 1 to 3 define the object of the game, the layout of the pieces and the moves of the pieces. Article 4 describes how to move the pieces and the touch move rule. Article 5 explains the ways in which a game can be won or drawn.
Article 1.3 is worth highlighting as it states that if neither player can win then the game is automatically a draw. The arbiter can therefore step in, when neither player has mating material or there is a blocked position where neither player can make progress, to declare a draw.
1.1.The game of chess is played between two opponents who move their pieces on a square board called a ‘chessboard’. The player with the light-coloured pieces (White) makes the first move, then the players move alternately, with the player with the dark-coloured pieces (Black) making the next move. A player is said to ‘have the move’ when his opponent’s move has been ‘made’.
1.2.The objective of each player is to place the opponent’s king ‘under attack’ in such a way that the opponent has no legal move. The player who achieves this goal is said to have ‘checkmated’ the opponent’s king and to have won the game. Leaving one’s own king under attack, exposing one’s own king to attack and also ’capturing’ the opponent’s king are not allowed. The opponent whose king has been checkmated has lost the game.
1.3.If the position is such that neither player can possibly checkmate the opponent’s king, the game is drawn (see Article 5.2 b).