Perpetual Check

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Every so often we'll see a forum topic here at chess.com along the lines of "hey, my opponent won't stop checking me so that I can finish beating him." The poster seems to think this is unfair, that he's being denied his right to win by a player who simply won't man up and take their loss.  Unfortunately for the original poster, they are learning a harsh lesson -- If you can't protect your king, you're not winning.

 

Here's an example from a recent tournament game of mine. I was doing well in this game, but we were both getting in to time trouble near the end of the G/60 time control. My opponent was doing his best at counterplay against the h2 square and I nearly slipped up and allowed a perpetual:


Both players need to keep constant care of their king. If you're winning, safety first! And if you're trying to salvage a draw from a worse position, look out for the possibility of attacking the opponent's king. Being caught by perpetual check isn't unfair, it's called being outplayed.

Welcome to my blog! In the USCF I am rated 1921.

 

The content posted here is from my real chess experience, either games I've played or observed. I'll try to put an instructive twist on it. So if you're looking for a glimpse into how a B player thinks about the game, check in and see what I've got. Well, recently my rating has gone over 1800, so perhaps I should list myself as class A instead of class B, but it's not a huge difference.

Loomis
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