Never Out Of The Fight (5 Unbelievable Stalemates)

INTRODUCTION

Obviously, the best feeling in chess is the feeling of all of your pieces banding together to beautifully checkmate your opponent. However, a close second is the feeling of tricking your opponent into a stalemate trap when you are in a completely lost position. That feeling of a comeback is amazing. In this blog, I will be sharing with you the greatest stalemate traps of all time... and reminding you that the game isn't over until it's over!

But before that, are there any SEAL Team fans reading this? Because if so, then you likely know where the inspiration for the title of this blog came from. For those of you who are not SEAL Team fans, first: dude. Watch it. It's great. And second: it's a CBS show about a group of elite U.S. naval operators (Bravo Team) who go on tons of undercover missions around the world. One of the team's mottos is "never out of the fight", which they apply to pretty much every conflict they get into. The meaning of the motto is that no matter how beat up you get in a battle, you can keep going and going and not give up.

OK, now we can get started.

LARRY EVANS VS. SAMUEL RESHEVSKY (1963)

This game is known as "The Mother of All Swindles" and for good reason. It was played at the 1963-64 U.S. Championship in New York. Evans and Reshevsky were both near each other in the standings, with Evans having scored 5 points entering the game, and Reshevsky having scored 4.5 points. For most of the game, it seemed like Reshevsky was going to win and move up to 5.5 points, passing Evans in the standings. However, right at the end, when all hope seemed lost for Evans, Reshevsky made a devastating mistake. Evans capitalized and the game ended in an incredible draw.

The players agreed to a draw on move 50. Truly one of the greatest chess game endings in history. This is my personal favorite on this list, although all of these games are great.

Reshevsky probably cried in the bathroom for a little bit after that. In the face of defeat, Larry Evans, like Bravo Team, plowed forward in perseverance and was rewarded.

MIKHAIL CHIGORIN VS. CARL SCHLECHTER (1906)

This game was played during round 22 of the 26-round 1905 Ostend tournament in Ostend, Belgium. This tournament was full of well-known historical chess masters, such as Geza Maroczy, who actually won the tournament in the end, along with David Janowski, Frank Marshall, and others. In this game, as you will see, Schlechter hung a few pawns but played on until Chigorin made a horrible draw blunder in a won endgame. 

Just look at how insane this draw is. It's like a zugzwang-stalemate mashup. The beginning of the game was pretty insane, too. 

Chigorin is another example of a perseverer (that's not a word, but whatever). Again, like Bravo Team, Chigorin didn't give up and ended up having the last laugh.

ALEXEY TROITSKY VS. VOGT (1896)

I unfortunately have little to no information on this game. I don't know where it was played. I also don't even have a clue who either of these players are. What I do know is that this stalemate is so beautifully complex that I just had to share it regardless of my lack of information.

This has to be the most complex draw in the history of chess. White has so many pieces still on the board, but none of them can move. The knight is pinned to the king, the bishop is pinned to the king, the f-pawn is pinned to the king, the rook is stuck in the corner, and the other pawns can't move... this position is bewildering!

Troitsky adds himself to the list of masters who don't see a lost position as a lost position. These guys all have the exact same mindset as Bravo Team.

MOSMAD VS. ERICROSEN (2020)

I couldn't write a blog about stalemates without including at least one Eric Rosen game. In case you don't know him, Eric Rosen is an International Master and chess streamer most known for his incredible stalemate traps and piece sacrifices with the tagline "Oh no, my ______". He has so many games that ended in stalemate that it took me a long time to find the best one, but I finally did.

This game was played live on Eric's stream a few years ago. He was playing a seemingly strong viewer and was being beaten badly. His opponent was up 4 pawns and it seemed like it was over. But, in Eric's mind, it was anything but. 

Eric himself even described this stalemate as beautiful because of the doubled pawns on E4 and E3.

I know this is getting a little old, but yet another master refused to resign in a dead lost position. These masters are called masters for a reason. They know what they're doing. They are role models. Eric Rosen especially... a lot of his games are good examples of why not to give up in a bad position.

NOAH VS. RANDOM DRAW-BLUNDERING NOOB (2022)

OK, OK... I know it's probably selfish of me to include my own game in this blog filled with games from legendary chess masters, but I am very proud of this stalemate that I forced during an OTB game at an open play last year and I simply must share it.

My reasoning for playing that move was simple: the position is already lost, so I would rather try my crazy idea and possibly still lose the game than lose the game without trying anything. And the idea worked: we drew!

CONCLUSION

I don't know if you've noticed yet, but I am trying to write more instructional blogs instead of just ranting about chess computers or complaining about classical chess games.

The main lesson that I am trying to teach in this blog is that no position is ever hopeless. There is always some hidden tactic just waiting to be found. So don't quit!

Oh, and the other lesson: SEAL Team is an awesome show. You better go binge it immediately after reading this. 

I hope you enjoyed this blog. Cya next time!