It's not that hard. The king just can't move into check and it can't castle when it would be moving through check.
You have played 2 games here. By the time you have played 10 more games, figuring that out will be easy, as long as you aren't in time pressure.
the opponent simply not being able to move their king is NOT stalemate. stalemate is when the opponent has no legal moves at all, with any of their pieces. so as long as you know the rules, try to anticipate the opponents next move before you make your move- if you find that "hey wait if i do this they won't have any legal moves" then don't play that move. (unless of course a draw is an acceptable result in the position). you should be trying to anticipate the opponents moves before making any move though, so this should be habit.
Hi RubenRSamaniego--here's an exercise to learn basic chess and also understand draws. Set up a board with your king, your queen, and the opponent's king, then try to checkmate. The game is drawn if any of the following happens:
1) You move your queen where she gets taken. This leaves king vs. king, an example of "insufficient mating material." Neither side has the ability for checkmate.
2) You repeat the same position three times with the same player to move. The repetition doesn't have to be consecutive.
3) You play 50 consecutive turns without moving a pawn (in this case there aren't any) or any captures. This one is tracked automatically in internet games, which is good since it's hard to notice without writing down each move otherwise.
4) You leave your opponent without a legal move while not in check--for example, your king on a1, your queen on f7, and the opponent's king on h8. This is stalemate, as you mentioned.
Play around with those pieces to learn a helpful checkmate; at the same time you'll start seeing the patterns for when the opponent doesn't have a move. Here's an article to help if you need it:
http://www.chesscorner.com/tutorial/basic/q_mate/q_mate.htm
Hi RubenRSamaniego--here's an exercise to learn basic chess and also understand draws. Set up a board with your king, your queen, and the opponent's king, then try to checkmate. The game is drawn if any of the following happens:
1) You move your queen where she gets taken. This leaves king vs. king, an example of "insufficient mating material." Neither side has the ability for checkmate.
2) You repeat the same position three times with the same player to move. The repetition doesn't have to be consecutive.
3) You play 50 consecutive turns without moving a pawn (in this case there aren't any) or any captures. This one is tracked automatically in internet games, which is good since it's hard to notice without writing down each move otherwise.
4) You leave your opponent without a legal move while not in check--for example, your king on a1, your queen on f7, and the opponent's king on h8. This is stalemate, as you mentioned.
Play around with those pieces to learn a helpful checkmate; at the same time you'll start seeing the patterns for when the opponent doesn't have a move. Here's an article to help if you need it:
Actually it's not automatic on chess.com. You have to claim the draw by clicking on the "draw" button. But otherwise pretty nice guide.
This site offers basics: http://www.chess.com/learn-how-to-play-chess
I am new to chess,
Albeit, I have acquired enough knowledge about chess to play and outplay my opponent.
However many of my games end in a Draw/ Stalemate.
I understand that it is because my opponent's king has no more legal moves, but how am I supposed to keep track of what legal moves they have left? How do you even remember to keep track of where you can't move your own king, for that matter?