Seventy-five-move rule
The seventy-five-move rule ends the game in a draw automatically when each player has made at least seventy-five moves without a pawn move or a capture, unless the last move was checkmate.
Seventy-five moves each, or one hundred and fifty half-moves, with no pawn move and no capture makes the game a draw with no claim required. It is the automatic cousin of the fifty-move rule, just as fivefold repetition is the automatic cousin of threefold repetition. The Laws add one tie-breaker: if the move that completes the seventy-five is itself checkmate, the checkmate takes precedence and the game is won. In practice the fifty-move claim usually ends such a game earlier, but a claim has to be made; if nobody makes it and the count keeps running, the seventy-five-move rule is the backstop that finishes the game. It rarely arrives in over-the-board play because players claim at fifty or change the structure first. It matters in long engine endgames and in some online systems that apply it as an automatic limit. The lesson for an attacking player is the same as before. Plan pawn moves and exchanges before the counter becomes the opponent's friend, not afterwards.
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Related terms
The fifty-move rule lets the player on move claim a draw once fifty moves by each side have been completed with no pawn move and no capture, so a game that makes no progress cannot run on forever.
Fivefold repetition is the rule that a game is drawn automatically, with no claim needed, once the same position has appeared at least five times.
A half-move, also called a ply, is a single turn by one side, so a full move in chess notation consists of two half-moves, one by White and one by Black.
Checkmate, or mate, ends a chess game at once: the king of the side to move is under attack, and none of that side's legal moves can remove the attack, so the player who delivered it wins.
A draw by agreement ends the game with a half point each when both players settle on a draw, which the Laws allow once each has made a move unless the rules of the event restrict it.
The arbiter is the official who sees that the Laws of Chess and the rules of the event are followed, rules on disputes and claims, and can penalize rule breaches during a tournament.
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Sources
- FIDE Laws of Chess (effective 1 January 2023), Article 9.6.2, read Oct 21, 2026.
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