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Today, when I was playing end game I had a queen, a rook and a king (no pawns). My opponent had just a queen. It was his turn (the board was pretty blank) and he started giving continuous checks. I tried to bring my pieces to defend the king but couldn't stop.

After sometime he claimed for a draw and argued that otherwise this would continue for ever (positions were not repeating, but still). I agreed.

Is there any way to defend in such cases or is the match just over? Even, is it fair that though we have a good lead the opponent is forcing a tie? What would be the result if such thing happens in GM game?

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    Don't get suckered into a draw. Force your opponent to demonstrate three-fold repetition. Of course, if you know you can't win, sell your opponent on a draw.
    – bishop
    Commented Sep 10, 2015 at 15:13
  • Do you have the move list? I would like to see the progression.
    – Matt
    Commented Sep 10, 2015 at 20:24
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    He could have invoked the 50 moves without capture or pawn movement draw...
    – Erbureth
    Commented Sep 11, 2015 at 11:20
  • @Matt I'm sorry, but I don't have to habit of saving my each and every match.
    – Tanay Karnik
    Commented Sep 11, 2015 at 13:56

4 Answers 4

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If the opposing king is in the center, and your king isn't in the corner, your goal is to pin his queen to his king as means of blocking a check (diagonal opposition). Move your king to force that bad check on his part. You should be able to win with KR v K. (Your goal is not to checkmate with two queens on the board, but to trade) It is a win with the queen, but to defend, check the opposite way from your king (If that makes sense).

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  • exactly what we can try
    – Tanay Karnik
    Commented Sep 13, 2015 at 7:05
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In the vast majority of the cases, an ending of Q+R vs. Q should be winning.

However, some exceptions exist, for instance: 


[FEN "6RK/7Q/5q2/8/8/8/8/3k4 w - - 0 1"]

      1.Qg7 Qh4+ 2.Qh7 Qf6+ 3.Rg7 Qd8+ 4.Qg8 Qh4+ 5.Rh7 Qf6+

In case you want to check whether your game was winning or not and how to win it, you can consult a tablebase, for example the free online tablebase of Shredder.

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  • This was the exact thing which I came across when trying to analyze the match.
    – Tanay Karnik
    Commented Sep 11, 2015 at 13:59
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This is called perpetual check and it is a draw. There is no extra rule for perpetual check because the draw can be claimed by invoking the three-fold repetition rule. (You said positions were not repeating, but if you cannot escape from a perpetual check, they will repeat sooner or later).

If you carefully go through the game, you will probably spot a possibility to prevent him from giving perpetual check. In that case you missed a win. Often you can manoeuvre in such a way, that at one point you can block a check by giving check yourself. But if you cannot find a way to escape from the checks a draw is a fair result and this is a common occurrence even in grandmaster games.

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According to theory, this endgame is won for the Q+R side. Note that you can afford a queen exchange, since K+R still wins against a lone K.

You should manage winning it (or reducing it by Q exchange) in less than 50 full moves which gives your oppenent the opportunity to claim a draw.

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    Exactly what'd I attempt, in this scenario. I find it best to eliminate variables during the end game. K+R v K is much easier to conclude than Q+R+K v Q+K.
    – bishop
    Commented Sep 10, 2015 at 15:10
  • I think that if it was possible to exchange queens then obviously I would have done so. But, there was no chance of escaping the checks.
    – Tanay Karnik
    Commented Sep 11, 2015 at 14:03

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