The ways a game is drawn

Half a point — sometimes the best result.

A draw splits the point, and it can be the goal or the disaster depending on which side you're on. There are several ways a game ends in a draw: stalemate (no legal move while not in check), insufficient material (neither side has enough to mate), threefold repetition (the same position occurs three times), the fifty-move rule (fifty moves with no pawn move and no capture), and agreement.

The diagram shows insufficient material: a lone king and knight can never force mate, so the game is an automatic draw the moment you reach it. The practical lesson cuts both ways — when you're losing, draw rules are lifelines (perpetual check forces a repetition and saves the game); when you're winning, don't hand your opponent a stalemate or let the king escape into endless checks.

Draws: stalemate, insufficient material, repetition, fifty-move, agreement.
Perpetual check is a draw by repetition — a losing side's escape.
When winning, take care not to stalemate or get checked forever.

King + knight vs a lone king: mate is impossible. Insufficient material — an automatic draw.

Only a king and a single knight are left against a lone king. The game is:

Answer the question to keep going!