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Re:Chess: Who will win in this riveting game of Math.random(... by afro88 on Sunday January 25, 2015 @06:19PM (#8944671)
If it's impossible to checkmate then it's a stalemate. So if one side has one king and the other side one king (or even one king and a pawn, bishop, knight or rook) then it's a stalemate and the game ends.

edit: forgot you can checkmate with just a king and a queen

Re:Chess: Who will win in this riveting game of Math.random(... by cozzyd on Sunday January 25, 2015 @06:35PM (#8944718)
Pawn wouldn't be stalemate because it can be promoted to a queen.

I think it's also possible to checkmate with a rook + king (if you corner the king and have your king cover the escape route from check).

Re:Chess: Who will win in this riveting game of Math.random(... by umanwizard on Sunday January 25, 2015 @07:12PM (#8944826)
Yup, you're right! The algorithm works like this: (each "move" is an implicit "continue" in the pseudocode)

    while no checkmate:
        If your rook is about to be taken, move it to the other end of the current rank.
        If the enemy king is on rank n and your rook is anywhere but rank n-1, move your rook to rank n-1 (unless it can then be taken, in which case move it to the end of its current rank.)
        If your king is anywhere but rank n-2, move towards there.
        If your kings are on the same file, advance the rook to rank n (unless it can be taken...)
        If |file of your king - file of opponents king| is odd, make a wasted move with the rook (keeping it on the same rank).
        If you've gotten this far, move your king towards the opponent's king (staying on the same rank n-2).
Re:Chess: Who will win in this riveting game of Math.random(... by Someone on Sunday January 25, 2015 @07:27PM (#8944893)
Re:Chess: Who will win in this riveting game of Math.random(... by stolio on Sunday January 25, 2015 @07:15PM (#8944845)
You can easily checkmate with a king and a rook, it just has to be along an edge of the board.

In rare circumstances you can checkmate with a king and a single bishop: http://www.chess.com/forum/view/more-puzzles/mate-with-one-b...

Re:Chess: Who will win in this riveting game of Math.random(... by lmm on Monday January 26, 2015 @05:17AM (#8946320)
Any piece (well, except the king) can checkmate with cooperation from the opponent's pieces. The standard sets (queen, rook, two bishops, bishop and knight) are those with which you can force a checkmate against an opponent who just has a king.
Re:Chess: Who will win in this riveting game of Math.random(... by dfan on Sunday January 25, 2015 @09:29PM (#8945270)
Stalemate is a very specific term that means that the side to move has no legal moves. If checkmate is impossible this is generally called a "draw by insufficient material".