{{short description|Chess position where one side has only a king}} In [[chess]] and [[chess variant]]s, a '''bare king''' (or '''lone king''') is a [[king (chess)|king]] whose player has no other remaining [[Chess pieces|pieces]] (i.e. all the player's other pieces have been {{chessgloss|captured}}).
==Effect on the game==
===Historical=== In some old versions of chess, such as "baring chess"<ref>Hooper & Whyld (1996), p. 29. ''bare king''.</ref><ref>Pritchard (2007), p. 81. ''Baring the king''.</ref> and [[shatranj]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chessvariants.com/historic.dir/shatranj.html |title=Shatranj |website=[[The Chess Variant Pages]] }}</ref> leaving the opponent with a bare king was one way of winning the game (see {{seclink|Checkmate|History}}). The relative weakness of the pieces in shatranj may have made this form of a win desirable. A possible exception to the bare king rule was if the king immediately after being bared was able to recapture, leaving the opponent with a bare king as well. This situation, called a "Medinese victory" (because in [[Medina]], it was still a win for the player first baring the opposing king), was often considered a [[draw (chess)|draw]].<ref>Hooper & Whyld (1996), p. 256. ''Medinese victory''.</ref>
===Contemporary=== Under [[rules of chess|modern rules]], a player with a bare king does not automatically lose and may continue playing. A bare king can never give [[Check (chess)|check]], however, and can therefore never deliver a [[checkmate]] or win the game. A bare king can in some situations play to a [[Draw (chess)|draw]], such as by [[stalemate]], capturing the opponent's pieces to reduce his advantage to an unwinnable one or if the opponent of a bare king oversteps the [[time control|time limit]].<ref>6.10 in [http://www.fide.com/info/handbook?id=32&view=category FIDE's Laws of Chess] states that overstepping the time limit results in a loss, "However, the game is drawn, if the position is such that the opponent cannot checkmate the player's king by any possible series of legal moves, even with the most unskilled counterplay."</ref> If both players are left with a bare king, the game is immediately drawn. Similarly, if one player has only a king and either a [[Bishop (chess)|bishop]] or a [[Knight (chess)|knight]] while the opponent has a bare king, the game is immediately drawn.<ref>1.3 in [http://www.fide.com/info/handbook?id=32&view=category FIDE's Laws of Chess] states, "If the position is such that neither player can possibly checkmate, the game is drawn."</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Luca |first=Giovanni Di |date=2020-12-15 |title=Here's Why It's Impossible To Checkmate With 1 Bishop |url=https://chesspulse.com/heres-why-its-impossible-to-checkmate-with-1-bishop/ |access-date=2022-03-25 |website=Chess Pulse |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-05-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220528112705/https://chesspulse.com/heres-why-its-impossible-to-checkmate-with-1-bishop/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
'''Bibliography''' *{{cite book |last1=Hooper |first1=David |author-link1=David Vincent Hooper |last2=Whyld |first2=Kenneth |author-link2=Kenneth Whyld |title=[[The Oxford Companion to Chess]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |edition=2nd |year=1996 |orig-year=First pub. 1992 |isbn=0-19-280049-3}} *{{cite book |last=Pritchard |first=D. B. |author-link=David Pritchard (chess player) |title=The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants |publisher=John Beasley |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-9555168-0-1}}
{{chess}}
[[Category:Chess terminology]]