# Bare king

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Chess position where one side has only a king

In [chess](/source/Chess) and [chess variants](/source/Chess_variant), a **bare king** (or **lone king**) is a [king](/source/King_(chess)) whose player has no other remaining [pieces](/source/Chess_pieces) (i.e. all the player's other pieces have been [captured](/source/Glossary_of_chess#captured)).

## Effect on the game

### Historical

In some old versions of chess, such as "baring chess"[1][2] and [shatranj](/source/Shatranj),[3] leaving the opponent with a bare king was one way of winning the game (see [Checkmate § History](/source/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](/source/Medina), it was still a win for the player first baring the opposing king), was often considered a [draw](/source/Draw_(chess)).[4]

### Contemporary

Under [modern rules](/source/Rules_of_chess), a player with a bare king does not automatically lose and may continue playing. A bare king can never give [check](/source/Check_(chess)), however, and can therefore never deliver a [checkmate](/source/Checkmate) or win the game. A bare king can in some situations play to a [draw](/source/Draw_(chess)), such as by [stalemate](/source/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 limit](/source/Time_control).[5] 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](/source/Bishop_(chess)) or a [knight](/source/Knight_(chess)) while the opponent has a bare king, the game is immediately drawn.[6][7]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Hooper & Whyld (1996), p. 29. *bare king*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Pritchard (2007), p. 81. *Baring the king*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Shatranj"](http://www.chessvariants.com/historic.dir/shatranj.html). *[The Chess Variant Pages](/source/The_Chess_Variant_Pages)*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Hooper & Whyld (1996), p. 256. *Medinese victory*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** 6.10 in [FIDE's Laws of Chess](http://www.fide.com/info/handbook?id=32&view=category) 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."

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** 1.3 in [FIDE's Laws of Chess](http://www.fide.com/info/handbook?id=32&view=category) states, "If the position is such that neither player can possibly checkmate, the game is drawn."

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Luca, Giovanni Di (2020-12-15). ["Here's Why It's Impossible To Checkmate With 1 Bishop"](https://web.archive.org/web/20220528112705/https://chesspulse.com/heres-why-its-impossible-to-checkmate-with-1-bishop/). *Chess Pulse*. Archived from [the original](https://chesspulse.com/heres-why-its-impossible-to-checkmate-with-1-bishop/) on 2022-05-28. Retrieved 2022-03-25.

**Bibliography**

- [Hooper, David](/source/David_Vincent_Hooper); [Whyld, Kenneth](/source/Kenneth_Whyld) (1996) [First pub. 1992]. *[The Oxford Companion to Chess](/source/The_Oxford_Companion_to_Chess)* (2nd ed.). [Oxford University Press](/source/Oxford_University_Press). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-19-280049-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-19-280049-3).

- [Pritchard, D. B.](/source/David_Pritchard_(chess_player)) (2007). *The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants*. John Beasley. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-9555168-0-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-9555168-0-1).

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bare king](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bare_king) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bare_king?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.