Threefold repetition
Stockfish 16.1 · runs in your browserPlay Ng8 to make the third occurrence. Then try to drag White's king from e1 to g1: pieces block castling, so the board refuses it. A draw claim is separate.
Play on the board, or use Type a move below it.
Play a move by typing it, like e4, Nf3 or e7e8q, then press Enter.
Commentary
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Best move
A draw may be claimed when the same position occurs for the third time, with the same player to move and the same legal possibilities. The moves need not repeat consecutively. Replay these knight moves to make the starting position appear three times.
Try the moves
Choose an example, play the suggested move, then reset to compare another legal move.
Threefold repetition concerns positions, not a particular set of moves. In the example, both knights go out and come home twice. Select Return to the same position, replay the move list, and play Black's final Ng8. The normal starting arrangement has now appeared three times with White to move and the same legal possibilities. Under FIDE rules a player may claim a draw; the third occurrence does not itself force the game to end. Some chess websites handle the claim automatically, so their screen may behave differently.
The whole position matters. The same pieces on the same squares are insufficient if a different player has the move. Rights that change the possible moves matter too: moving a king or rook can remove castling rights, and an en passant chance can exist for only one turn. The three appearances need not be consecutive. This example keeps the move history because a single final board image cannot prove that the same position occurred earlier. Replay it from the beginning to count first, second and third occurrences.
After Ng8, try dragging White's king from e1 to g1. The board refuses the castle because White's bishop and knight still occupy the path. That refusal is about ordinary move legality, not a draw claim; this board has no claim button. To apply the repetition rule in a game, examine the actual history and check the side to move and special-move rights before asking for the draw. If the position appears five times, a separate FIDE rule ends the game without a claim, subject to the rules' end-of-game conditions.
Rules and examples
FIDE Laws of Chess, Articles 9.2 and 9.6.1, distinguish a claim from automatic fivefold repetition.
Rules: FIDE Laws of Chess, effective 1 January 2023. https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/E012023
Rule replay: python-chess 1.11.2 (GPL-3.0-or-later). The shared browser engine retains its Stockfish GPL-3.0 notice. No engine score is claimed by these demonstrations.
Read the rulesA move on the board
rnbqkb1r/pppppppp/5n2/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 7 4
rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 8 5
- Ng8The starting position has now occurred three times with the same side to move and rights; a draw can be claimed.
The starting position has now occurred three times with the same side to move and rights; a draw can be claimed.
Original teaching example replayed with python-chess 1.11.2, 2026-10-23.
Analysis runs on Stockfish 16.1 in your browser, compiled to WebAssembly by stockfish.js. Stockfish is free software under the GNU General Public License v3; its source code is on GitHub.