Chess rules
Threefold Repetition in Chess: How It Works
Threefold repetition is the rule that a player may claim a draw when the same position occurs for the third time, with the same player to move. The repetitions do not have to come on consecutive moves, and under FIDE rules a fivefold repetition ends the game automatically.
Example
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. Ng1 Ng8 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Ng1 Ng8
Both sides move their knights out and back twice. After Ng8, the starting position has appeared for the third time with White to move, so White can claim a draw by threefold repetition.
What counts as the same position
Under the FIDE Laws, positions are the same only if the same player is to move, the same kinds of pieces of the same color stand on the same squares, and all possible moves are the same. That last part means the castling rights and the possibility of an en passant capture must also be the same.
The moves in between do not matter. A position can occur once and then again ten moves later, and both occurrences count toward the three.
How to claim the draw
The draw is not automatic at three. The player whose turn it is makes the claim, in one of two ways: when the position has just appeared for the third time, or by writing down a move that will produce it and declaring to the arbiter that you intend to play it.
In the second case, do not play the move on the board first. Write it down, stop the clock, and claim. If you play it first, the opponent gets the move and the right to claim passes to them.
Fivefold repetition
Under FIDE rules, if the same position appears five times, the game is drawn automatically, with no claim needed.
Common questions
Do the three repetitions have to be in a row?
No. The same position must occur three times at any point in the game, with the same player to move and the same castling and en passant possibilities.
Is threefold repetition an automatic draw?
Not under FIDE rules. A player must claim it. The game is drawn automatically only when the same position appears five times.
Keep learning
Find these moments in your own games.
Paste a game into the free analyzer to find the moves that cost you, with each mistake explained in plain English. Three analyses are free, with no email or card.
Analyze a game free →Practice with a coach beside you.
Play a human-like opponent at your level while the coach explains your moves as you go. The first coached game is free.
Play a free coached game →