[neysofu]

Another possible solution would be to simply... remove draws from the game. Instead of checkmating the goal becomes to capture the opponent's king.

Needless to say, no one likes this idea because it throws out of the window centuries of game theory. Endgames would be completely different. I'm not convinced it would be a less interesting game, though.

[wh0knows]

If you have insufficient material how can you capture the king? Checkmate is by definition one move before forced capture of the king, the game doesn’t change by making it end one move later.

[btilly]

And what happens if you wind up with king and rook vs king and rook?

Some positions simply do not allow for a win. Yes, you could say do it on time. But then it becomes about mechanical dexterity as people try to be faster than their opponent in a pointless piece shuffle.

[neysofu]

Yeah, I didn't think it through. I'd imagine such a rule change would still make draws significantly less likely though, right?

[BurningFrog]

There are many situations when this is for all practical purposes impossible.

For example a King vs King endgame. Even really weak players will never accidentally put their king next to the opponent.

[debugnik]

Even worse, it's an illegal move to leave your own king in check, if I recall correctly, so that simply can't happen, not even by accident. The only possible outcome for king vs king is a draw. Unless we were to modify even more rules, of course.

[kgabis]

Well... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTS9XaoQ6mg

[acchow]

> Instead of checkmating the goal becomes to capture the opponent's king.

These are the same.

[neysofu]

They are not – if the goal becomes to capture the king, and check-related rules are removed from the game, stalemates become impossible.

[whimsicalism]

at least as described, would not be sufficient to remove draws from the game - but would remove stalemates

[thom]

I think you’re arguing for the abolition of stalemate (and certain kinds of pins), and that’s totally reasonable. This doesn’t solve drawisness in general though.

[paulddraper]

Capturing the king changes nothing, except stalemate.

(Which affects some draws but not most.)