user32998: I am very much a beginner to chess and have been clueless in my past matches. I feel like I'm either making a move just to protect any of my pieces at that moment or make a move to simply knock my opponent's piece; which is certainly not the right way to play chess.
I recently played a match in Lichess which ended up being a stalemate. I have a couple of questions with this...
[fen "5k2/6p1/6p1/r2p4/4p3/1K2n3/3q4/8 b - - 0 1"]

I was playing with the black pieces and this was how it ended:
i) How exactly is the match concluded to be a stalemate?
ii) Being a beginner, I obviously find it difficult to checkmate the opponent... even though in this particular match, I seemed to have the upper hand with so many of my pieces in the board. At this particular step which I have attached below, my mind tells me that I could have somehow used the rook and knight to give a checkmate. What are some moves to give checkmate as I'm having a tough time figuring it out myself?
[fen "5k2/6p1/3p2p1/7r/1K2p3/4n3/3q4/8 b - - 0 1"]


user33007: The best advice anyone can give a beginner is that when you are hunting the King like this, make sure that he is either in check, or that you're absolutely positive he has a square he can move too. A good drill I used to do as a beginner was to highlight all the squares covered by my pieces. This was both helpful for avoiding unfortunate stalemates and it trained me to be faster at seeing these things over the board where you can't highlight the squares.

user4418: 
i) How exactly is the match concluded to be a stalemate?


The white king is not in check
The squares a2, b2, c2, c3, b4 are covered by the queen. The king may not move there.
The squares a3, a4 are covered by the rook. The king may not move there.
The square c4 is covered by the knight. The king may not move there.

Hence the king is not in check and white has no legal moves. That is the definition of stalemate.

Could somebody suggest some moves to give checkmate?

Far and away the most important area for you to study as a beginner is simple endgames. Unless your opponent is kind enough to resign then that knowledge is the only way you are going to win games unless you stumble upon checkmate by chance.
Probably the simplest simple endgame is when two major pieces (rooks and queens are major pieces) combine to drive the opponent's king to the side of the board to give checkmate.
This is how it would look in the position you give -
[fen "5k2/6p1/3p2p1/7r/1K2p3/4n3/3q4/8 w - - 0 1"]
[Startflipped "1"]

1. Kb3 Rc5 2. Ka3 Qa5+ 3. Kb3 Qb6+ 4. Ka3 Ra5#

If you know these simple mates then you will know exactly what you are trying to do and will waste time going round in circles making pointless moves, risking stalemate in these kind of positions.

32998: <p>I am very much a beginner to chess and have been clueless in my past matches. I feel like I'm either making a move just to protect any of my pieces at that moment or make a move to simply knock my opponent's piece; which is certainly not the right way to play chess.</p>
<p>I recently played a match in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichess" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Lichess</a> which ended up being a stalemate. I have a couple of questions with this...</p>
<pre><code>[fen &quot;5k2/6p1/6p1/r2p4/4p3/1K2n3/3q4/8 b - - 0 1&quot;]
</code></pre>
<p>I was playing with the black pieces and this was how it ended:</p>
<p>i) How exactly is the match concluded to be a stalemate?</p>
<p>ii) Being a beginner, I obviously find it difficult to checkmate the opponent... even though in this particular match, I seemed to have the upper hand with so many of my pieces in the board. At this particular step which I have attached below, my mind tells me that I could have somehow used the rook and knight to give a checkmate. What are some moves to give checkmate as I'm having a tough time figuring it out myself?</p>
<pre><code>[fen &quot;5k2/6p1/3p2p1/7r/1K2p3/4n3/3q4/8 b - - 0 1&quot;]
</code></pre>
 33007: <p>The best advice anyone can give a beginner is that when you are hunting the King like this, make sure that he is either in check, or that you're absolutely positive he has a square he can move too. A good drill I used to do as a beginner was to highlight all the squares covered by my pieces. This was both helpful for avoiding unfortunate stalemates and it trained me to be faster at seeing these things over the board where you can't highlight the squares.</p>
 4418: <blockquote>
<p>i) How exactly is the match concluded to be a stalemate?</p>
</blockquote>
<ol>
<li>The white king is not in check</li>
<li>The squares a2, b2, c2, c3, b4 are covered by the queen. The king may not move there.</li>
<li>The squares a3, a4 are covered by the rook. The king may not move there.</li>
<li>The square c4 is covered by the knight. The king may not move there.</li>
</ol>
<p>Hence the king is not in check and white has no legal moves. That is the definition of stalemate.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Could somebody suggest some moves to give checkmate?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Far and away the most important area for you to study as a beginner is simple endgames. Unless your opponent is kind enough to resign then that knowledge is the only way you are going to win games unless you stumble upon checkmate by chance.</p>
<p>Probably the simplest simple endgame is when two major pieces (rooks and queens are major pieces) combine to drive the opponent's king to the side of the board to give checkmate.</p>
<p>This is how it would look in the position you give -</p>
<pre><code>[fen &quot;5k2/6p1/3p2p1/7r/1K2p3/4n3/3q4/8 w - - 0 1&quot;]
[Startflipped &quot;1&quot;]

1. Kb3 Rc5 2. Ka3 Qa5+ 3. Kb3 Qb6+ 4. Ka3 Ra5#
</code></pre>
<p>If you know these simple mates then you will know exactly what you are trying to do and will waste time going round in circles making pointless moves, risking stalemate in these kind of positions.</p>
