Threefold repetition

In chess, the threefold repetition rule states that a player may claim a draw if the same position occurs three times during the game. The rule is also known as repetition of position and, in the USCF rules, as triple occurrence of position. Two positions are by definition "the same" if pieces of the same type and color occupy the same squares, the same player has the move, the remaining castling rights are the same and the possibility to capture en passant is the same. The repeated positions need not occur in succession. The game is not automatically drawn if a position occurs for the third time – one of the players, on their turn, must claim the draw with the arbiter. The claim must be made either before making the move which will produce the third repetition, or after the opponent has made a move producing a third repetition. By contrast, the fivefold repetition rule requires the arbiter to intervene and declare the game drawn if the same position occurs five times, needing no claim by the players. Similar rules exist in other abstract strategy games such as xiangqi and shogi (cf. sennichite) whereas in Go, repetition of the immediately previous board position is completely disallowed in the first place, and in some regional rule sets repetition of any previous board position is disallowed. Internet chess servers differ in their handling of draw by repetition. For example, Chess.com draws the game automatically upon a position's third occurrence.