Yes, you are right. The game should have been drawn due to insufficient material. I have forwarded this issue to our technical department to take a look at.
Timeout and lack of material to mate
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Sep 8, 2008
0
#3
No this is not a draw. It is only a draw when NOONE has sufficiant material to win. His two pawns was more than enough material to win the game.
subtext wrote:
No this is not a draw. It is only a draw when NOONE has sufficiant material to win. His two pawns was more than enough material to win the game.
Wrong, the material your opponent has nothing to do with it unless he is claiming a draw. You are correct this should be a draw since there is no way in this universe that you could win the game since you have no mating material.
Yes, two pawns arent insufficient material yet, one pawn is, i think..
Sep 8, 2008
0
#7
One pawn CAN be insufficient to win, but that depends on where the kings are standing. Read Silman to get more information on that.
"Introduction to Clocks and Timers
Most tournaments use timers to regulate the time spent on each game, not on each move. Each player gets the same amount of time to use for their entire game and can decide how to spend that time. Once a player makes a move they then touch a button or hit a lever to start the opponent’s clock. If a player runs out of time and the opponent calls the time, then the player who ran out of time loses the game (unless the opponent does not have enough pieces to checkmate, in which case it is a draw)."
-from chess.com's rules section. Note the last sentence. Subtext, you need to read more thoroughly.
The question wether you have insufficient material for mating or not, do NOT depend on the way your opponent plays. A king and a pawn is sufficient material, since the pawn can become a queen or rook. Maybe your opponent can prevent this by playing optimal, but that is not a part of the question. A king and a bishop is not sufficient and in the mentioned game I only had a king, and that is for sure insufficient.
Sep 12, 2008
0
#11
Whether you have sufficient mating material OUGHT to depend on your opponent's material.
For example, a King and Knight cannot mate against a lone King, but can mate against a King and Pawn (by having the Pawn promote to a Rook, and moving e.g. his King to a8, his Rook to b8, your King to a6, and your Knight to c7).
Similarly, a King and Bishop cannot mate against a lone King, but can mate against a King and Pawn (by having the Pawn promote to a Knight, and moving e.g. his King to a8, his Knight to b8, your King to b6, and your Bishop to b7).
However, I recall only getting a draw when I had only a Knight while my opponent had pawns, on chess.com.
White wins!
DavidForthoffer wrote:
However, I recall only getting a draw when I had only a Knight while my opponent had pawns, on chess.com.
Then it is very mysterious that I won, when I only had a king, which for sure never can be sufficient, no matter what material my opponent has. But ofcourse you have a good point in the question of the material of the opponent - I think you should win if your opponent times out and you have a king and knight against a king and pawn, but not if you have a king and knight against a king... but I don't know what the rules says.
Some weeks ago I played this game: http://www.chess.com/echess/game.html?id=7557940
My opponent timed out and I won... even though I only had my king left against his king and two pawns. Shoudln't that kind of games be declared a draw, since I had not the material to mate? Normaly, playing on time would result in a draw in that kind of situations.
Kasper