I'm playing a guy who has his king against my king, bishop and knight. I know its possible to mate but the computer workout shows it as a 33 move mate from its position. I am sitting around 28-29 moves just by me. can my opponent declare a draw or is different going for mate? I have the basic idea of what I need to do but am having problems acheiving it. If I cant figure it out I will accept the draw but I wish to at least try. Can some one tell me the rule about this long mate?

there is a forced mate but if its taking you a long time to find it, I think it'd be polite to take the draw...

What do you consider a long time? how many moves? The computer workout was 33 moves to achieve mate!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifty-move_rule

If there is no draw claim, you get as many moves over 50, as your opponent allows.

That answers my question thanks.

I will try to mate for a few more moves but if he breaks away again I will offer a draw.

50 moves means 50 moves for both sides. If you've made 28 or 29, you've more than 20 to go.

Also, mate in 33 is against perfect defense. Most people don't defend perfectly :-)

I forgot people usually mean plies when they say moves.

I looked in the computer workout and it showed that its an advanced position so I resigned the game. I'm not at that level so I didnt want to waste his time trying to figure it out!