Why this is happening (repeatedly) in Live chess even though there is enough material? Sometimes pawns or even when about to crown.

At this point my opponent ran out of time and I just got a draw.

Quite odd.

Is it happening to you too?

I saw a game that ended like that. I think it means the one that actually has the time to move and everything can't checkmate his opponent no matter how many free moves ha has. However, if it was the other way around, They'd lose on time. I'm not sure exactly though.

Yes this has happened to me.  The best white could of achieve was a draw with only the King.  So you are not entitled to the full point I suppose. 

Hmm, black ran out of time and the message was "insufficient mating material" ... yeah I'm going to be up all night trying to figure this one out.

Anyway this is good to remember when you're ahead on the board but don't have time to checkmate.  If you see you have 10 seconds left but you're far from mate, try to eat up all their remaining pieces/pawns even if it's a sacrifice.  That way you wont lose.

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The same reason anyone ever loses on time -- because you ran out of time.

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That's exactly what I tried to do, to eat up time. Even, I would have let him crown as with just a few secs remaining in the clock he couldn't have checked-mated me.

The point is, why a draw 'by insufficient material' if there is material enough?

At this point it is a question of time and the chess.com application is not working properly. Unless, of course, there is a rule (that we don't know).

The rules are the rules! I f you don't like them, pick up your marbles and go play elsewhere.

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Is that "the royal we"?

http://www.fide.com/component/handbook/?id=124&view=article

6.9 Except where one of the Articles: 5.1.a, 5.1.b, 5.2.a, 5.2.b, 5.2.c applies, if a player does not complete the prescribed number of moves in the allotted time, the game is lost by the player. However, the game is drawn, if the position is such that the opponent cannot checkmate the player’s king by any possible series of legal moves.

Sorry echecs06 but this is not a question of rules, there appears to be something wrong with the (chess.com) application. How can it say 'insufficient material' if there is a pawn about to be crown into a queen. That is more than enough to win a game.

TadDude. It wasn't or it isn't a question of moves or number of moves. When the time runs out it will say 'drawn by insufficient material' rather than awarding the game to the one who still has time.

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"However, the game is drawn, if the position is such that the opponent cannot checkmate the player’s king by any possible series of legal moves."

Black, the opponent, ran out of time. This is normally a loss for Black except if White cannot checkmate.

White has insufficient material to checkmate Black.

Because White has only a king he can never win a game even on time. He can only hope for a draw at that point.

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Yes, white has insufficient material to win but black does have enough material to win (a pawn to become possibly a queen) but no time... then he/she should loose by time.

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This is correct. This is the way that FIDE rules have been enforced for years. In the above game, there are no circumstances in which white can win. The best they can hope for is a draw, when black runs out of time, that is what white is awarded with, a draw.

Thanks Furtiveking, that sounds more reasonable. Though in Live Chess time, if you are playing at 5 mins, it is a big issue.

Maybe it shouldn't say 'insufficient material'

I'm confused as to what your problem is.  It says "Black to move," so I'm assuming black ran out of time.  White has a lone king, and therefore cannot win.  White has insufficient material.

The above players are correct... the "draw by insufficient material" IS refering to WHITE not having enough material to win here. I watched a game end at a tournament in the OPEN section where the side that ran out of time had a Queen and King vs a King and was within two moves of mate when his flag fell. I was not familiar with the rule and I thought that the side with the lone King had escaped with a win. Later... after looking at the various sections win/loss cross tables.. I noticed that that specific game was posted as drawn. I almost made a fool of myself by turning to a few players and pointing it out and was set to announce the mistake "to the world" when they gently explained to me why it was drawn.

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 You cannot mate your opponent with only a king and your opponent could but ran out of time. It is only fair that it was a draw since you had no chance to win besides on time which, do to the rules is impossible. Hope this answers your question.

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Grantchamps. Thanks for your comment and I agree with your assessment. The problem is that we are/were playing Live chess, at 5 minutes where time is a big issue. One, then, will have to assume that at this stage and situation time is no longer an issue and wait for the draw.