Why isn't this mate?

I played Qh1 and then my partner was mated a few moves later on their board. Can you put a pawn on the 1st rank as white? What am I missing?

You do not need to have the stuff on hand so it is not the p that saves your opponent. If your opponent gets a n, b, r or q he/she will avoid mate and they therefore do not consider it as mate. If your partner is up on time and sits you will win the match.

Oh, gotcha. Thanks for explaining that.

True.

If you were up on time (against your opponent's partner) then you would ask your partner to sit. They would run out of time. If you were down on time then tough blow