Bishopss

I was playing a game with end game being kings and bishops of opposite color.  In my mind this is a draw since you cannot mate with this material.   However, I ran out of time, and Live Chess 'gave' my opponent the win.   Does that make any sense to anyone?  Does Live Chess not know the rules of mating material required to checkmate an opponent?

Thanks!

Rick

Hm. I looked at the game you are referring to and it seems like it should have been "Drawn by insufficient material." Maybe someone wiser than I can elaborate on this.

For me I would cliam it as a draw as you can sack your bishop and it can be a draw but it can be mated if your stupid so I see why they can a win to your opponent.

Hm. I never thought of that position, Harry. Thanks for showing me that.

Harry,

I thought about that, but since I offered the draw, there wouldn't be a reason for me to put myself into that position.  I think when grandmasters play, this game would have been a draw regardless of the time on the clock.  Otherwise, whoever had the most time left, would always win, which isn't condusive to good chess.

I know there is a 2-move checkmate (called fool's mate), but you need your opponent to make 2 bad moves.  So, I don't count that as a legitimate checkmate, and still view the 4-move checkmate as the standard shortest checkmate...but I digress. 

Thanks for responding, though I still don't agree with Live Chess on that one.

Rick

Yeah, there's really no possible way that you could get in that position and lose, like someone else said.

Yeah, that would be the ONLY way to lose.  I thought about that, but you can't even force the king into the corner with only a bishop.  Even if you did, your opponent wouldn't block the king with the bishop.  It's like checkmating with two knights.