Draw although lost by time

Hey all together, 

I just played a game. I had only one knight and my king and my opponent had the a- pawn and d-pawn. Time ran out for my opponent and the game was drawned.

Now I have the question: Why?

I am still able to make check mate by pushing the opponent king in the corner in front of its pawn. Then I only have to bring my king near and give check with the knight.

Thank you for answers!

in a FIDE game (i think) you would be awarded the win but chess.com awards it as a draw for some reason

I'd say that's a bug in the chess.com engine.  U should point it out to the staff.

The checkmate is theoretically possible so, I guess, it's not a draw by FIDE rules.

It doesn't matter if FORCED mate is possible.  It only matters if mate is possible - even if it would require very bad play by the opponent.  After all, if the player had one second left he might play very badly, so why assume he would play better with no time left?

I'm on the fence when it comes to that scenario. It's an unlikely situation when a king can mate with just a knight, especially when the enemy king is nowhere near a corner or restricted by any of his pieces or pawns, so it's most likely a draw. However I also believe if there's gonna be clocks then the faster player should win. The player that ran out of time may or may not've been making good moves, but either way it took him longer to do so.

Tough one. 

All right, thanks to precise it.

Yeah, it's a tough close one, I've seen more compelling cases where a full 1 point win could be awarded.

One size doesn't fit all, so I sympathise with the programmers on this one, some situations may be best decided by an arbiter, which is way above my point grade, but that won't stop me getting my tuppence say 

Factors: Time, Material, Position & Possibilities.

Time: Okay, you could give each side extra time to prove their case (this could be a tickbox option set in game challenges applying only to these draw situations (pre-agreed)).

This could be: Double any remaining time + 10% of the total time/ game, so 10% of 5 mins= 30 seconds, giving:

White 0:00 x2= 0m:00s + 30 secs= 30 seconds.

Black 0:02.3 x2= 0m:04.6 secs + 30 secs= 34.6 seconds.

You both could play each other with this & let us know how you got on  (I'm certain that it would be a draw).

iProCheckmateKing wrote:

Chess.com uses the US Chess (formerly USCF) rule about draws in this type of situation.

The game is a draw unless the player who did not run out of time has a forced checkmate.

Yes, I agree, that's better than a draw & I'm glad this is implemented, however, the extra time (seamless & instantaneous) would be good for players to prove it by playing it!, winning by any mate 

fide rules are bad anyways

If you only have king and knight left, I think it is entirely fair that it's a draw.

@danandsid Yes, in this scenario a Draw is correct, but with the same material in a different position a win is possible by forced mate, I just think that players should prove it by playing it, surely anybody would want to be able to see any checkmate/ win/ victory.

Maybe they'll play 5 mins + 1 sec/ move in future 

I know I am just pointing out the weakness of the rules

I think it is a draw because you can not win a game knight and king vs king but if the oppenents has extra pawns then the opponent has earned a draw for taking out all of your materials possible for a checkmate.