More questions about a draw

I'm confused how when a game is drawn you either gain a point or two, lose a point or two or earn nothing at all.

Why the difference? A draw is a draw.

Another question. My last game ended with me having a single bishop and them having a single knight. I always presumed in this situation it's an automatic draw. How can you checkmate someone with a king and a minor piece? It can't be done.

The computer didn't even end the game!?

It is not possible to checkmate a K with a K and minor piece, but it is possible for K+N to be checkmated by K+B, even though the K+N player would have to play horribly to allow such a thing to happen.

Please explain to me why a king and bishop vs. a king and knight is not a draw?

I don't believe this. Opponents timer ran out and the game was drawn due to insufficient material.

The game ended with K versus K + B + N. It's sufficient material to checkmate a king! Even Wikipedia says so.

Why the draw?

amilton542:

The player with the K+B+N ran out of time.  It's insufficient material because a lone K isn't enough to checkmate.

I'm guessing this was because you had the bare king. In that case there is no way *you* could have checkmated *him* so you don't get handed the win when his clock runs out.

ETA: yep, I see that's how it went down. In the earlier examples it's possible to be mated if the losing side actively cooperates. That keeps the "insufficient material" clause from kicking in, though anyone with an ounce of principle would accept a draw offer under these circumstances.

The magnitude of the rating change is based on a couple of factors; ratings of the players and their ratings deviations. There is a farily complex formula to determine the amount of change (a more detailed description, if you are interested).

For example, in correspondence, my RD (rating deviation) is 96. In one game I have going on now, against a player 250 points lower rated than me, if I get a draw I will lose 18 points. In another, with a player 40 points higher rated than me, I would gain 2 points with a draw. Still another, with a player 140 points higher rated, I would gain 8 with a draw.

To draw against a player rated much higher than you is an accomplishment. To draw against a player rated the same as you is just a coin toss.

I just find it funny after 3 years of getting into chess I'm still learning the rules of the game the hard way. The only ever rule books I've read are what have come with a really cheap chess sets without even mentioning en passant!

Could the FIDE not make a standardised booklet on chess rules that come with every single chess set ever produced.

Well it's giving guys like me a headache in what actually constitutes a draw and what doesn't. I'm amazed at how chess.com doesn't even have an official online rule book for the game.

Instead of employing staff to moderate the forums why not get them to do something a bit more productive and produce a full set of FIDE rules that one can refer to for any question they might have about the rules of the game.