Maybe this is a stupid question but I played a 10 min game that ended in a "draw due to insufficient material" and I don't understand why. 

I was about to checkmate the opponent (I played black) in my next move but had less than a second to make the move. My finger was poised to do it and then the game ended in a draw with the "insufficient" materials message. The way I see it I could have either won on checkmate or lost on time. But I don't understand this outcome. Anyone?

http://live.chess.com/live?v=2014073001#

!

Ah...I've just searched the forums and apparently the rule is that if one player runs out of time and his opponent doesn't have sufficient pieces to checkmate then it's a draw. Quite an annoying rule if you ask me. Especially when you're about to get mate!

Well these rules make the our game of chess very special.

I also was about winning because my opponent didn't have enough time, but then when his time was over came the sentence "Draw by Insufficient material"...it didn't look fare to me :-(

But you did not mate your opponent, you ran out of time!

You were never winning.

To win a game you need to have sufficient mating material on the board. If you do not, you cannot possibly win.

Oh and thanks for involving me in ressurecting a dead thread...not.

Well...my "insufficient material" was a Queen and a Tower...

No.  But my admiration for your inability to let the game go; I'm kind of a stubborn old coot myself. 

Then it was you who ran out of time.

And here are a couple of articles to help you understand what happened.

https://support.chess.com/customer/en/portal/articles/1444849-why-did-the-clock-times-suddenly-change-the-clocks-seem-broken-

And

https://support.chess.com/customer/en/portal/articles/1444918-my-internet-connection-is-fine---why-am-i-getting-disconnects-

The insufficient mating material is your opponent not having sufficent material to win against you. If you lose on time but your opponent does not have enough to win, he never will win no matter how stupidly you play. Since you lost on time but he could never beat you, essenntially both of you lose and both of you win. Neither of you could mate each other.

Sorry, I didnt see that the discussion was going on...I play mainly with the Ipad and there I dont find the chat....
Answering to Lagomorph...it was not me to run out of time, but my opponent.

If your opponent ran out of time, and you had a queen and rook, you would have won the game.

It is really hard to determine which game it could be but based on your initial post if it was the following game you ran out of time.

link removed ... not the right game at all.