Yes, that is the rule. If your opponent runs out of time and you don't have material left on the board that could potentially give mate, then the best you can get is a draw.
A lone king can never checkmate and therefore, you got a draw.
They ran out of time - but it's a draw?
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Yup. Play proper chess and stop expecting the clock to hand you undeserved wins on a plate. At the least, ensure that the oppo's time runs out while you still have mating material on the board (even a pawn).
Feb 11, 2016
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tastybaklava is learning and had a question on a rule of the game and is attempting to learn "proper chess". Cut her some slack gil-gandel!
Fair enough. Mind you, the last sentence was perfectly good advice. The second isn't all that bad either, even if crustily phrased:
Learn to play chess at a sensible tempo; if you are barely aware of what's going on on the board, there is no way that one-minute or even five-minute chess is going to teach you anything, and even your wins will be a little hollow as you'll have very little idea of how you achieved them.
Hi all-New to chess & this website so please be gentle.
Two times this has happened now in playing 5 minute (no delay). I was left with only a king, while my opponent had king and several other pieces (enought to get a check mate - eg. queen + several pawns). Opponent ran out of time and the system called the game a draw rather than a win for me. Is that just a rule of chess? It seems like in a timed game that if you can't get a checkmate before you run out of time, that would be a loss.
Thanks