Chess Rule Question : My opponent's flag dropped, but I only have K+B, is it a draw?

Question

I know it is a draw if I only have a King left when my opponent's flag dropped. But what if I only have K+B or K+N when my opponent's flag dropped?

Answer 1

Maybe!

The answer depends on what other pieces are on the board. If your opponent only has a king and you have a King and bishop, then it is a draw. if you have a K and B, and your opponent has a K, N and P then you win, because it is possible for legal moves to put him in checkmate. (even if he would not make those moves)



Here is the official rule:

Law 6.10 of the FIDE Laws of Chess states that: "If a player does not complete the prescribed number of moves in the allotted time, the game is lost by the player. However, the game is drawn, if the position is such that the opponent cannot checkmate the player's king by any possible series of legal moves, even with the most unskilled counterplay." As an example, a player with king and bishop can claim a win on time against an opponent with king and knight, whose clock flag has fallen, because a mating position can be produced by a series of legal moves.



There are other ways to call a draw before this happens.

article 10 of the FIDE laws of chess states that when a player has less than two minutes left on their clock during a rapid play finish (the end of a game when all remaining moves must be completed within a limited amount of time), they may claim a draw if their opponent is not attempting to win the game by "normal means" or cannot win the game by "normal means".



For further explaination, see diagram at bottom of this page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draw_(chess)



EDIT: Adding link to FIDE Handbook (section E.1 is laws of chess)

http://www.fide.com/official/handbook.asp?level=ogl



EDIT:

Lots of false information here:

In the above scenario, if your opponent has a K+N, and you have K+B and his time ran out before you, then you WIN You must have enough pieces to have a possible mate on the board, but you do not need enough pieces to force mate.

So if you have a K+B and your opponent has a K+N,

Then if the Opponent K is on H8, Opponent N is on H7, Your K is on F7, and your B is on G7 it is MATE and it is possible to get into that position with legal moves; therefore you win if your opponent ran out of time. (see the wikipedia page I posted)

Answer 2

"If a player does not complete the prescribed number of moves in the allotted time, the game is lost by the player. However, the game is drawn, if the position is such that the opponent cannot checkmate the player's king by any possible series of legal moves, even with the most unskilled counter play"



From the Fide rule book, translated to English from nerd though, it means that no matter the outstanding conditions, the moment you have insufficient material to mate, it is a draw.

Answer 3

Insufficient mating material rule. Article 10 of the FIDE laws of chess states that a draw is claimable if the opponent is merely attempting to win on time, or cannot possibly win except by on time. It is up to the arbiter to decide whether such a claim will be granted or not.

Answer 4

I believe the proper punishment for calling a knight a horsey is to set their hair on fire and jam pawns up their nose. That's what is says in the rule book anyway, it's on page 23 right after the part about not playing chess with bedwetting morons.

Answer 5

Yes for a draw in speed chess, a loss in traditional slow chess.



Martin Deschner, Internet Chess Expert

Answer 6

* If there is a checkmate on the board, the player delivering checkmate wins, no matter what is subsequently noticed about the time.

* If player A calls attention to the fact that player B is out of time, but it is then noted that player A is also out of time, the game is drawn.

* If player A calls attention to the fact that player B is out of time, player A is not out of time, and player A has sufficient material to checkmate (either a pawn, a knight and a bishop, two bishops, a rook, or a queen), then player A wins automatically.

* If player A calls attention to the fact that player B is out of time, and player A does not have sufficient material to checkmate, the game is drawn.



Therefore, in your situation, the game is a draw.

Answer 7

If you only have K+B or K+N when my opponent's flag drops, then it is still a draw!



No claims when you can't mate :)

Answer 8

Yes it is a draw -- you can't claim a win on time when you have insufficient force to checkmate. Now if you had at least 1 pawn you win :-)



Hang on to those pawns!

Answer 9

Can u explain your question better what did your opponet have left on the board.