Hey,
As far as I know a king and two knights can not mate. So shouldn't a game like this be a draw?
http://fi.lichess.org/GwzYdpBjfAmaI suggest adjusting lichess to recognize this outcome as a draw by insufficient material to mate.
The king and two knights can deliver checkmate, they just can't force it. Since it's still technically possible for your opponent to win, it's not considered insufficient material.
FIDE rule: "The game is drawn when a position is reached from which a checkmate cannot occur by any possible series of legal moves, even with the most unskilled play. This immediately ends the game."
Well, if that is the case, then I put this in the same category as trying to win K + R vs K + R in time. Yes, the LAME category.
In my country in an otb blitz tournament you can stop the clock, get a judge and demand a draw here (if your opponent refuses to draw). How is it in the states?
There is a FIDE rule stating that you may call an arbiter if your opponent is not trying win by normal means. Playing on for time in dead drawn endings falls under that category.
No way. You need repetition to force a draw, otherwise it's decided by time. Anything else is ridiculous.
You should learn the rules:
G.4 If the player having the move has less than two minutes left on his clock, he may request that a time delay or cumulative time of an extra five seconds be introduced for both players, if possible. This constitutes the offer of a draw. If refused, and the arbiter agrees to the request, the clocks shall then be set with the extra time; the opponent shall be awarded two extra minutes and the game shall continue.
G.5
If Article G.4 does not apply and the player having the move has less than two minutes left on his clock, he may claim a draw before his flag falls. He shall summon the arbiter and may stop the chessclock (see Article 6.12 b). He may claim on the basis that his opponent cannot win by normal means, and/or that his opponent has been making no effort to win by normal means
a. If the arbiter agrees that the opponent cannot win by normal means, or that the opponent has been making no effort to win the game by normal means, he shall declare the game drawn. Otherwise he shall postpone his decision or reject the claim.
b. If the arbiter postpones his decision, the opponent may be awarded two extra minutes and the game shall continue, if possible, in the presence of an arbiter. The arbiter shall declare the final result later in the game or as soon as possible after the flag of either player has fallen. He shall declare the game drawn if he agrees that the opponent of the player whose flag has fallen cannot win by normal means, or that he was not making sufficient attempts to win by normal means.
c. If the arbiter has rejected the claim, the opponent shall be awarded two extra minutes.
G.6
The following shall apply when the competition is not supervised by an arbiter:
a. A player may claim a draw when he has less than two minutes left on his clock and before his flag falls. This concludes the game.
He may claim on the basis:
1. that his opponent cannot win by normal means, and/or
2. that his opponent has been making no effort to win by normal means.
In (1) the player must write down the final position and his opponent must verify it.
In (2) the player must write down the final position and submit an up-to-date scoresheet. The opponent shall verify both the scoresheet and the final position.
b. The claim shall be referred to the designated arbiter.
After months of reflection (as this subject has come up multiple times) I suggest that players who don't like this rule ought to play with an increment in order to avoid losing on time.
Silly things like this happen when you don't have an increment.
Yeah, increment fixes this, but then you have to face all the chess program cheaters. Your rating takes hits, you have to take time to report players, it feels bad and is never fun.
I'm considering playing only 3+0 due to the cheaters. Since alot of cheaters I have encountered here cheat manually taking 5-8 seconds per move. In 3+0 I can flag them.
I would prefer 5+3s, but then again I would prefer the death penalty for cheating with a chess program also.
Is 3+1 really so different for manual cheaters? it adds maybe 30 seconds to your clock in the average game.
