Draw by repetition unavailable in crazyhouse

Hello,

According to the crazyhouse rules page http://en.lichess.org/crazyhouse ,

'All the rules and conventions of standard chess apply, with the addition of drops'

However, I've just observed a high rated game http://en.lichess.org/U619Ln6W where White spent 48 moves (##22-69) desperately trying to make a draw by perpetual check (being behind both in time and material), but, I guess, there was just no button to claim the draw unilaterally.

I guess that draw by the 50-move rule also technically can't be claimed, though it will hardly ever be seen in crazyhouse because it's logical for both sides to attempt piece drops instead of maneuvering. But salvation by perpetual check is a theme that will appear in games from time to time.

Funnily enough, White finally won due to catching the opponent on premoves or instant bad moves a few times, but the issue of the missing draw claim button remains (I haven't been able to verify it in my own games because I've never been in a situation eligible for a draw).

Yeah it'd be interesting to know if this is actually a glitch or if the person playing just didn't see he could claim a draw or was playing on just to try to psych out his opponent? Obviously the guy ahead on time and material isn't going to claim it...I really want to check this variant out, since I enjoy shogi but since I have yet to play a single game I, too, cannot verify anything other than speculate that 48 moves of perpetual seems rather unlikely to be just a mind game but rather frustration that it won't draw. Did he OFFER a draw though? I don't see a draw offer on that board...sooooo yeah it's pure speculation at this point.

Thank you, I just got that fixed.

Thibault right on top of it as always. Kudos, man! :)

Thanks, thibault! <3

Fenris1066, as far as I remember, there was no draw offer, but the thing is, TheChessPrince (White) had 10 seconds left vs Moscow43's 14. They were both premoving, and it would have been risky to spend time on offering a draw, only to have the offer declined by a premoved reply.

Now TheChessPrince deserves a 'hypnotist' trophy for being able to find a way out of the situation under time pressure and trick Moscow43 into making mistakes like the fatal 77... Q@f6 (any other pawn/piece drop on f6 would have led to an eventual win for Black, if not by checkmate, then on time for sure).

(Queen exchanges are often dangerous in crazyhouse if the side that makes the first capture is attacking an undefended square near the opponent's king, onto which it can drop the newly acquired queen on the next move. That's how I've got most of my few wins :D)

Perhaps you've already implemented it this way, but I would make the argument that in crazyhouse, pieces in hand are considered part of the position. Meaning that it should only be possible to claim a draw by threefold repetition if both the position on the board and also the pieces in each player's hand are the same all three times.

I don't know if "official" rules for crazyhouse exist, but including reserve pieces in the definition of a position seems most logical to me. But if they are not counted then that should be noted on the rules page. Otherwise it would be possible in some weird cases to force a threefold repetition by giving up material. http://en.lichess.org/WNt8zGMc#70 is an example. If pieces in hand are are not considered part of the position then I would be unable to play R@f8 because white can continue sacrificing pawns on g7 to repeat the position.

Hmm you're right. What I've done is just stop reinitializing the counter when a piece is taken. It allows threefold where it didn't work before. I hope that's good enough so I don't have to change it again.

#6 This makes sense, and this is how it works in regular chess as well. It isn't a repetition if not the same moves can be made both times. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threefold_repetition#Karpov_versus_Miles