White's time runs out in this position. What's the result according to FIDE rules?

Black wins by time forfeit.

It is really up to the arbiter. If they think it is an interesting game and would like to see what happens they will ignore the clock.

If black is calling out the flag or calling out for any reason he will probably be in trouble, the flag did nothing to him. And if the arbiter decides it is a cool game he can allow them to continue.

It does depend on the arbiter, but usually side having the time wins, since White has not landed a mate yet (even though practically speaking, it is clear that White intends to land a checkmate).

Suppose in the diagram, the game is played over the board. White played Nxg6+, then Black played Qxg6+. If White is holding on to the other knight and moving it towards g6 (mate) during the time that White's flag dropped, White wins by checkmate. However, if he has not touched the second knight yet, Black wins by timeout, even if the mate in one is too obvious. If White's flag drops in the above situation, Black wins by timeout. We cannot assume that White will make the correct moves to land a checkmate, even though it is improbable that White will not do so.

Around 9 years ago in a tournament that I had participated in, one of the players ran out of time whilst attempting checkmate with a rook. All his opponent had was just a bishop retreat, and RxB was a checkmate, but the player's flag dropped whilst he was moving his rook to the first rank. Since it was not checkmate yet, and his opponent indeed had material on the board (pawns), the game was declared as won by the opponent.

eric0022 wrote:

It does depend on the arbiter * SNIP

---------- Thanks eric0022 I was also saying it depends on the arbiter but people don't seem to believe me.

Please provide examples of games where the side running out of time was awarded the win because of a forced mate in 2. 

A simplified scenario is as follows. Black moved his rook towards c1, but before he let go of the rook at c1, his flag drops. Since it is not checkmate yet, White wins on time, even though it is so obvious that it will lead to mate. The arbiter awarded White the win in that tournament.

So, tournament chess is like extra time in soccer/football.

Sure, the extra time on the referee's watch ran out, but the team that's behind by one goal is on an attack so he will just let them play until the attack is either successful or it fizzles.


What's next?  

Kasparov and Anand draw, do they go to penalty kicks?

With white to move and flag fall, it would be a draw (for the position in the first post). In order for it to be a win for black on time, mate has to be possible by any series of legal moves and no matter what line is played, black can't mate.

That is a completely different scenario. In the OP's case, all moves are forced (with the first move being either knight). In your instance, white has a way to win in the position (a win by any series of legal moves), so when black's flag falls white gets the win.

According to FIDE rules, if Black calls flag, and has ANY LEGAL SERIES OF MOVES that can mate White, no matter how stupid white's play may be, Black wins on time.

In the original post, the following sequence wins for Black, and therefore Black wins on time:

1.Nexg6 Qf7 2.Ng2 (Remember, I said "Legal", not "Intelligent Play") Qxg6 is checkmate, and so since there is a legal sequence in which Black mates, Black wins on time!

Re-read the original post.  White is to move, and HIS flag falls.  White ran out of time, not Black, and while White's play must be idiotic for Black to mate White, there is a LEGAL sequence of moves in which Black can mate White, no matter how stupid they may be (see my previous post), and so Black wins in the OP's scenario.

Really? Maybe I'm missing something. White is in check. White has 2 legal moves. Both legal moves put black in check. Black has only one legal reply. That puts white in check. White has only one legal reply. That puts black in checkmate. Black has no legal series of moves to mate white, which is required in order for black to win on time.

It's a draw under FIDE rules.

Here's an example where if White runs out of time, the game is a draw in FIDE (Win for Black in USCF) because there is no LEGAL sequence of moves where Black mates White.  It's White to move in this position and while he's got the runs on the toilet, his flag falls.  In this case, White's only legal move is 1.Rg2 and that is checkmate, and so there is no legal way for Black to win.  Remove the pawn on e5, and have White run out of time, and yes, Black wins because White could "legally" play 1.Bb2, Black takes with the Queen, and then 2.Rg2, and there is no mate of the Black King, and the legal moves that follow there are NUMEROUS ways for Black to win legally, but with that White pawn on e5, if White's clock runs out in this exact position, the game is a DRAW by FIDE rules!

You must be on v2. That diagram doesn't load on v3 (so there is likely an error in the FEN).

Not sure how I missed this post. Ne(h)xg6+ ... black can't move Qf7.

Oops, I missed that Black's in Check after Nxg6.  This is ruled a draw if White's clock runs out because there is NO LEGAL SEQUENCE of moves for Black to mate White.

Martin_Stahl, in response to your #17, I'm on version 3, not 2.  Not sure why it's not coming up.

The position I had there is as follows:

W: Kh2, Bf6, Bf5, Pe5, Pe4, Ne7, Rg7

B: Ra3, Qa2, Ra1, Kh8

White's Flag falls.  He has no legal move except 1.Rg2#.  Therefore, it's a draw because no legal sequence of moves wins for Black.  Remove the e5 pawn, and it's a win for Black as he can win with 1.Bb2 Qxb2+ 2.Rg2 and the rest of the moves there are NUMEROUS sets of legal moves for Black to mate White.  Many of the sequences make little sense, but that's irrelevant.

Good point. I failed to inspect in the original position that Black cannot avoid getting mated. The correct outcome should be a draw in this case since there are no alternatives to the checkmate, but still, if the arbiter feels otherwise, then the game might not be declared drawn by the arbiter.

Fortunately, in most cases where the losing side has some material left and the winning side runs out of time, a checkmate by the losing side is possible with the remaining material (with the worst moves from the winning side).