Out of Time

In the position below, Black played a move, but right before he pressed the clock, he ran out of time. However, the judge declared a draw instead of awarding a victory to the opponent. Why?

SOLUTION

The rules of FIDE state that if a player runs out of time, their opponent wins the game IF they have a path to victory. If there is no sufficient material, e.g. a King and a Knight against a King, then the game is declared a draw.

In this position, Black played Rxg6 which forces the moves:

… Rxg6+
Nxg6+ Rxg6+
Kxg6+ Qxg6+
Kxg6

This leaves White with a King and a Knight against Black’s King. Thus, White did not have a path to victory and the game was declared a draw.

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