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But how will you determine whether it's theoretically possible to checkmate the out-of-time opponent? While simple cases are known, and a broader class has been determined by retrograde analysis for computer endgame tablebases, when the flag falls, certainly the theoretical value of a position of even a small degree of complexity is not known with certainty. <p> And it is somewhat unsatisfying to have to look the final position up in the table to find out who won; and more troublesome that according to this rule, as the size of the known tablebases grows, positions that were won on time last year might be a draw the next. <p> Most troubling is it assumes that a player with a theoretical draw would actually have been able to find and play that draw, so a player who thinks that the position is drawn but can't figure out exactly how may be better off to just sit and let the time run off the clock and gamble that his gut instinct that the position was drawn was correct, thereby making inferior chessplayers able to draw endgames they normally would have lost. <p> Actually, however, most clubs and many tournaments include an 'insufficient material' clause, whereby a player may claim a draw whenever their opponent has insufficient material to mate them, thereby limiting these drawn to trivially drawn games. How trivial a draw is sufficient to put it on the list is a matter of some dispute, and the FIDE drew the line at 'a bare king cannot win,' which is a rather conservative stance, but where <i>are</i> you going to draw the line? Here's a list taken from the Portland Chess Clubs rules. <li>single minor piece <li>bishops of opposite color with one pawn <li>bishops of opposite color with 2P vs 1, w/ two of those pawns blockading each other. <li>KP vs K, king blocking pawn's advance <li>KRP vs KR, king blocking pawn's advance <li>KR vs KR <li>KQ vs KQ <p> In some of these situations, a weak player clearly has a chance of being swindled, yet the Portland Club made them draws anyway. Where would you draw the line?