50 Moves Rule Does Not Work!

Hi all Chess.com staff!

Yesterday, I saw that Chess.com Live Chess does not handle 50 Moves rule correctly. So there is a bug.

50-Moves Rule: If there is at least 50 moves played without any pawn move or piece sacrifice, game automatically ends with draw!

And here is the game I played 115 move. From 55. move to 115 no pawn move or piece sacrifice was done, but the game didnt end with draw, so I lost by time.

Here is the live chess game link: http://www.chess.com/livechess/game.html?id=19127900 Check it out!

I also attached it as PGN below:

This is not a bug.  The rule does not state that the game automatically ends in a draw, but rather that one of the players must claim it:

The game is drawn, upon a correct claim by the player having the move, if

(a) he writes on his scoresheet, and declares to the arbiter his intention to make a move which shall result in the last 50 moves having been made by each player without the movement of any pawn and without the capture of any piece, or

(b) the last 50 consecutive moves have been made by each player without the movement of any pawn and without the capture of any piece.

(The emphasis is mine)

Did you click on "Claim Draw?" When the "Draw" button changes to "Claim Draw," (After the 50 moves) one player MUST click it for the game to be drawn. It isn't a draw unless someone clicks that button.

As TheGrobe says, you actually have to physically click the 'Claim Draw' button. It's simply one of the rules of chess.

Ok. I didnt know the blunder case. Thanks Elisa_Marie.

This is simply not true -- if the conditions are met (50 consecutive moves with no captures or pawn moves), the draw can be claimed irrespective of the remaining material.

Even OTB this would have been a loss for you, all because, as has been pointed out, you didn't claim it. If the 50 move limit hadn't been overstepped and you ran out of time, then it would also have been a loss - checkmate doesn't have to be probable, only possible, as happened last year in either the women's world championship or the women's olympiad (I can't remember which), where both players only had one knight left each, and after blitzing off several moves, one lost on time.

Ahh, I think I understand where the misunderstanding has come from -- if a player's time expires, and the player with time remaining does not have sufficient material to mate then a draw is declared, however if there is sufficient material then they are awarded the win.

There was at one point a bug in Live chess not properly recognizing this rule, but I believe it has been resolved and does in fact work properly.  In any case, it's completely unrelated to the 50 move draw rule that was the subject of the original poster's inquiry.

in fact i believe, just clicking the draw button, doesn;t even need to change to claim draw, if you are in a position to claim it, clicking the draw button works, 

Wiki explanation about 50 Move Rule:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifty-move_rule

Yes -- I'm not sure that the text on the button changes (although I'm also not sure it doesn't).

Technically it should not give you any indication -- it's not like during an OTB game someone taps you on the shoulder and says "You can claim a draw now!".

Can you only "claim draw" with 3 move repitition as well? I've had problems with that one. It didn't change to claim draw though when I was told about this, which was after the draw didn't come up.

Three move repetition and the 50 move rule both work this way.  Perpetual check technically isn't a rule, but rather a convention that the opponents agree to resign when it occurs.  In practice, it should eventually result in one of the other two cases anyway provided there is enough time on both clocks.

That makes sense. It would be unfair if the draw button changed at that point, because the player is supposed to find out for himself and not get any hints.

I remember that I offered draw 3-4 times by clicking on the "Offer Draw" button. When I offered draw the position was Rook-King to Rook-King in a clear position. But nothing happened and I lost by time.

always just go for the win............

even it means winning by time ? :)

You have to claim the draw.

There is no Claim Draw button on Live Chess GUI. (See attached screenshot) There is only one Draw button and it is used to Offer to Draw to opponent. If he declines your offer you have nothing to do.

I think, Claim Draw requirement should be also addressed in Live Chess GUI to cover 50 Move Rule.

Here you see the screenshot of Live Chess GUI. It is very simple and no Claim Draw button.

Using the draw button claims the draw -- the GUI should not change when a draw can be claimed, just as in a real game where there is no indicator to tell you when the conditions to allow you to claim a draw are met.