Dundee & Angus Congress

[MarkSanger]

I felt purty hard done by truth be told. I was a bishop up in a rook bishop vs rook. Opponent claimed a draw with less than 2 mins. Arbiter came over. I said I wanted to play on. Opponents king at this point was on the seventh. We played more moves and his flag fell. Arbiter said it was a draw on the grounds I hadn't made progress. I said his king was now on the back rank (which it was) and I felt a had winning chances. I wasn't sure if I could win the position but it certainly looked like it was possible. Some other stronger players made comment that they weren't sure if it was a drawn position or not. My opponent claimed it was a book draw and I was told to demonstrate why it wasn't. I still had a minute on my clock. I was made to feel like I was trying to win the game on time when I genuinely felt I had winning chances and felt it was a bit strange that I had to demonstrate a win when it was my opponent that was short of time and a piece. The reality was that the final position was a book draw, however no-one knew for a fact that it was and I had realistic mating chances. When the king is on the back rank there are many chances to mate. I thought it a bit weird that I was the one having to demonstrate a win. My opponent was never asked to demonstrate the drawing technique (knowledge of one is required to hold the position) and I had made clear progress since the arbiter had come over by putting him on the back rank. If the final position my opponents flag fell on was different even slightly, it's likely to be a forced win in 11 moves.
It's a tough call for the arbiter. I do sympathize. But i'm never setting foot in that tournament again......that's a joke. It was a great tournament and venue. Very enjoyable!