I just wanted to bring your attention to the KNDB regulations that state: If a player is low on time, they can directly claim a draw in an endgame where both players have at most 3 pieces of which at least 1 king, provided that no direct win can be demonstrated. You can view their official document by clicking the link at the bottom of www.kndb.nl/spel-en-wedstrijdreglement/, rule 22.3.b.

The FMJD regulations mention something similar: www.fmjd.org/downloads/FMJD_Annexes_2018.pdf, rule 6.1.1.b. The FMJD limits it to games without increment, but for games with increment this isn't very relevant anyway.

It would be really nice if Lidraughts could implement something like this using a lookup into an endgame database. It's super frustrating to lose on time because your opponent decided to give away a piece in a draw endgame, causing your premove to not execute.

I still prefer an increment, of course, and the FMJD regulations even require that a tournament using digital clocks uses an increment :) But being able to claim a draw (or have it done automatically, similar to the 3-fold repetition rule) would make games without increment a lot more bearable.

Interesting, I didn't know there is a rule about that. If its in both the KNDB and FMJD regulations, we should consider adding it here as well.

The caveat is in the 'provided that no direct win can be demonstrated' part. It should be coupled to some kind of endgame database as you say, so it's not trivial.

There is a similar problem with Frisian draughts, which would require a similar solution. In that case two kings is immediately drawn unless there's a direct win on the board.

Yeah, I also wasn't aware of this rule until @malacia brought it up a few days ago. I grew up only knowing about the 5 move and 16 move rules, and I've never seen anyone claim a draw using these rules in a real life tournament.