Go back
when should you resign.

when should you resign.

Only Chess

Vote Up
Vote Down

Is there an agreed point among sane players when you should gracefully pack it in ?

1 edit
Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by kaminsky
Is there an agreed point among sane players when you should gracefully pack it in ?
At club level, I have ascertained the following:

Good player - play on until you believe your opponent will definitely win from that position.
My opponent - play on until the unstoppable mate on the next move.
Teammate's opponent - play on until the position looks only the slightest bit worse. Occasionally, for good measure, resign in a good position.
Junior - play on until mate, but do spice things up with a draw offer every move.
Me - play on until you can see no more swindles.

Edit: This is not to say that my opponents aren't ever good players, just that they don't expect much from me 😞

1 edit
Vote Up
Vote Down

Hi Kamsk.

If you click on 'Search Forums' and enter 'When to Resign'
You will find loads of good threads and posts on this matter
posted by players no longer here.

I like this from Wulebgr posted in 2004.

"You should resign when the position and the play of your
opponent leaves no doubt about the final outcome.

I resign when I can [could] beat Kasparov from my opponent's position."

There is no rule that says you must resign.
It's always up to the individual. It's their game.

I resign when I want to resign.

Some of those other threads are worth looking at.
As I said, a lot of the players who posted no longer frequent RHP
and there are some good points raised.

1 edit
Vote Up
Vote Down

I screwed up my middlegame here and should have got killed, but my opponent made the mistake of not checking me with his last move, which saved the day.

I played my ?? early, and I knew I was in trouble. I thought about throwing in the towel almost daily. I saw a sliver of hope in a mating possibility and I kept on. It paid off.





Hunit is probably the best player in the 1300s I've come across.

Vote Up
Vote Down

OTB I fight till I have no resources left except with GM's and IM's. It's not only bad form to make a GM play out a position that is trivial for them but also you are probably making a long term enemy with the strongest player in your club.

On RHP I resign early, internet ratings don't mean much to me and the prospects of defending a grim position for a month or more is rarely worth it to me.

I don't mind if my opponents play out their games, unless they utilize DMD (dead man's defense) which is just dragging out their moves to their absolute legal limit in the hopes that I will quit or die before the game is finished.

Vote Up
Vote Down

If an opponent doesn't resign in a totally lost position, which they should (as in, lost all their pieces, just a few pawns left, and I have queen, rook, bishop, just to name a possibility) I just play on, get as many queens/knights/etc. as possible and then try to get a nice-looking mate.

Vote Up
Vote Down

I start thinking about it when I blunder away a piece, but usually hang around for a few more moves looking for some sort of trick to equalize. If that doesn't happen fairly soon, its best to resign and start a new game.

Vote Up
Vote Down

I think folks resign when they want to become silver medalists.

Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by National Master Dale
I think folks resign when they want to become silver medalists.
...or when they rather save resources to become gold medalists...

I like this kind of summary:

"You should resign when the position and the play of your
opponent leaves no doubt about the final outcome. "

Some positions are lost to certain kind of players, others are not. Judging your opponent is vital, everyone does it to a certain extent (the others rating compared to yours, the others games played, the time left for any player, etc. ...). The more you prepare for a game against an opponent, the more important the other player is.

Vote Up
Vote Down

[Event "Challenge"]
[Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"]
[Date "2009.11.14"]
[EndDate "2009.12.11"]
[Round "?"]
[White "afx"]
[Black "National Master Dale"]
[WhiteRating "1599"]
[BlackRating "1802"]
[WhiteELO "1599"]
[BlackELO "1802"]
[Result "0-1"]
[GameId "6892426"]

Vote Up
Vote Down

I thought you had to resign when your opponent yelled "check"!! 😛

Vote Up
Vote Down

Ive just resigned a game against Mad Rook , the postion was actualy worse than when I originaly posted the thread. [gid]833 7926[/gid]. Could someone also point out where it all went wrong . thx for your responses.

Vote Up
Vote Down

Game 8337926

Vote Up
Vote Down

I only resign when I can see the inevitable line(s) to checkmate. Until that point I find it really helpful to see how a better player goes about finishing off the game.

Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by kaminsky
Game 8337926
hallo, in general terms you allowed rook to get a very strong pawn formation, controlling most of the center and kingside. somehow the pieces just had to wait to see their chance, they were very well developed (look at position before 8th move... your pawns were quite hesitant and he seems to be much better developed).
moves i think that lost you tempo were a6 and Be6, which also blocked your own pawns...
am not so used to these answering e4 with d6. seems already to surrender the center, but maybe it is a well known opening. others surely know more 🙂