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When to resign??

When to resign??

Only Chess

D

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I wonder what you guys have to say about when to resign a game? Recently I seem to be playing games against opponents who quite simply refuse to resign (not jsut here but another two other sites as well) when they are so far behind or completely wiped out, apart from the King, and depsite asking them what their intentions are for the game through text messages, which they don't answer, they just continue on...looking for stalemate is one thing, but it seems to me to be a ridiculous situation - one game in this site currently against Felixk..please review and comment. Thanks a buch guys. 🙂D

X
Cancerous Bus Crash

p^2.sin(phi)

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You'd think this question would have come up before on this site.

D

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yes, apologies if it has, but until now, I didn't read much through the forums ...so please forgive me if the question has been raised, argued / discussed and agreed / fought upon....and I know some will say its war, but it's also only a game....just frustrates the hell out of me...cheers...🙂D

f

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Maybe a good move to subscribe.

j

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Personaly I don't resign until my opponent has shown me that they know how to mate.

When you played 60. Qc2 I would be thinking that maybe you might stalemate me and keep playing (60. Qb4 and I would have resigned)

But never be sure that your opponent knows how to mate. And never resign at blitz if the opponent is in any danger of running out of time.

W
Angler

River City

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My principle is that a player should resign when he or she can confidently win from the opponent's position against the strongest player imaginable. "Strongest player imaginable" is subjective. If I imagine I could whip Kramnik, Topalov, or Anand from my opponent's position, then I tip my king. For some of the younger children that I teach, I'm the strongest player they can imagine. I tell them it is okay to resign when they know they could beat me from their opponent's position.

I often resign sooner than I recommend to others, but I subject myself to criticism from my pupils who say, "Mr. Wulebgr, you give up too easily."

Playing on is not a breach of etiquette except at the highest levels where everyone has proven themselves on the fundamentals. Even so, there are many GMs who have muffed the elementary B+N checkmate. Perhaps their sense of ethics should be scrutinized a bit more.

I posted the above comment at http://www.chessexchange.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1875

Where folks simply stop moving, time them out when you can; while you wait, start some more games.🙂

MS

Under Cover

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My rule of thumb is to resign only if I am convinced that my opponent is capable of handling the position correctly. This leaves me alot of room for judgement in an individual game. If my opponent were several hundered points stronger than me, I'd consider myself lost if I were down any material without any chance of counterplay (In such a case I'd usually play on for a bit in the hope of learning something). If I just make a silly blunder and drop a piece to a weaker player, I'd fight the position every inch of the way until it reached a forced mate in 2 or some similar situtation, and I was confident that the opponent wouldn't blunder it and give me a draw (or win).

BigDogg
Secret RHP coder

on the payroll

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Originally posted by felixk
Maybe a good move to subscribe.
Why? Would you resign if you had the same position against a subscriber?

KellyJay
Walk your Faith

USA

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Originally posted by jugglingeek
Personaly I don't resign until my opponent has shown me that they know how to mate.

When you played 60. Qc2 I would be thinking that maybe you might stalemate me and keep playing (60. Qb4 and I would have resigned)

But never be s ...[text shortened]... at blitz if the opponent is in any danger of running out of time.
I agree, no one wins or draws by resigning! So if they stumble while
playing a won game, not my problem, that becomes my win or draw.
If they know what to do and I know it, I resign.
Kelly

f
Mr. Flame of Fury

Winona Lake

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If I feel my opponent cannot be beaten in his position, and is ahead in pieces and is playing well. Then, I resign.

P
Upward Spiral

Halfway

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If it's not a clan/tournament match I don't really see the point of playing on. Because of ratings? It's just one game anyway, and the odds are he's not about to blunder, so I don't think the waste of time and effort put into picturing a possible mistake is worth the effort. Usually, I prefer to resign and start another game right away.

If you gain some measly extra points by hanging hard to a draw (among how many losses?), they will be balanced out anyway when wins are worth less points and losses are more costly.

If it's not a clan/tournament game it's not worth the effort, in my opinion.

D

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Originally posted by Palynka
If it's not a clan/tournament match I don't really see the point of playing on. Because of ratings? It's just one game anyway, and the odds are he's not about to blunder, so I don't think the waste of time and effort put into picturing a possible mistake is worth the effort. Usually, I prefer to resign and start another game right away.

If you gain s ...[text shortened]... re costly.

If it's not a clan/tournament game it's not worth the effort, in my opinion.

Thanks for the comments guys and agree with many said so far, where I too have hung on as I felt my opponent did not, or may not know how to mate me, and this has paid off for me, however I have to say, in this quote (above), that in this case, my opponent is overwhelmed and it isn't a tourament game, therefore, playing on does seem a little petty for me, and there is little to learn from the exercise - well there is for me - I should have looked for a better mate, earlier, which I may have missed, but I am no master, I just enjoy playing the game.

I apologise to those who subscribe, and feel I should - I already subscribe to two other sites - but here I am happy just playing my permitted 6 games, so I can't just get on with another game until I end this one.

Thanks again. 🙂 D

d

Canberra, Australia

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Originally posted by DiscoveredCheck
I apologise to those who subscribe, and feel I should - I already subscribe to two other sites - but here I am happy just playing my permitted 6 games, so I can't just get on with another game until I end this one.

Thanks again. 🙂 D
Don't apologise. You are allowed 6 games for free, and if that is all you wish for then there's nothing to worry about.

Well, except those opponents who like to battle on to the bitter end. 😉

l

Milton Keynes, UK

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Originally posted by KellyJay
I agree, no one wins or draws by resigning! So if they stumble while
playing a won game, not my problem, that becomes my win or draw.
If they know what to do and I know it, I resign.
Kelly

Yes. Another good thing to look for is to see if you can manage a perpetual check when you are seriously down on material. I thought I was in trouble, saw a perpetual check and was hoping for a draw until my opponent blundered and I mated him/her:

Game 1233203

T

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Never resign. PERIOD.

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