Resigning too early

Submitted by Baseballfan on Wed, 03/19/2008 at 6:42am.

For all the talk on this site about people who don't resign fast enough, there is the other side that is sometimes overlooked. There are times that, in a complicated position, a player will resign when they shouldn't have. I recently had a game that I felt I had made a mistake in, but it was just a gut feeling, my opponent hadn't actually beaten me because of it yet. I even made a comment in the game to them that I felt I "messed this game up", to which they basically replied that the game wasn't over yet, and I agreed.

Then, a few moves later (I don't remember how many, but it was fewer than 10) a fairly complex situation came up. At first glance, it looked as if I might have helped turn the game, I had pushed a pawn to the 7th rank. But as I looked further, I saw some things that frankly scared me, and I considered resigning my next move. Then, my opponent did something I never expected, he resigned! I asked myself why he did that, I thought he was winning! Just to be sure, I went and threw the position to Crafty (a chess engine, for those who don't know), and Crafty agreed with me, it said that he was up by almost a pawn and a half!

I think that by and large, people resign all to early. If you are planning on playing against me, don't look for an early resignation. In fact, I might even make you mate me. Why? Because if I am going to lose, I at least want to learn as much as I can while doing so. The only way to ensure that I learn all I can is to play on. Plus, most of us aren't titled players, and all of us are human, so we might just mess up. How many times has it happened that a player with a significant material advantage ends up stalemating his/her opponent? Can you prove before you play that you won't stalemate me? If you can't, I have the right to keep playing till you do. Also, some of the fun in chess is actually mating the opposing king, why should I deny you that fun?

I'm not saying I NEVER resign. There are times that I know my opponent, and I know that they see the impending mate as well as I do, and would just rather move on, so I'll resign. And, there are times that I'm just so far behind that playing that particular game just isn't fun anymore, so I'll resign then to. But I most certainly don't want to be caught in the position that my opponent was in and end up resigning a winning game.

So I say go ahead, make that extra move or two, this is slow chess, there is no need to hurry up and get the game done!

» posted in Baseballfan's Blog

| 145 reads | 4 comments

Comments:

by superchef1028 - 7 months ago
Durham, NC United States

Member Since: Nov 2007
Member Points: 56

Baseballfan -

What I wrote was meant to support you in your choice.

I think that there is too much attention to the subject of resigning on the site.

by Baseballfan - 8 months ago
Durham, North Carolina United States

Member Since: Feb 2008
Member Points: 1122

Superchef,

This wasn't so much an attempt to try to tell people when to resign, it was mostly my response to the dozen or so "My opponent won't resign his lost game" threads that are on the forums here. What I'm trying to say is that there are often times some very legitimate reasons to play on, even if the position "appears" lost. And to tell anyone who might play me not to expect me to resign too early, and to know why. I absolutely agree that when someone resigns is soley their choice, but there is no WAY that I'm going to do it early.

by superchef1028 - 8 months ago
Durham, NC United States

Member Since: Nov 2007
Member Points: 56

When and If to resign is a personal choice of each player. We should all respect that. There is no right or wrong. I have resigned games when I realized I was beaten and I have played games out when I knew I was beaten to learn from the mating sequence of my opponent. People have resigned games when playing against me when I honestly didn't know if I could win or not. In any case, I never questioned my opponent or made any comment. I feel that when we start a game we should see it to fruition regardless of how that end may come. If a player is annoyed by the choices of another then perhaps he or she should only play with players of equal or superior rating. Maybe they will be wise enough to know when to resign.

by porterism - 8 months ago
Winnipeg Canada

Member Since: Nov 2007
Member Points: 101

I think people who do that fall into three categories...

The first group are people who arrive at a position where they're a piece or a couple of pawns down and resign because Grandmasters resign when they're in that position, and if a Grandmaster does it, it must be the thing to do.

Then there are the people who despair at losing a piece and don't know how to proceed. You find this especially when they've miscalculated an attack and wind up on the losing end. As you mentioned, it may no longer be 'fun' to proceed or their heart may no longer be in the game.

And then there are the people who don't have the mental endurance to see a complicated game out to the end. They may be able to win a lot of games in 20-25 moves, but cannot endure a tricky endgame where each move has to be plotted carefully.

I hear you, sometimes it's frustrating having an opponent resign when the game is still very much up for grabs. I'd rather play and test my own skills, even if it means losing the occasional winning game.

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