Yegods, normajean, that last bit is grim. 

You're unarguably correct in your analysis and I got a good laugh out of the "no one will mourn you when you physically die".  It deserves, at the very least, a thread of its own.  It wouldn't be inappropriate to frame it, or include it in a book of chess quotations.  You could become a chess immortal!

I've been playing on chess.com for a little over a year now and in that time there have been a number of threads about the pros and cons of resignation.  One of the revelations that comes out of the discussion is that some folk don't know that, often, "resigns" is the best option.  Mostly it seems to be lack of experience. 

One youngish lad actually sent me a note saying, "I don't know what to do now.  Would you mind if I resign?"  I applauded his thoughtfulness and good manners, but was surprised that he thought he was expected to play the game out, despite an enormous material disadvantage.

Anyway, thanks for commenting.  As always, any contribution from normajean is worth reading.

At correspondence [including no-engines correspondence -- i.e. what chess.com offers] - of course resign.

At no-fischerincrement quickchess, of course dont take N and dont resign. Same for OTB no-increment skittles.

At decent time controls, of course resign. By not resigning in that case [or, even more so,  at correspondence] all you are showing is that your time is worthless; read -  you have no worthwhile pursuit in life; and you have taken on no responsibilities in life. In short, that you are dead. And no one will mourn you when you physically die.

I've sometimes not resigned either, to give them the mate satisfaction. I know people say a win is a win, but not me. I had 2 games earlier today that I knew I would lose. I resigned one to someone I wanted to get the most points, then with great ceremony did myself in on the other. I'm really not too big on resigning, but I think it's bad form to just drag out a game.

Thank you all for commenting. 

I remember, about twenty years ago, playing in the NSW Interclub Grade Matches.  Getting toward the end of the final round I had an opponent who hadn't lost a single game all through the competition (he had demolished me in the first round).  Everything went well for me in the second game and I beat him.  The thing I remember is that, although the mate was predictable, he let me play it out rather than resign. Afterwards he offered to drive me to the train. 

I never forgot his thoughtfulness and, because of that, I sometimes allow an opponent to play out a mate -- as long as it's not too many moves distant.  Mostly I resign when the position becomes untenable.  It's less painful that way.

(I recently resigned a game against Emiab who is undoubtedly one of the friendliest people I've met on chess.com -- you can view it HERE if you don't mind the sight of blood.  When I resigned she thought I might have been angry but there wasn't much point playing on without my queen.)

On the other hand, I do have a vindictive streak.  I was approaching the end of two games recently (a win and a loss) and it looked as though my win would come through first.  However, my loss was going to be to an unpleasant fellow and I resigned a little earlier than I might just to make sure he received the minimum number of rating points for beating me.    Now, that's mean!

A very nice end , my friend. Many a time did I  find myself in similar positions , where there was nothing I could do to prevent the obvious : the game was not in my yard. Even more , I could smell , see, taste the end ! And thought : well , what if this were the other way around ? Would I want to face a resignation ?

Nae, I did what I felt right : went straight ahead, made the moves that directed the game on the path. Because my feeling was he / she deserved  a good game !

The other player played well, fought for this outcome !! Why not give him / her the satisfaction of a well-played game ?   Fight to the last, not against the other player but for the essence of game.

We all do the best we can with the knowledge and awareness that we have.

What I would of done is Bg5

i guess it's better to go with a bang then to lose horribly with humiliation.

but if opponent was a jerk i would have played Bf4 and resigned 1 move before the K+Q mate, that would have pissed him off!

I think I might have resigned!  Having said that, sometimes I like to let my opponent finish the game with a flourish.  Especially if I've admired his/her play and the finish is pretty.