Is it un-gentlemanly to resign sometimes?

Is it un-gentlemanly to resign sometimes?

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s

Joined
12 Dec 05
Moves
4549
13 Aug 08

When you are losing and you are one or two moves away from mate, should you just resign or give your opponent the satisfaction of completing their little master plan?

Sometimes when i'm being outplayed I'm so gutted I would rather resign than suffer a check mate.

On the other hand, when i'm winning I would like to see the completion of the game and am a bit peeved when my opponent resigns.

What do you think? Is their an etiquette for this?

s
Fast and Curious

slatington, pa, usa

Joined
28 Dec 04
Moves
53223
13 Aug 08

Originally posted by sporadic
When you are losing and you are one or two moves away from mate, should you just resign or give your opponent the satisfaction of completing their little master plan?

Sometimes when i'm being outplayed I'm so gutted I would rather resign than suffer a check mate.

On the other hand, when i'm winning I would like to see the completion of the game and am ...[text shortened]... a bit peeved when my opponent resigns.

What do you think? Is their an etiquette for this?
The stronger the players are the closer to the middle game they would resign because they could recognize a losing position quite early. So if you are a couple of pawns up and there are only two knights on the board, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that 99 times out of 100 one of the pawns busts through and becomes a queen, even if its 8 or so moves away. So faced with that situation, the losing side capitulates gracefully and does not force the other side to 'prove it' that the game is lost. It is more a matter of respect to quit when you see that kind of thing, because if you go on you are saying to the other guy, I don't think much of your endgame ability so I am going to make you prove it. If you just resign, you are saying, I respect your ability to win in this situation, you know you can win here, I know you can win here, lets save some time and go to the next game.

i
SelfProclaimedTitler

Joined
06 Feb 06
Moves
23543
13 Aug 08

Originally posted by sporadic
When you are losing and you are one or two moves away from mate, should you just resign or give your opponent the satisfaction of completing their little master plan?

Sometimes when i'm being outplayed I'm so gutted I would rather resign than suffer a check mate.

On the other hand, when i'm winning I would like to see the completion of the game and am ...[text shortened]... a bit peeved when my opponent resigns.

What do you think? Is their an etiquette for this?
I usually resign very early but if my opponent has some beautiful combination resulting in checkmate I didn't see on time, I would let him finish me that way.

b
Enigma

Seattle

Joined
03 Sep 06
Moves
3298
13 Aug 08

Originally posted by sporadic
When you are losing and you are one or two moves away from mate, should you just resign or give your opponent the satisfaction of completing their little master plan?

Sometimes when i'm being outplayed I'm so gutted I would rather resign than suffer a check mate.

On the other hand, when i'm winning I would like to see the completion of the game and am ...[text shortened]... a bit peeved when my opponent resigns.

What do you think? Is their an etiquette for this?
If you are only a few moves from a forced mate, resign.
No sense prolonging the stuation. If you are a few moves
from mating your opponent, who care if they resign! It's
a win either way.
bill718 🙂

New Braunfels, Texas

Joined
22 Aug 07
Moves
72297
13 Aug 08

If my opponent opens with:

1) e4 I resign. This would have been a wild wide open game with a quick attack and checkmate for him.

2) d4 I resign. In closed positional play I get slowly crushed.

3) c4/N-f3 I resign. Don't know nothing about English/hypermodern. I'll lose.

4) a3/h3 I resign. What the hell is that?? Must be a secret weapon. I quit!

w
If Theres Hell Below

We're All Gonna Go!

Joined
10 Sep 05
Moves
10228
13 Aug 08

Originally posted by sporadic
When you are losing and you are one or two moves away from mate, should you just resign or give your opponent the satisfaction of completing their little master plan?

Sometimes when i'm being outplayed I'm so gutted I would rather resign than suffer a check mate.

On the other hand, when i'm winning I would like to see the completion of the game and am ...[text shortened]... a bit peeved when my opponent resigns.

What do you think? Is their an etiquette for this?
resigning is an option for the losing player, not an obligation. the opponent has no say in it. you, and you alone, decide when you resign.

asking someone to resign will most likely make him drag the rest of the game for as long as possible. which could be years in CC.

that said, most experienced players will resign when the position is dead lost AND the last counterplay is exhausted. in practice it's the point where the mate becomes inevitable.

but naturally you don't resign complicated forced mates etc. if you have the tiniest doubt that your opponent doesn't know how to do it. great examples are the KNB and Q vs R forced mates. you play on until you're sure.

at no point does 'etiquette' play a part. chess has rules, it doesn't need an etiquette.

P
Mystic Meg

tinyurl.com/3sbbwd4

Joined
27 Mar 03
Moves
17242
13 Aug 08

Originally posted by sporadic
When you are losing and you are one or two moves away from mate, should you just resign or give your opponent the satisfaction of completing their little master plan?

Sometimes when i'm being outplayed I'm so gutted I would rather resign than suffer a check mate.

On the other hand, when i'm winning I would like to see the completion of the game and am ...[text shortened]... a bit peeved when my opponent resigns.

What do you think? Is their an etiquette for this?
Always avoid a mate by resigning. If you get mated, it means you didn't see it coming.

I have only been mated at RHP 2 or 3 times. 2 of them were after being here a year or 2 and I just didn't see them. Happened in a span of about 2 weeks.

P-

Erro Ergo Sum

In the Green Room

Joined
09 Jul 07
Moves
522998
13 Aug 08

Originally posted by MontyMoose
If my opponent opens with:

1) e4 I resign. This would have been a wild wide open game with a quick attack and checkmate for him.

2) d4 I resign. In closed positional play I get slowly crushed.

3) c4/N-f3 I resign. Don't know nothing about English/hypermodern. I'll lose.

4) a3/h3 I resign. What the hell is that?? Must be a secret weapon. I quit!
>The shortest ever GM game was Fischer-Panno, Palma de Mallorca 1970.
>The complete game was: 1.c4 Resigns.

Z

Halifax

Joined
17 Jul 08
Moves
3912
13 Aug 08

Originally posted by AttilaTheHorn
>The shortest ever GM game was Fischer-Panno, Palma de Mallorca 1970.
>The complete game was: 1.c4 Resigns.
Haha, I read that that was a staged protest though.

Anyway, I tend never to resign even in a losing position.I always play for a draw via stalemate or perpetual check. I mean, if I was playing someone at or above the IM level I might consider it so as not to potentially insult their intelligence; however it's always possible that your opponent makes a mistake. Always.

s

Joined
12 Feb 05
Moves
47202
13 Aug 08

Originally posted by AttilaTheHorn
>The shortest ever GM game was Fischer-Panno, Palma de Mallorca 1970.
>The complete game was: 1.c4 Resigns.
No it's not. Shortest ever GM game is Kramnik - Topalov, 5th game, world championship 2006, in which Topalov introduced the infamous Topalov-Danailov gambit. The game ended in 0-1 after 0 moves.

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1431008

n

Joined
24 Sep 06
Moves
3736
13 Aug 08

Originally posted by schakuhr
The game ended in 0-1 after 0 moves.

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1431008
I don't understand. Is this machine error?

chemist

Linkenheim

Joined
22 Apr 05
Moves
656762
13 Aug 08

Originally posted by nihilismor
I don't understand. Is this machine error?
The game was lost due to the fact that Kramnik didn't move at all.

You should look up the stories about this world championship somewhere e.g.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIDE_World_Chess_Championship_2006

Erro Ergo Sum

In the Green Room

Joined
09 Jul 07
Moves
522998
13 Aug 08

Originally posted by schakuhr
No it's not. Shortest ever GM game is Kramnik - Topalov, 5th game, world championship 2006, in which Topalov introduced the infamous Topalov-Danailov gambit. The game ended in 0-1 after 0 moves.

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1431008
>There are many examples forfeits in which no moves have been played. The 2nd game in the 1972 World Championship was perhaps the most famous, when Fischer refused to appear against Spassky.
>However, my above example of Fischer-Panno was actuially played.

K

Hollow earth

Joined
29 Apr 08
Moves
2472
13 Aug 08

Otb in a complex middlegame I once made a nice 8 move combo,including a double piece sac (not all worked of course,it involved some instinct),leading up to a pretty smothered mate.3 moves before conclusion my opponent saw the mate and resigned.I didn't like that.Bit of an anticlimax 😞

rc

Joined
26 Aug 07
Moves
38239
13 Aug 08

Originally posted by nihilismor
I don't understand. Is this machine error?
no he saw forty moves ahead, that the position was lost and resigned.