Yep, h4 is part of theory, but it works because of the protection from the g3 Bishop. Just generally speaking, it's best to hold that formation as-is around your king in these lines.

Yeah - the worst part is that if I won I would have got a 100$ prize, and 50$ if I drew. So I naturally lose in 10 moves or so .

First you play to win- then you play for a draw-finally you play for a stalemate.then your opponent nails you to the wall.

Oh boy, do I know that feeling... 

You can resign when ur seriously losing like down to king and rook and all u have is a king oir king and pawn otherwise unless its that obvious I would never resign actuall I'm very good at getting myself out of bad positions.  And just because ur a rook behind does not meaN UR LOsing.  As a matter of fact chess masters sometime purposely give away their queen knowing they'll have an advantage

4 years old huh?  I knew these threads had a long history (even before the internet right) but I've never seen such a dinosaur in person

If they just stickied this, bishop vs knight, greatest player ever, and common courtesy in chess, we'd hardly ever seen a new topic huh.

I still like my answer though.  I resign when:

1. I believe my position is lost,
2. I believe my opponent knows my position is lost and
3. I believe my opponent is able enough to win without difficulty.

I only like resigning when I am in an end game, and my opponant is going to ineviditably promote a pawn. Otherwise I like to finish out all my games. Obviously their are some extreme exceptions, but this is the main time that I like to resign.

I only like resigning when I am in an end game, and my opponant is going to ineviditably promote a pawn. Otherwise I like to finish out all my games. Obviously their are some extreme exceptions, but this is the main time that I like to resign.

The main situation for which I resign is when I lose both my rooks and my queen. Because they're the pieces I rely on most.

Won today from a rook down against someone 100 points above me.

Resign?  I would resign, but then I couldn't see your winning technique.

My opponent today found out that one should never resign. After all, you always have some winning chance.

I think what your opponent really found was that he needs to do a bit more work on his game. 

My USCF rating went down by 2 because of that game. If I'd won it would have gone up by like 100 . I feel like an idiot.

Wait a minute, you were White in that thing?!  Eek! 

I know - I get a 2200 tactics trainer rating but miss mate in ones.

Oh well, Nigel Short once fell into something rather similar (if it makes you feel any better)...