I was just sitting pondering my outlook on chess in general, i clicked on my top game on here, it was a game in which i was down about 3 points to an opponent that was rated about 300 points higher than myself, and i had a lacking position, so i just resigned and moved right along.

But then I began to wonder, and replay the position in my mind, I realize now there is no way I could have played into a winning position without a horible blunder from my opponent, but none-the-less it showed me about myself that i truely do not concern myself with the outcome of games. I mean some people play with the mentality of "play to the end" or "wait for a blunder" but I feel as if I am in  a position where a loss is inevitable why prolong it for me or my opponent?

Now do not mistake what i am saying, i am a competetor by nature, and i do everything I do in my life to win, including chess, but I was wondering if anyone has any input to this topic, does not being concerned with the outcome make you play "less good"? Surely people who are more concerned will study more positions and be more knowlegdeable, but can a player be a truely "great" player without concern for the outcome?

~*Chewy*~

I was recently in a game at my club tournament, where I was in a losing position. It was an OTB game. anyway I noticed from my opponnents body language that he was not sure what to do, so he made an arbitrary move with no significance and I walked away with the win. As someone commented on my game, they stated that my opponnent made the winning move a move to late.

Here is the game so take a look at it.

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/game-showcase/never-quit

The opponnet does not neccesarily have to make a blunder, but sometimes have to waste tempo.

 That is an interesting take on it, but I somehow feel if my opponent is rated higher than me I might as well not even concern myself with waiting for such an occurance, even though I do not feel rating is  a big determining factor.

chewybac5> Does not being concerned with the outcome hurt your chess?

Yes. Competitors care when they lose... some even throw tantrums. It makes you study harder, it makes you remember lessons learned better, etc.

chewybac5> ...rated about 300 points higher... I realize now there is no way I could have played into a winning position without a horible blunder

This is a different question. Do opponents 300 points higher than you frequently make gross blunders? For me, the answer is no, so if I need a gross blunder to win or draw the game is already lost. I resign and then dwell on it for a couple weeks.

 As i stated, i am a competetor by nature, most times to a fault. If you sat across a table from me and said the first person to breathe loses i would probably die before i breathed. I do see your point that drive pushes people to study harder, but I think that not being concerned with the out come of a match makes me work any less hard to prepare to play chess via studying, or work any less hard during a match to achieve a winning position.

Depends on the nature of the game also, if it is a casual game where by you are just trying learn and gain experience.  Then sometimes it can be beneficial to play out the loss just to see how a player 300 points above you polishes off a winning situation.  If you feel like you are being rude, you can always ask your opponent if it is OK to play out the game.

 True, but sometimes one needs to play out a game simply for the endgame practice. Thats what my opponnent told me, once I got my pawn promoted. Had I not had previous practice with that particular endgame, I could just as easlly walked into a draw. But i appreciated the practice none the less. Lucky for me chessmaster has drills on that endgame.

and thats why he resigned I imgaine =/

 when i say "concerned with the outcome", I mean simply that it does not matter to me, after the game is over, whether or not I won, lost, or drew the game. I am not concerned, in that i do not gloat at victory, I do not dwell in defeat, etc etc

By my own experience, my concenration levels are higher the more pieces are present making a blunder less likely,as numbers deteriorate, so does my concentration level making a blunder more likely.

You state it wrong. You mean you are not concerned if you lose, wich I can understand since he is higher rated then you. But I'm sure if you win or are in a winning position, you are getting pretty excited! If you truly don't care if you win or lose, then you just are not a competitive person in chess. 

Anyway, if you are in a hopeless position and you have to wait for a blunder you should resign. Period. 

Well it does concern me enough to want to find out why i lost or draw a game i should have won. If i win i find out how they could have done something more and improve on it that way. But yes of course i care i hate losing especially because of a stupid oversight on my behalf. All u can do though i learn and improve so u dont lose as much then move on to the next game....

chewybac5> but I think that not being concerned with the out come of a match makes me work any less hard to prepare to play chess via studying, or work any less hard during a match to achieve a winning position.

You asked for opinions and I disagree. Tune into two people, passionate about chess who don't care about the result... who I overheard at a tournament game yesterday:

:: phone rings ::

Player #1 says, "Sorry" and turns her cell phone off.

Player #2 says, "No problem." and continues playing.

i am a very competitive player i have broken a finger from a game i should have won but did not after some time i came to realize chess does not define me as a man if i lose i lose i pick my self back up save the game look at it later and try to learn from it if i win well i do the same thing but look how the other guy could have done better but i digress once i started to careless about losing i found i played better not that i won every game but i found i could take more risks and had much more fun at chess i think not caring about your lost games is great and will not make you play worse..sorry about the grammer

"This brings up an incipient danger in what may appear to be an incremental approach. I have seen many people in diverse fields take some version of the process-first philosophy and transform it into an excuse for never putting themselves on the line or pretending not to care about results. They claim to be egoless, to care only about learning, but really this is an excuse to avoid confronting themselves....

While a fixation on results is certainly unhealthy, short-term goals can be useful development tools if they are balanced within a nurturing long-term philosophy. Too much sheltering from results can be stunting. The road to success is not easy or else everyone would be the greatest at what they do--we need to be psychologically prepared to face the unavoidable challenges along our way, and when it comes down to it, the only way to learn how to swim is by getting in the water."

  --- Josh Waitzkin, IM at chess and world champion at tai chi pushing hands.

 No i did not mis-state, If I win a game, or am in a winning position, I do not get "pretty excited", my deminor over a game of chess does not change, and that does not make me any less competative of a person.

Perhaps you should play poker.

No it will make you play better because you won't be too stressed out about it

Lack of stress does increase focus, but its mute without the knowledge or experience. However dealing with increased pressure sharpens your chess vision.

An interesting question, and one where I tend to agree with the last post. I think being too concerned with the outcome, as opposed to just looking for the best moves, has a lot of drawbacks - it can lead to stress, or to the sort of cowardly play that allows advantages to slip away.

A question in return chewy - if you don't care about the result and your position was just really bad (as opposed to lost) why did you resign? If you're not fixated on the result, just on the process , then there is no reason to resign in such a position.