Resign! Resign! Resign! But when?

Some people seem to get really peeved about others who don't resign right away.  I sort of understand because I get pissy when someone keeps playing a draw hoping for a mistake.  

Question is...when do you think someone should resign?  A piece down against a higher rated opponent?  If your queen is blundered should you? Not until all your pawns are dead?  I'd like to get some thoughts on this as I'm always wondering whether my opponent is thinking I should resign.  

When you are down more than a rook and don't have the initiative.

Earlier today I resigned because I was a pawn down, going to lose another one, with no compensation whatsoever. But my opponent was 2200+. I resigned a game against a 13xx yesterday because I had hung a knight, then a pawn in an awful position... I don't care if he can win that against best play, I wanted rid of that game :-)

I think you should resign when you think there are no serious problems anymore you can set for your opponent. Depends on the strength of both players. Avoiding stalemate in a position without stalemate tactics is not a serious problem :-)

Resigning is for the convenience of the player who thinks his/her own position is hopeless, not of the player who is winning. If you still have hope, then play on. Just don't take forever to make your moves! It's OK to make your opponent prove an advantage over the board.

I was wondering this is one of my games yesterday - I was down N v R+B.

I had a couple of pawns on the sixth rank though, and although I couldn't see a way of forcing them through I played on, and sure enough my opponent dealt with them effectively and also managed to trap my knight. And here I resigned. Perhaps I should have resigned earlier, but since I wasn't sure, I didn't.

 This is probably the most mature way to handle this.  I just had to resign 2 games that I had alot of time and hope in.  But alas, they got the better and there was no hope for me, not even for a draw.

It depends. In CC I've noticed that players will resign when they see they are lost completely. Here's where I see that resigning is appropriate.

1) You've lost the center completely. If your enemy is making you cramped, it's over.

2) You're down a piece when you only have pawns left. If he/she has a Rook too, you really don't have much of a chance.

3) A pawn down in high level play might be enough to justify resignation, but that's questionable. What about 2 pawns?

4) You've run out of steam. If you've exhausted your resources and don't have any real lines of attack, it's going to be a pain to win. You might want to consider quitting.

5) You're down to just the King in a K+Q matchup. Don't be disrespectful to your opponent. 

That's what I've gathered.

when your losing and have no counterplay

"I think you should resign when you think there are no serious problems anymore you can set for your opponent. Depends on the strength of both players. Avoiding stalemate in a position without stalemate tactics is not a serious problem :-)"

Pegrin...I like your answer a lot.  

Covus...for the over 2000 group, that might fly...but other than your #5, I'd say I've watched myself hand over games to opponents from clearly won positions...

Scarbiac.  When I loathe my play in a game, I also feel like shutting it down but one thing I've realized is...I can still learn something from a lost position and it truly builds a little character (at least for me) to play on even when hope has dwindled.

Yep, you're correct. Same principle, essentially.

 Ooooh.  Handbags.

Resigning is a very personal matter.  In last week's Dail Telegraph was the headline "Blears resigns over Brown smear".

I once got thrown out of a hotel in Cardiff for the same thing.

LisaV.  I don't appreciate your assault on my thread.  I'm fully aware this may have been discussed at some point...but I wanted a fresh take on things.  :)

Beastie...right as I thought I was onto what you were saying, I lost you.  

Sometimes it might just be a matter of the time of day.

I might think I have some hope of my opponent blundering, so I continue to play, then of course later on, maybe a couple of days later, I log in, look at the position, and think "why on earth haven't I resigned yet"!

#5 is the only one I don't like. I will go through the motions to play it and I won't complain. It's very hard to stalemate with that combo.

Just a few points.

(1) what are we playing the game for:

  (a) for learning - should not resign (learn how to defend in losing position)

  (b) for enjoyment - should resign/offer draw when it is no longer enjoyable

  (c) for points - should resign as late as possible - when 99% sure of loss

(2) under no condition we should we do (1) at other's expense/annoyance.

One should resign when the position is lost...That will be different for players of different caliber. 

The opponent has to prove that they know how to win the position.  Once they make that indication then it is time for me to resign.  If there are traps to be set then I never resign.  I have got LUCKY against several much better players on here because they missed something rather simple.

So I guess to put it in short...When it becomes a matter of technique and the opponent demonstrates that they know the technique then it is time to call it quits.  If their moves indicate they don't know how to finish then play on. 

 Very much true.  Just like anything else it isn't what you do when you are at your best.  But, it is what you do when you have put yourself in a difficult position. 

 I am sort of dissapointed when people resign after dropping a single pawn out of the opening.  There is SOOOO much more fight left in the game-even against strong players.  And learning how to defend a difficult position is something which is very instructive. 

I think resigning at a certain time depends entirely on the level of the player.  I am only a 1200ish player and there is no way I am going to resign just one piece down against someone similar and I would think the opponent feels the same. My son was playing someone the other day and was about to resign after going down a knight against a nearly 1300 player and I took over the game and somehow squeezed out a win. I have been forked early in a game, lost my queen and still won.  I I have had NUMEROUS games where I was ahead at the end game and because I am such a lousy end game player, my opponent ended up winning.  We all blunder and sometimes the pieces just fall into place in our favor with discovered checks, etc. Whatever mistake one makes to go down a piece, the opponent can easily do the same at some point and we all know that they do. The one kind of game where a player should resign is when you are chasing him with a Q and a Rook and he has nothing but a few pawns and he keeps running like he has a prayer. 

Computer Workout on here, select Endgames with goal Draw.

Tactics Trainer has some, but of course that's random. Most endgame books would talk about ways of getting a draw.