I have been asked yet again to resign by an opponent rated 400pts higher than me, i know im struggling in the games but do I not have the right to finish the games by forcing him to checkmate me? Yes im losing the games but I don't think that gives him the right to tell me it's painful watching me play. I am still learning the bloody game and trying to improve. I recently played a guy rated 2400 who complimented me and gave me tips on how to improve which I greatly appreciated. He knew he was going to win the games but yet didnt feel the need to criticize. Its basic manners I suppose. I don't give up games easily and don't expect others to do so either.

Amen. We have to learn from our mistakes to improve. Good post.

tones,

    no one has to resign a game because their opponent requested them to resign.

    whether you are winning or losing matters not at all to learning from the game - and how much you benefit from seeing your opponent 'put you away' either efficiently or in a 'drawn-out' manner so as to torment you longer while practicing his/(her) endgame techniques.

    It is considered 'less than polite' to request any opponent resign a game, (although a friend might ask you to resign while material is completely even - as a joke for instance).   In a serious game, play until you decide it is time to resign and stop him from practicing his endgame techniques on you, or until he resigns, whichever comes first.

    Yes, it is basic manners.  You are right.  sadly, those are often lacking in today's world, (along with the not-so-common   Common Sense.).

regards,

depends i think it is alright to ask the opponent to resign when there is no chance to win for the opponent if the opponent plays terribly slow and keeps going on vacation maybe with the goal of getting a cheap win on time out...

 just turn the chat off and ignore him/her...there have been a lot of forums on this subject.  I agree with most experienced players that you should never ask anyone to resign.  On the other hand I, like they, would prefer not to play someone who makes you go right down to mate when there are no real counterchances or stalemate possibilities.  I had one opponent who was winning against who started to play each and every move with about 20 mins of the 7 day allowance left.  I didn't ask him to resign, but I did ask if he had a very good alarm clock telling him when to move.

im with u tones on that ... i have been lucky enough not to have experienced it but i know it happens all the time :(

some people just cant resist themselves ...

my advice same as MM78 just disable the chat in the game 

This happened to me once. chess_girls89 rated 2091 told me to resign, when I was getting beat actually! But I thought no I can still win this game and I did to. Here it is below it's actually my best win. :P Good job she ran out of time when she did, or the game may have been more of a fight. But I would of still won of course.

I've said this before... a stronger player is under no obligation to give you a verbal chess lesson, though it's nice when they do.

On the other hand, if they want the points, they must demonstrate their ability to win the position just like everyone else, and give you the opportunity to learn.

The flip side is, if you refuse to resign a clearly losing position, it says to your opponent one of two things, either:

A) I don't know what to do, please show me.

B) I have not seen enough to have faith in your accuracy, so I will hold out for an error. (An opponent who requests resigns probably does lose good positions through blunders, or has poor endgame, so why not play on?)

Depending on the situation, this is likely to make your opponent think you are either an idiot or an a**hole. However, in neither chess.coms rules, the FIDE handbook, or anywhere else can I find a rule stating that idiots and/or a**holes must resign positions when requested to do so.

An early resign can be a great compliment, a late one an insult. But from the losing side of the board, it is rare that either of these are the intent, usually there is a reason more grounded in the position.

It also says C) You beat me, now I'm going to waste your time out of spite.

What they said, Tones. Disable the chat, make solid moves (i.e. make your opponent's maneuvering the less effective possible) and use as much of your time per move you can. Let's see how he/she likes when it takes three whole days for him/her to make yet another move and no one to whine at. ^_^

Prolong the game as long as possible just to tick them off.

Alternatively, track them down, go to their house and throw an egg in their face.

 Something similar happened to me a few days a go. I accepted a game (10 minutes each I think), and the person abbandoned the game because I have a rating in the 700 region. I am new to Chess, and like the game very much (so much so, I once met Steve Redgrave, and saw his face as a pawn) but when these little incidents occur, it truly puts you off playing the game.

(By the way, that was good from the person rated 2400.)

We should open a separate sub-forum for all these "bad manners" threads

 You're not with us.

I'm in a team match situation now, where my opponent was rated about 1970 (i'm about 1600) for the first game. He was destroying me, and I was about to resign, when he told me to. Just to annoy him, I played on for a few moves.

Then came the the second game, now his rating is 2076. Dont really know how it happened, but my position is clearly winning. I would resign, but does he? Not on your life, lol. Of course I'm not saying anything.......

Please dont comment on the 2nd game, it's still in progress.

Let me say something first: Asking your opponent to resign is very bad manners, something I have never done in many years of play.

and now for the big "but"....

As you climb the chess ladder you will discover that all players resign earlier, you trust your opponents to win what are in effect won positions, you do not need to see the technique as you already know them. Obviously if there is something to be gained or any doubt then play on, however, play on out of bloody-mindedness and you risk:

1. No rematches from strong players

2. Making a "proper charlie" of yourself, like rich has in his above game (Look! My best game! I beat a better player because I don't know when to resign! they timed out in a totally won position! Yay!)

Some people continue to play in hopeless positions on the internet due to the anonymous interaction that occurs here, OTB they would die of embarrassment.

Ultimately it's your decision.

I agree with the OP. The only way not resigning could be considered an insult is when :

You're in a OTB tournament with huge time controls, where you have a won game with tons of time to spare on both clocks and your opponent has zero winning chances which he "knows" is a fact. I'm talking "lone king" here, not just being a queen down.

If all the planets have aligned as described above => then resigning is considered a necessary "courtesy". Otherwise => all bets are off and the impatient player needs to suck it up and refrain from browbeating somebody into resigning.

On the flipside, I've personally had opponents just run out their clock to spite me while they watched other games and only recently when I started TDing and reading the rulebooks, did I realize that this could be considered a violation that a TD could penalize.

On one hand, he knows the game is won, and just wants to avoid several forcing moves to finish you off.

On the other hand, it is completely your right to play the game out!  One should not sign up for a chess game if he doesn't expect an honorable battle.  Maybe the guy shouldn't play opponents rated 400 points below him.

Play on, mate! 

I read once that Marshall (at least I think it was Marshall), was known for setting traps in his games.  He would continue to set traps even in loosing positions with the intent of salvaging at least half of a point (what we call a swindle today).  You should continue to play and seek a plan to split the point if possible.  Resignations only take place when you can see no way out, or you do not wish to expend the effort necessary to continue.