9 out of my last 10 games ended in resignation: 5 from me (1440); 4 from my opponents (1021 .. 1483).
I resign when I see the game is lost and the person proves that they know how to win it
Exactly correct! I haven't been Checkmated in years, but am certain I never lost a game that I had a chance to draw or win.
My rating on here is 1157 ("online chess") but that fluctuates a little. I almost always resign when in a bad position. I agree with DiaAnderEk though in that I take decisions based on gut instinct sometimes - probably because my analytical knowledge is not great (hence the rating).
I think I tend to always give my opponent too much credit, whatever their rating, which is probably the wrong way to be playing this game. It sometimes does depends on the opponents play though, I have carried on against similarly rated opponents and have won from a losing position. I probably wouldn't attempt this against 1500> players though.
Obviously "live chess" is a little different but I hardly ever resign in a blitz game - unless I'm absolutely played off the board, which happens sometimes.
The Type of game is another factor in this. I would be more likely to resign an OTB game than a CC type game. No need to resign a Blitz game. The clock will run out while I'm trying to find a way out of a hopeless mess.
I resign slightly later in tournament games and team matches than in other CC games; there's marginally more at stake. Also, if you're playing two simultaneous games against the same opponent, there is some advantage in making the opponent work harder!
In a vote game, I'll usually vote to resign one move after the better players say it's time to resign.
Most of the games I lose are lost by resignation, as are the games I win. But when the other player wants to continue, I'm always glad to oblige. Someone once said that the hardest game to win is the won game, and I love the struggle. Let's face it, playing chess is a lot of fun and for me it's not so much about winning and losing. Either way, when the game is over, I miss it.
I know, I know, this is another resigning thread, but please read on...
I've found that opponents who are below 1500 rarely resign, even when the game is clearly lost and that opponents who are 1700+ usually resign when they know the game is lost. <1300 opponents almost never resign and play on to checkmate.
I don't want to argue whether resigning is good or bad, I just want to gather opinion on the following:
In general, at what rating do you find opponents resign when they have a lost game? I'm suggesting about 1600 on average.
Another source of data about this phenomenom is to examine groups which have a policy of resigning appropriately (e.g. Chess Athenians) and those which have a policy of never resigning (e.g. Chess Spartans).
Group
Policy
No. of Members
Average Rating
Chess Spartans
Never resign
133
1461
Chess Athenians
Resign
22
1580
To gather more data points, a survey question could be sent to every group, enquiring whether they have formulated a group policy on resignation.
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