You Resign Too Early

Yes, you do.

The vast majority of players resign too early.

The standard explanation is to save time in order to play another game instead of wasting time in a hopeless position. It's a reasonable idea, yet it depends on one's definition of "hopeless". Down how many points of material? In a theoretically lost endgame? Maybe just feeling tired? 

In a previous post titled "NEVER RESIGN!", I showed a game where a titled master dominated most of the game, only to make one careless move, handing me the win instantly. Those aren't one-offs, to say the least. 

After reading this, some people may argue that they never see such "miracles" in their own games. But "miracles" simply won't happen without resilience. Are you willing to grit your teeth and fight back, even when things go south? A telltale sign of a strong player is one who forces you beat them multiple times. 

Successful comeback wins usually involve 3 factors: deny the opponent a straightforward win, activate your pieces into the game, and burn your opponent's clock time down. Emphasis on the first one, since way too many people try to go all-out while filled with all sorts of emotions! That would be quite counterproductive. I love it when my opponent mentally collapses after I gain an advantage. Focus on defense first, and after you are sure that you aren't in mortal danger (some danger is fine, after all, you are already losing), pull your pieces into the game and fight. Refuse trades as much as possible and don't hand your opponent an M3 on a platter! 

Example 1 features a blitz game where I was down an entire rook out of the opening against a 2400. Can't last long, right?

Can you believe that? Yeah, it happens.

Game 2: After a botched attack goes south, I'm down a piece for nothing. Same strategy applies. Eventually, my opponent panics and lets me back into the game, in which the time disparity decides.

I can already hear the cries of protest, "Don, those are only 3 minute blitz games! Are you just telling me to be a dirty flagger?"

Fair enough. I'll procure some 10-minute rapid games for your benefit. The strategy still works!

Well, there you have it. I could have resigned on move 8, but I decided to fight like my life depends on it.

Alright, here's my last example. Hopefully it's enough to convince you to NEVER PRESS THAT RESIGN BUTTON unless you are ABSOLUTELY SURE the game is over!!!

Thank you for reading! Next time, I might write a blog on how to effectively convert advantages.

Have a great day and I wish you luck on your chess journey!