Resignation: The What, When, and Why

Hello everyone! Welcome back.

Get ready to learn how to resign!

Chess is a zero-sum game. We all know that. You can't have two people walking away with a win, and one of the sides has to come out on top (except in a draw, which isn't good for either player). My point is that if one player is to win, the other must lose.

Losing can be achieved in two ways. First, one can be checkmated. Checkmate, as you all know - I hope - occurs when one side's king is trapped; attacked, with no way to escape attack, so that if there was another turn, it would be taken next turn. 

The other way to lose is resignation. Hopefully, most of you know what that is, too. Resignation typically occurs when one side realizes that they are hopelessly lost, and they decide they would rather not finish. 

But resignation is a little bit more interesting than it meets the eye.

The reason I wanted to write about Resignation is that I've seen a lot of players who don't really understand the etiquette behind resigning. They don't really understand why people resign, and they want to play to the last move of every game.

Resignation is a disputed topic among many chessplayers because people have different opinions on when it's good to resign and when it's good to keep fighting.

This position was from one of my finest games. As a 600 elo in blitz, I played with a near-perfect 97% accuracy. Both of us played great chess until he hung his queen. I quickly took it, and he resigned.

Many players consider resignation to be the sportsmanlike thing to do. They believe that by resigning in a losing position, they are saying to their opponent, "I know you're a skilled enough player to convert this position, and this win is rightfully yours." Resignation is often seen among grandmasters after even a minor piece is blundered.

Does that mean that you should resign if you blunder a bishop in the opening? Of course not. At most levels beneath the titled player, there's no real reason to resign when down 2-4 points of material. It's great to keep fighting, and it's possible to win by taking advantage of a blunder or by flagging your opponent.

On the other hand, some people never resign. They've never considered pushing the resign button, and they'll play every game to the last move. Maybe they've watched too much GothamChess 😂. Anyway, they know that there's always a chance the opponent could blunder the game or draw.

But which one is correct? Which one is the best? Why must we be careful when deciding whether to tip our king?

In chess, as in life, respect is very important. We must try to respect our opponents at all times, and because of that, we have to make sure that we are being good sports whenever we play.

Here are some situations to look at:

Situation #1: You're playing in a simultaneous exhibition against a Grandmaster. You've gotten down into an endgame, and you realize the GM has put you into Zugzwang. Either way, the player gets a passed pawn you can't stop. Resign? Or keep fighting?

Situation #2: You're playing a blitz game online against someone with a similar rating as you. You're up by about thirty seconds in time, but you hung your rook. Resign or keep fighting?

Situation #3: You're playing a daily game against someone you know is a superior player, but you want to give a good fight. Then you hang a royal fork. Resign or not?

Here's the trick: It doesn't actually matter! As long as you show respect to your opponent, it doesn't matter whether you resign or not. If you want to keep playing, do so. If you think you can flag them, go ahead. If you think you might be able to force a stalemate against the GM, go ahead and try.

A lot of sportsmanship consists not of your actions during the game, but your actions afterward. Here's what I would do in each situation:

#1 (The GM): I would keep fighting. It's not every day most of us can play a GM, and the endgame will probably be instructive, and I also see a potential stalemate. After the game, I'll shake hands, say good game, and then reference the move "I would've resigned, but I saw a stalemate trap. You played a brilliant game."

#2 (Online blitz): Keep fighting. Flagging in blitz is fairly easy, and because of that, there's still a good chance that a strong defender can win.

#3 (Online daily): Resign. I don't want to defend a position down 8 points, and I don't stand much chance anyway because blundering in daily is rare. 

The key takeaway from all this: It doesn't matter how you conduct yourself in a game as long as you are respectful to your opponent.

By the way, here's the full game from the above position:

May your tactics stay sharp.