When should a pro resign?

Hehe, I just meant in theory.  Instead of taking a while thinking up a clever example, take K+Q vs king, you could draw it out 49 moves... what I mean is inaccuracies that don't change the evaluation.

The endgame saying "do a little as possible as slowly as you can" came from the fact that a superior side often has what I call "infinite tempo" to set up whatever it is that needs setting up.  The saying points to the fact that if you take a long time maneuvering before continuing the action, your opponent can get confused or relax their move order and suddenly although they had a defensive position 10 moves ago, they're a bit off balance now.

It's also useful in match play to make your opponent suffer psychologically, letting them play out a grueling defense for a few hours.

Okay, I guess that makes sense though. But as the saying goes "Noone ever saved a game by resigning." I think it was Savielly Tartakower that noted that.

I had an opponent in an OTB tournament game do this (or rather, not do this).  After a tense 8-10 moves where I had about a minute left, we'd simplified into a rook and pawn endgame.  He thought I could force a winning rook exchange, and during my turn, he suddenly tips his king over and shakes my hand.  I was so surprised I automatically blurted out "are you sure?" which he told me later was pretty annoying but he knew I didn't mean it as a taunt.

Anyway the position was roughly equal, but my moves were less obvious plus the time shortage he may have even had chances to win.  So yeah it's good advice.  I'm sure every level of player would have a similar story after playing long enough.

 Ouch - that is a strange thing to do in your opponent's time pressure!

Yeah it's stuff like that that can happen. What are you rated OTB?

Apart from ...

In boxing, a fighter's corner will sometimes throw in the towel.

In snooker, players will often concede the frame if their opponent has a virtually unassailable lead.

In golf, it is common to concede the putt if it looks very easy.

Heh, no kidding, but in his defense he thought after the exchange I queen in a few moves.  To him it seemed completely lost.

I'd rather give my FIDE one because it's the higher of the two so it makes me look better lol

It's 1762 USCF and 1875 FIDE.  The USCF is probably not accurate due to not playing in many tournaments after getting better.  The FIDE is probably not accurate either due to the fact that I recently got it so after say 50 games it will be more accurate.

So who knows how good I am (better, worse?)... but there are the numbers anyway.

Maybe if a pro resign the other player could continue to play for both sides to show the spectators the winning combo (if there is one)

FIFA (the controlling committee for football/soccer) is proposing to take a leaf out of FIDE's (the controlling committee for chess) book. It is considering a rule change such that, under certain circumstances, when one side has a 9-point lead, the match is declared over. 

No, the same refers to draws.

However, sometimes funny situations occur. At Aeroflot-2010 Nepomniatchi and Andriasian have just agreed to a draw in a complicated position. I could understand why, so I asked my friend Tomashevsky (2700+) about it (the guys were too busy analyzing). After looking at the position, he shrugged and said: "Ok, let's go and humbly ask the MASTERS to explain!"

a) Conceding in golf is different, as it is not giving up the match.

b) You know what happens to boxer's who throw in the towel? They get booed out of the ring.

 I was reading the other day how quite a few years ago, one player needed a draw to win the tournament, and the other wanted a draw to improve his rating (as he was lower rated and did not have a chance to win the tournament with the game to play), so they sat down and agreed to a draw without playing a move. The TD awarded no points to either player.

 Which never happens anyway.

I don't see why they would do that because spectators for the winning team are deprived of an enjoyable match.

This rule was to be for school football (i.e. soccer).

9-goal leads don't happen very often in the professional game, but Joe Payne scored 10 goals in his side's 12-0 victory.

 FIFA does not control school soccer?

The snooker and golf situations looks directly comparable to the chess situation to me: a player concedes a frame/ a hole/ a game - but not the whole match/tournament - unless this happens to be the crucial game as far as the points are concerned.

   If the position is all but lost and the game is going south, then the best thing to do is resign and save some face. As long as there is still hope in a game, fight it out and try to get out of whatever jam you're in. You never know when your opponent is going to blunder the game away. It only takes one move to turn the tables.

By conceding a hole in golf you are saying that I can pot that easily, I won't bother.

 Isn't it your opponent who allows you to do so? Because he knows you can pot it easily and just wants to get on with his life. Exactly like resigning in chess should be.

 Yes it is your opponent that allows you to concede.

Personally, I don't see the point. If you can pot it easily, it shouldn't take long. But I guess it is an acknoledgement of your skill.

Yeah, that's all it boils down to, respect. You're just saying I know you can do it, let's get on with it.

Interesting discussion here  about conceding putts in the early part of the match - then requiring them near the end.