A Question of Honor

I don't really view thanking someone for playing, whether before or after resigning, as "warning" the opponent of your impending resignation. A warning would be something along the lines: "Warning. I am about to resign. Please prepare for my resignation. I will resign in 5 seconds ... 4 ... 3.... 2 ... 1. I have now resigned!"

kayak21 wrote:

Irontiger. I play mostly on a Droid and it isn't always easy to get back in on chat. The game does have some loading problems. ;)

IMO that is not the same as a "warning.". It certainly would be perfectly normal to thank someone or say gg or make some other comment prior to or after resigning. Howver, i would not be offended if someone did not make any comments before, during orvafter the game. The person may feel uncomfortable communicating in English or may not have time to chitchat. There's certainly no reason to take offense if a person just wants to play chess without engaging in conversation.

netzach wrote:

Yes. These comments are ludicrous.

There is nothing wrong at all (actually is decent etiquette) to post a comment to your opponent prior to resigning?

I often say ''well-played'' or ''I concede'' before hitting the resign-button and fail to see how anyone should think it ''strange'' to do this.

I think both sides make good points. Here's mine: This is a competitive game. No matter how polite etc. you are, you have to recognize when you sit down to play that your opponents' decisions are 100% theirs and you have no right (nor any possibility) to influence their choices. (Unless you're playing with your board and pieces and you take your ball and go home.) Nor have they any check on your decisions. This is the tacit understanding of competition. All that other stuff is just (forgive me) whining.  

Yes, but you miss the point.

Resignation is not compulsory, and will never be (except if you are more than 5 points down, of course). Neither is saying 'hello' and 'goodbye' to your friends. This is a matter of politeness - well-mannered people will have to cope with rude people, but it doesn't mean they have to support the rude people's attitude.

Maybe I didn't make my point clearly enough. It's simply that one cannot control others. It's not merely a matter of courtesy, but also one of point of view. One player thinks the other should resign, the other player thinks differently. The first player doesn't know the reasoning of the second player, and IMO shouldn't need to. I like courtesy and I try to be courteous. But I also know what I'm entitled to and I don't demand more.

Boy, what's all this crap about Europe being so confoundedly polite?  Funny, I seem to remember things a bit differently...

And I'm always amused at how quickly polite-niks tend to become belligerent regarding their views (apparently their own righteousness can never be mistaken for true rudeness). 

Too true, AndyClifton - lol.

I seem to remember GI's butchering children in Vietnamese villages, killing tens of thousands of refugees (the already beaten Iraqi army) on their way through the desert , and over a hundred thousand civilians in the first Gulf war.

Killing again tens of thousands since 2003 in Iraq, and helping a sectarian regime to stay in power (as long as they make the oil cheap for USA).

Killing thousands in Afghanistan and Libya.

I forgot to talk about bombing cities , the favorite tool of US war tactics,

in WWII , in Vietnam, in Iraq....

And Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Never it will be forgotten .

Dont, dont, dont start with THIS please. Clean your own house from the war criminals instead of pointing to others.

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It seems to be the tactics of some chess players here to deflect from the issue of politeness, which is a common ground of the world chess community (from which USA makes a small part) by saying: 'What you consider polite is not important, because I feel the other way.'

Your picture "argumentation" does a lot for the forum lock and not much for your point, whatever it is.

And indeed, I do think that all opinions are not of equal value. For example, when I am sick, I consult a doctor, not a fortune teller, even if both claim they know how to cure me and the second is cheaper.

Just do not consider ''Your move sh***head!'' to be a positive cross-Atlantic export.

I think one cannot convince someone who is completely ignorant. So yes, I should have been silent.

Well said!

What was the topic again?

Wholely a matter of opinion. That's why there are rules.

You answer that, you have an answer for you inquiry too. 

I fight usually to the bitter end and to the last man in hope to make them make a mistake to allow me to regain an advantage

After a look at the game, it's just a dead draw after move 60 (roughly). So I would say your opponent was the one being rude. But of course it is obvious the time was low on both sides then : at move 63, ...Bxb6 is obviously an improvement, and in fact instead of what White played, Kc8 between moves 65 to ~70 wins after (next) b8=Q Bxb8 Kxb8.

But that's the hard law of blitz. I admit it happens to me just to play anything in roughly equal positions to flag my opponent when he is clearly low on time. In lifeless position, for instance opposite-colored bishop endgames like this one, my decency usually takes over, but if someone flags me in such an endgame, I won't complain.

In longer time controls it's different.

According to the president of my ex-club, in France the federation has even a rule (for longer time controls, so there is increment) where you can ask the arbiter for a draw by giving your 'draw plan' (ie a very precise way to achieve the draw). Obviously claiming wrongly a draw results in bad things for you - usually a time penalty, but possibly a forfeit if the arbiter has to show you something that you did mention in your plan (because the simple fact of refusing the draw would be a good hint that something is going on).

LongIslandMark in my opinion there is nothing dishonorable about playing a game of blitz to the end.  Nor is it dishonorable to decline a draw offer. 

Sure, I'd say your honor is intact.