Better Resign than Checkmate.

Out of thousands of games I lost, I am sure only less than 50 games I lost by checkmate. I find that Resigning is more elegant than checkmate.

At my level you can itch out a stalemate from time to time when you don't surrender. ^^

I tend to play to the bitter end.  It helps me find mating patterns and learn some old and new ones when I get checkmated.  Plus, why give up and there is no rule set in stone that's ever going to change that eh.

better checkmate than resign.

better resign than being checkmated

We came to a consensus that you should resign when you are 5 points down in material and 2 turns have passed. Its ok if you missed the news.

Even when you sac a queen for a mate in four, if I remember correctly. 

It is still up to a player to resign regardless of moral codes. And it's up to both players to be able a see resignable positions.

I fight to the end. By the end for me is a very sure position to resign. I don't wait to be checkmated.

At your level, it depends what you want to learn. I played at your level long time ago. So, you can be sure I know what you talk about.

If you're at the short end of a nice combination you might consider going all the way in order to give your opponent the satisfaction he deserves.

Good idea but sorry No. But I get p****ed if my opponent keeps playing knowing it is 1 move checkmate. I didn't know that he just gave me the pleasure of checkmate.

Honestly I never get the satisfaction this way. I respect him more if he resigns. That way we both go away with pleasure.

I usually resign more then I get checkmated but in a tournament I play the games out to the bitter end

chess players who never resign but always go to checkmate are missing a universal experience in their life so checkmate is a vicarious substitute

I often view resigning as some sort of way of trying to maintain dignity, saying "Ha, you beat me but look how good I am to be able to calculate how I lose." Personally I just don't care what my opponent thinks I did or didn't see -- I don't need my opponent to be aware of me seeing a sequence of moves. I will often play a mating combination all the way till mate even if I see it, since even if I did a "smart resignation," I would lose the game anyway, so it's pretty costless to check to make absolutely sure that my opponent will mate me, instead of merely being "almost sure."

The way I see it, whether you resign before a brutal checkmate, or allow the brutal checkmate to occur, either way, you played badly enough to allow it. The one who resigns is simply concealing the reality that is there; he doesn't get rid of the reality. It's there whether it's played out or not. And if that reality is elegant, it could only be so for the winning player, not the person who got himself into the forced checkmate, whether he realizes he's in trouble or not.

My highest standard win was a resignation from a player +400 higher than me. There were still lots of pieces on the board, and I certainly had no idea how the game would proceed. If he was assuming I knew what to do, he was wrong

ok i make sure to remember next time that instead of checkmating my opponent i should resign got it

Wow, he must be like a master or something if he could know how lost he was!

Well, except for the tiny fact that he lost

sometimes resigning is the absolute best move and adds to the players stature and respect whereas to play on regardless is pathetic and lowers one's opinion of the player...the non resigner is either stupid or stubborn or indulging some fanciful thinking!

#20: Of course the million dollar question is how.

#21 obviously by word of mouth, "I resign" or tipping over the king...

resigning when in a lost position never detracts from the respect one has for their opponent,...whereas playing on regardless to checkmate is the tactic of a nincompoop!