Final Moves

I've run into this issue several times when you've put an opponent into position where they absolutely have no other move but one and it will inevitably result in a checkmate, the opponent takes his alloted time to decide on the move then goes on vacation.  If you have only 1 move to make and it basically gives the game away, is it better for sportsmanship for the opponent to resign or make the move or allow their time to run down until it is nearly out and then make the move, thus making the "winner" wait for his well fought out win?

Any comments or similar situations anyone wants to share.

I wouldn't worry about it, just play your other games. This comes up over and over again, with people on both sides of the debate. I'm not sure there is a consensus. Maybe they just don't want to lose the rating points, maybe they have a premium membership and don't time out. Either way, it will eventually end.

Where it really is inconsiderate is where it is the _last_ game in a multi round tournament, thereby holding up all of the other players from starting round 2. But still, it's not a good idea to get too worked up about it. Seems to be human nature that people will postpone the end to a game (for whatever reasons that are their own) and it is also human nature to complain about it.

I think there must be 100 forum topics about exactly this issue.

I hate when people do that as well... I particularly hate it when people quit an interesting game simply because you took thier queen or something, as if that is the only worthwhile piece. I think they are just sore losers and simply try never to play with them again.

 That can lead away from an very interesting game if resigned too early, but if its later in the game 20 or more moves in and the queen is lost, it may only prolong the inevitable and give whomever is up a queen a chance to literally wipe all pieces of their opponent off the board.  That would kind of take away from the competitiveness of the game.  If I were to lose my queen on the 3rd or 4th move, i'd be inclined to resign but may play it a little bit longer, but if i lost my queen closer to the 20th or 30th move, i'd almost definitely resign depending on the position of the game.  If i had to give up a queen for a checkmate would be a different story