Is it smart or cowardly?

@Markgroverpowers: I didn't draw. I won in about 10 moves. (The higher rated player i was facing was definitely overrated.)

Outstanding!

lol I've put my opponent into the same position in that diagram about six or seven times. I love it, the Bishop on c4 is actually a BEAST!! We already knew the knight outposted on e5 was a beast.

Depends on the slight advantage we're talking about, and at what point in the game.  If you're up a pawn in the end game, go for the win.  If you are in a closed position and he's got doubled pawns or something, maybe take the draw.

Here is a situation from real life. Many years ago I used to play in central Illinois

over the board tournaments. I had a good friend who was equal in strength to me and several times this senario happened:  We would both win our first 4 games and then meet in the final round and draw. Then we would be co winners. We did not agree to a draw ahead of time but we did not try too hard to win against each other either.

One tournament I lost in the 3rd round and after 4 rounds my friend had won all 4 games and I had 3 wins and  1 loss . My friend had White against me in the last round and asked and more or less assumed I would let him play for and obtain an early draw.  Guess what happened??? 

 To make a good decision on anything you need to take into account ALL variables. The person playing is a variable and therfore MUST be taken into account. Maybe this person has lost to you evertime you have played them, maybe they are having a bad run of games etc.

Ask any decently higher rated player and they will tell you it must be taken into account. Yes you are there to play chess but you will also always try to do the best you can. Even yourself is a variable as you might be extremely tired, might be content with a draw depending on the circumstances etc and prize money.

"Ask any decently higher rated player"? That's just wrong. You'll find that top players are just as divided on this question as the rest of us.

notice the topic i was going on about. i was talking about something more specific (in that post) than the thread. Generally if you really want to get a good answer you should go to a specialist.

if you wana cook - Chef

Build a bridge - Structural engineer

Mine some copper - Mine Engineer

Chess - A master of chess

And I'm telling you that your idea of what the masters think are wrong. There are many masters, past and present, who feel that "outside" the board information is useless and that you should only "play the board." There are others who agree with what you posted. There isn't a complete consensus as you stated.

There may not be a complete consensus but I am confident that a super majority of masters do consider other factors ( off the board ) when considering draw offers, whether to accept , or offer... etc. For example I was playing in a G/20 rapid event and was a pawn up in a complicated middlegame with an IM. We were both getting short of time but he had 5 min more time than me and I was under 5 min remaining. He offered me a draw and I took it even though I knew I was obectively winning on the board. I took it for several reasons : a) I was very short of time in a very complicated position b) he was a much stronger player with a big plus record against me and also very good in blitz/time scrambles, c) my tournament position was such that a draw was ok , certainly better than a loss

There are many good reasons to accept a draw even though you might believe you are winning on the board. You may be about to flag. The draw may give you something you really want, like a title, a nice prize, qualification to a higher event...etc. 

 LOL.... yep... been there.

My ICU rating is 1500-1550 and i was unrated in this tournament as it was my first BCF tournament. It was by far the best performance rating ive ever had and i was extremely happy with my results. drawing with 1921, 1845,1923 while my only loss was to a 2043 where i had good possible drawing chances.

My first BCF rating is 1802.