Resigning in Chess

Fellow Chess players!!! I recently started playing chess maybe a month back and since then I have been perplexed by whether or not I should resign from a chess game. Coming from an army background where you are trained not to give up no matter how bad things get, resigning from a game seems cowardly to me. I would rather have my opponent checkmate me than resign but recently I see that a few chess players bully me instead of not checkmating me and treat me like a dog's toy in some of the games. As a beginner I expect more losses than wins and get my games reviewed but this is disheartening and I feel humiliated. I would like to understand if resigning is seen as cowardly and disrespectful in the game of chess or if it is encouraged.

[you should resign if you KNOW you're going to lose so you don't waste your time ( ex. you only have a king - they're up by 16 points)

however if there's a slight chance, don't resign and you can attempt a stalemate/draw via perpetual or 50 moves, (if they cant even checkmate you)

if you have a slight chance of winning, then don't resign, keep playing until your opponent messes up]

Aside from that, resigning isn't seen as "cowardly" or just outright "disrespectful" like I said before, resign if you know you're going to lose

it's just a way to know your opponent outplayed you and you don't want to continue the match, don't know why you're being treated with disrespect tho

At our level (under 1000), never resign is a good rule - make the other player prove they know how to win it.

Check out this #chess game: goofyluffy96 vs DesignerWaffle - https://www.chess.com/game/122035414716

good luck to you and hope you find a solid path to move up if you are playing alot of short games 3 minutes and down then i would just resign and move on to another game when its still fresh in your mind where you went wrong -- if they are longer games 10 mintues and up to 24 hour 2/3 day etc -- never give up--- as was said before make the person earn the win - they could !@#$%^uck up when you least expect it and also you get so valuable intel in how they close a game for next time you meet and in the 24 hour 2/3/day and up games that maybe sooner than later -- that is not so in the shorter 5/3/2/1 games- odds are against you play that person again so just move on ---- that's my take on it -- but then again i am not really very good so take what i say with a grain of salt as many will tell you to do

If you see this comment you are cursed unless you post this on 3 other forums (don’t blame me I didn’t start it)

This really annoys me.

There are other reasons but first and foremost...... IT IS YOUR GAME! You get to decide if/when to resign. Anyone who says otherwise/tries to bully you, well they have issues. And tbh it serves them right if you play it out and make them prove it on the board.

That said..... if you are a beginner, then playing out lost situations can be helpful, if you are the kind of person who learns from adversity. At your level there is also the chance of opposition blunders ("so prove it sucker" springs to mind).

That said.... if you are multiple pieces down it isn't at all cowardly to resign. It is a recognition that that game hasn't gone your way, you may wish to save your time/energy for other games.

So it is swings and roundabouts.... but always remember it is YOUR choice, not theirs.

Edit;- one way of handling it might be to say to them "I can see I'm losing, but it is valuable exp so I'll play to the end". Any decent person will almost certainly say "yup, fine" as long as you don't start dragging it out. If they say "no resign now", then personally I would take a petty pleasure in making them checkmate you.

If they start messing around, just a higher chance they will stalemate you by accident lol

Not giving up and fighting to the bitter end is fine if thats your thing

Abandoning the game or running time out is cowardly and unsporting and has no place whatsoever in the game, but many do it online anyway, because there are no consequences.

Resigning is the honourable way to end a lost game and is in no way cowardly.

I sometimes forget to hit the confirmation button for resigning. I think I have resigned, and then realize I did not. I have a head injury though with adhd type symptoms, so that is possibly my excuse. It would help if a more prominent popup for resignation confirmation occurred.

Anyway, if I notice and if I can, I will usually try to explain what happened.

That said, down a piece, I can often find a draw--been studying endgames. But I am learning, and that justifies playing on. Learn from my mistakes, my opponent's technique, etc.

But your comment, whiteknight, was about abandonment. That should be avoided whenever possible, but before you get too angry, consider that stupid things can happen to cause a disruption before assuming it was intentional. Especially when playing chess from home, conditions may not be optimal if you have a family or such.

Still, people who do that kind of thing on purpose are kind of despicable, I must agree.

Like this, this is just rude......

Well there is a difference between human life and a chess game. Why keep playing a lost game when you can move on and play another. I have 35,000+ blitz games and its still tough to lose. Accept the obvious loss and play again.

Sometimes it seems that one of the hardest thing in chess is to win an already won position and I assume the same can be for my opponents, So unless I am just outright losing in the first few moves of the game I usually don't resign, because in some cases not resigning can really mess with your opponent like they think they are going to have an easy win but if you still can make it difficult for them, especially if they are on time trouble or there king is very exposed then there may just be chances for your opponent to blunder and you win.

"stupid things can happen to cause a disruption before assuming it was intentional."

True. But when the "disruption" occurs immediately following a move that puts you in a winning position, it was likely cowardice not coincidence.

Playing online would be more enjoyable if the scumbags that abandon losing positions were made to play against others who do this, and not decent, sporting players.

Resigning in chess is not cowardly or disrespectful—it’s a practical choice that acknowledges the reality of the position.

Never resign! At least opponent will teach you how to conver winning position.