How to end a game?

[Tem]

I've been wondering about this for a while and seems that people have different opinions on this. I'd like to hear what Stan's players think of this matter.

If you're clearly winning a game, which will just take some time to mate your opponent, would you like him to resign or keep playing till you actually mate him? And vice versa, if you're losing. I mean a situation where the other has for example just a king left, but it'll take several moves to mate. Personally I feel like resigning once the result is obvious, but some seem to consider it's rude to resign.

[reyn]

I resign at any time I don't feel a win is going to happen, no matter what stage the game is at.

There's no obligation to resign a "lost game", just as there's none to play on till checkmate.

If you follow master games at all, you will see.

[yitwail]

i personally prefer that players resign in hopeless positions, and i think players who prefer to play things out to the bitter end are the exception. however, i don't mind an opponent who doesn't resign, provided he or she doesn't drag things out by playing very slowly. for example, if i have my opponent's king in check and there's just one move to get out of check, i will be annoyed if it takes my opponent days to make a move.

[reyn]

Yes, agreed. In those cases, it's stalling tactics just to be a twit.

If the agreed upon pace continues on, I have no problem at all with the game going to it's natural conclusion.

As a matter of fact, in THIS GAME (he had a winning opportunity until this move), I suggested to my opponent at move 51 that he play it out for experience, as he had not come across this situation before.

As it was, he erred, and as I would not have been able to checkmate him, I requested a draw.

[savin]

I think there is not a single answer to this.

It first depends on the level of the player. Here is my stab at putting players into groups:

Stan Category 4 Players:

These are players rated under 1400, but can be arted as low as 550. So this is a wide range of abilities. I think a good way to view this group is to sub divide it further:

Under 900. Beginner
Having fun, knows how the pieces moves and some of the traps but can easily overlook combinations a nd pins. Also has a habit of focusing on a quadrant of the board and can miss things happening elsewhere.
At this level even being down a two major pieces is not certain death. Many players at this level may not know how to mate with a rook and King against a King. The ruile should be fight on no matter what. Your opponent could blunder the game back.

900-1100. Novice. Knows a few traps, knows a few first moves in the opening, can make simple mating attacks, less likely to get caught out by a obvious pin. Still has a habit of seeinga small portion of the board. Don't resign unless there is not enough material left to allow your opponent to blunder.

1100-1250. Social player with a bit of experience. Everything is the same as the 900-1100 player just a little less likely to blunder and may pull off a surprise combo. Still don't resign.

1250-1400. Less blunders, less missing of the obvious. Able to come up with more crafty combos BUT still tends to focus on a quadrant. Don't resign.

Stan Category 3
rated between 1350- 1650
Players are beginning to see the board better, blunders still happen and there is still the tendency to get tunnel vision to the part of the board where the action is happening. Most players can mate with King and Rook -- but they make take a while to do it. The end game is still a mystery. A piece down is no reason to resign. Unless the position is obviously hopeless keep playing.

Stan Category 2
1650-1850
The game has changed. Obvious blunders are less likely to happen. If the player is down a minor piece keep playing unless its hopeless. A major piece down and perhaps its time to resign unless the position is very complex.

Stan Category 1
1800-2100
At this level the game is about slow attrition and excellent attacking combinations. Being down a minor piece in a simple position is probably worth resigning.

Stan Experts
Wide range, really three groups
Experts 2050-2200. If you are down more than 2 points resign unless you have superb counter chances.
Masters 2200- 2300. Two pawns down will normally be a loss unless ht eposition has large counter strike compensation.
Senior Masters 2300-2500. A pawn can lose you the game.

What does all this mean?

Whether you resign should really be based on your opponents ability, but its understandable if you look at your own ability. HOWEVER, you should only play on if you see some chance of a a draw or a win. If you see nothing but a loss even if your opponent plays worse than you possibly hope .. resign

[perseus]

Blunders happen at Category Two level. Quite major idiotic ones!

Unfortunately they often occur after the opponent has a long break and the blunderer has lost track of the game. At least that is my excuse.

[perseus]

Question: how many times have you been checkmated?

Just once for me. I had already lost so it did not comes as a surprise. I wonder it feels like to completely overlook a checkmate on your own King?

[Johnny5]

I usually resign if I am well behind on material but if you are playing someone who is a little rusty, it's sometimes worth hanging on. On the off chance that the game ends in stalemate.

[perseus]

I look at the opponent's moves. If he has an elegant mate, I might hang on. You never know he might get too excited and muck it up!

[beck15]

personally, i resign once i see that the position is lost for me and my opponent knows it. i don't hang around to get mated. i don't mind if my opponent resigns or hangs around to get mated, but i hATE stalling tactics.

reyn said:

I resign at any time I don't feel a win is going to happen, no matter what stage the game is at.

btw reyn, do u resign even when the likely outcome is a draw?

[yassen]

I now have exactly 200 losses at Stan's and of those 200 I think there are no more than 3 or 4 which ended with a mate. I remember one game when I simply didn't see a mate in 1 on the 8th rank and was quite surprised the game has suddenly dissapeared from my active games list;) As for the other few games, these are cases where my opponent had a nice mating combination and I just let him mate me so that he feels happier. In such cases I would congratulate him in the comments before his final move.

I would not go in such detail as Savin, but a word of advice to beginner players: please resign when you play a much stronger opponent (200+ points higher than you) who has obtained a decisive material advantage (a piece and above). It's a matter of respecting the opponent...

[tool]

As is always the case in this debate, no firm answer is or ever will be established but...

If you enjoy playing higher rated players, I find that you will continue to get games if you simply keep to the move pace and resign when clearly beaten. (Regardless of your rating and how much higher the opponent is)

Show no class, get no respect. (or rematches)

If an opponent stalls or makes me wait 3 weeks to play out an easy ending with a queen advantage, it will be the last game we play....I suspect others use the same criteria when deciding which lower rated players they will play or help to learn.

I'll also note that I would always happily play it out if my opponent leaves a note asking that he see the ending for practice...a little communication will also save the hassles!