Resigning in Chess

"Is one expected to battle to the end, even if one has absolutely no chance of winning?"

Presumably you mean "drawing" (and there's your first lesson). :)

nice thread........pretty much the gamut of responses...... i think you'll come to your own comfort zone with resigning. part of which - is , evaluating the position. like, am i demolished (easy), do i have a chance, am i ahead, or is my opponent ahead... chess is a pretty tough game, and guys are occasionally trying to influence you to do this or that. eventually you'll just no what you want to do, and you should do it. there are rules in chess, and if you are not violating a rule, your opponent has no right to squawk.

there's also offering draws, which to me is a more complicated little subject.

I think @bwm very politely asked a fair question. No need to mock him or something. From his point of view, he supposed that resigning a lost position might insult the opponent because they can't enjoy the win.

Usually the opposite is the case. Many players become angry when you don't resign. I still do not know if there is really a generally accepted etiquette about this. Just do as you please. There will always be some who will tell you you're acting rude ...

My pet hate is players who play on for ages when completely lost right up to the move before I am about to checkmate them and THEN they resign.

If my opponent plays a great move that forces say checkmate in 4 I think it is only polite to let them showcase the coup de grâce.

100%

You're more or less a beginner, so if you're learning then there's no harm in playing-on. And to be honest where ratings are <1500 there's a non-negligble chance that even in a winning position your opponent will blunder, or fall for a trap, so if that is important to you, will help. It will help you understand ways of rescuing a draw, and also potentially about closing off a game. Speaking as someone whose rating is still lowish but has climed a little from the beginner level, I found that playing when down helped me learn how to close off games - which was something I had less experience of early on, as so many people do quit when losing.