Resigning?

In short, it is up to you when you want to resign - there is no truly "proper" etiquette.  However, if a player feels like they are completely lost and is futile to play on, resigning can be a good option to just end the game and move on from there.

I always tell my beginner students not to resign. You made a mistake and lost a piece? Ok, keep fighting, try to create chances, let your opponent show you the win. So, play till the end. You gotta learn how to finish a game and if it's from your own losses, it's also ok. Playing a lot online has taught me to be patient and not get annoyed with players who don't give up, even at higher levels. Checkmate ends the game. As you're getting better, you'll see when you're in an endgame with R+K vs. K with no pawns, it's time to resign because your opponents know how to convert this.

Yes in the beginning a loss of a queen is not a major deal especially at lower levels, keep in mind the other person is at a lower level for probably the same reasons, hanging pieces give them a chance to mess up

don't resign unless your opponents only legal move is checkmate

Thanks! 

i only resign when I know the other player can convert the position into a win

if they seem like they don't know how to checkmate with a king+queen, i don't resign and test them on whether they can actually do it

Hi! I suggest for you to never resign because your opponent can make a huge mistake. Take a look at this video that I created: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxuFI6ut3Uk

If you are "lost" then by all means resign if you and your opponent both know the game outcome, rather than waste the time from you both. Personally, I believe it comes down to counterplay, piece activity and your ability to swindle the game by muddying the waters

With this said, resigning becomes more common at the higher levels because of many reason including:

- lower rated players are more likely to blunder back the advantage themselves and also less likely to convert winning positions optimally.

- higher rated players are less likely to fall for tricks such as stalemate.

- lower rated players typically require a larger margin for error to decide games; at the highest levels, an endgame could easily be resign-able by just being down a pawn, but sub-1000 chess.com rating, even several Queens might not be enough (more Queens might actually help the defender by stalemate traps!)

In short, I believe that most players give up too easily even if there is a time and place to resign. If you honestly feel you can get more than a loss realistically speaking, then by all means you can try to play on!

It's entirely up to the individual whether he wants to resign or to play on.

I would suggest that you resign when you feel that there is nothing further that can be learned from that game.

have you got anything to lose by carrying on . No you havnt so keep going you will gain experience from doing so 

Not quite true. If there's nothing further that you can learn from continuing to play that particular lost game, then your time would be more productively used by resigning and starting a new game. You would learn more that way.

If there is no way you can save the game (opponent has a Queen and king VS your king for example) you should resign, of course the guy could stalemate you but at the 1200 and higher level that becomes close to impossible.

Of course you could continue to play a lost game if you want but keep in mind that you're wasting your opponent's time as well as yours!