If you are playing an opponent who is much stronger than you (like 7 kyu to dan) is it rude to continue the game after it has reached the point that the opponent has won since you want the practice or should you resign as a polite gesture to the stronger opponent so they don’t get bored?
1 Like
You should resign but you could ask your opponent if they don’t mind continuing for you to practice. If they don’t mind then carry on but if they’d rather the game finished then resign.
3 Likes
I generally disagree with that direction. Weak players aren’t a nuisance.
(Some strong players might argue that they are, but my guess is those strong players are pretty boring in a bunch of other ways and oblivious to it.)
If a weak player knows a game isn’t going anywhere, it’s good to resign because the game isn’t going anywhere, not because strong players have a stronger argument on whose time is more valuable. I always find that disrespectful.
The most important thing, in my opinion, is to know when to let go. If you just keep playing to get to scoring and be done with it, it’s time to resign.
7 Likes
This is a hard question because I know some strong players share different ideas. Some strong players are quite mean and maybe disgusted weaker opponents did not resign after I clear defeat. But personally, I don’t mind, as long as the opponent did not try to continue to make trouble after all the dame points are played.
I really don’t think resign is necessary as I think every player has the right to finish a game and learn from others.
2 Likes
I once also discussed this topic with a fox 9d, in which he suggested that go players should estimate the points and resign if once apparently going to lose. He pointed at a game in which one side have lost around 50 points and said so.
My argument would be, indeed, professional players and many high-dan hobbyists have the ability to know the final result of the end game even if it is a half-point defeat. Is it really necessary for players to resign? I don’t think so.
Finish a game is a right for go players! That’s my point.
1 Like
resign if you are far behind in score in current game,
don’t resign just because you are behind in rank
3 Likes
Personally, I feel playing out a lost game is a waste of time for both players. The stronger player will likely play slack so the endgame is not high quality practice.
The time would be better spent on another game (perhaps with higher handicap, if the goal is to work on endgame)
1 Like
Resigning is a personal choice. It doesn’t matter if your opponent is kind, rude, bored, etc. Keep playing if you find it fun.
2 Likes
When you are clearly lost, your opponent may play very safely to keep his lead or simply lose concentration. Not a good opportunity to practice something. It’s much better to resign and spend your time for analysis or a new game. In addition, proper resigning is in itself a good practice of objectively judging the position.
6 Likes
This question has of course been asked and answered before.
-
It is definitely and officially “rude” to ask your opponent to resign. Doing that puts you in breach of OGS Terms of Service which say “don’t be rude or harrass your opponent”.
-
You are under no obligation to resign just because you have a losing position. Each game has lessons for both players, right up until the territories are closed, and even till the dame are played (in Chinese rules).
-
It is rude to keep playing after the territories are sealed and you can’t credibly improve your score, and your opponent passes. At that point you need to pass or resign.
Summary: if your opponent has not passed, you are not required to end the game in any way.
6 Likes
The stronger the earlier. But that’s not always the case, as even sometimes pros finish to the bitter end a clearly lost game.
2 Likes
Where is this quote from?
It’s a slight paraphrase of our Terms of Service
… the change from the TOS is that I summarised
“Upload, post, or otherwise make available any unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, defamatory, offensive, vulgar, obscene, libelous, hateful, or otherwise objectionable content”
as “be rude”
1 Like
In my personal opinion, if you are fully aware of your defeat and its inevitability, then your acceptance of this defeat (and, as a result, resignation) is good training in itself. Of course, by deliberate and timely resignation, you show respect to your opponent and yourself (in my people they say that if the horse is dead, then it is better to stop riding it). However, to act one way or another is only your choice, which, of course, can characterize you in the eyes of other people.
3 Likes
What a uselessly generic interpretation of those words. One could equally validly argue that playing on instead of resigning in a clearly lost position is against the terms of service because some people find that “objectionable”.
4 Likes
One could, but we don’t.
It’s not a generic interpretation of the rules, it’s THE interpretation currently in place, based on the values of the moderation team and input from previous discussions like this one.
7 Likes
In which case it’s disingenuous to justify that position as simply “against the TOS”, but rather it’s against the hive mind collective policy of the moderation team, who chose to selectively apply the TOS in forming OGS moderation policy.
2 Likes
I think it’s worth being clear about the difference between “etiquette” and “requirements”.
The question was posed under the heading of “Go etiquette”. It’s long standing etiquette to resign a losing position even though there is no rule requiring you to do so.
And I would say there are more reasons to resign when you have clearly lost them to continue.
3 Likes
Rather off topic but I suppose if you wanted to take us to court to have a judge make a definite determination then that might be a possibility -something you are allowed to do - but I might suggest that it (and your tone here) could be seen as poor etiquette given the spirit of this site and the TOS.
1 Like
Err what? All I want is mods to say “don’t do this, it’s against OGS policy” rather than the stronger but logically unsound statement “don’t do this, it’s against OGS TOS”. I’ve been a moderator of OGS myself, and I found not making overly strong logically unsound statement leads to better moderation, because you don’t invite argumentation with people, such as myself, who like logical reasoning and call out its absence.
3 Likes