One thing that is strange to me is that people at the total beginner level seem to like to resign from games. I say “people,” because in my admittedly very very short chess life (less than a month long hahaha), half the opponents have been resigning. Purely based on my general worldview outside of chess, I thought the % would be more like 10 out of 100 or 5 out of 100.
I have heard that at the Grand Master level, it’s a courtesy (decency?) to resign when it’s obvious that you’re going to lose. (I’m not sure if this is actually the case or not, and how much of a hard rule this is. Not only am I new to chess, the game, but also I’m new to all the etiquettes surrounding the game.)
But when you’re a beginner, the thing is, nobody is seeing the moves. 😭 Like, I have hung so many pieces and sometimes, nobody, neither me nor the opponent, notice it until way way way later. Also it’s like I’m blind to checkmates and the opponent is also blind.
(This is why I think it’s so great that there are these bot systems for chess. In my current state, I would literally not be able to play on an actual physical board because I would not notice what is happening with my king. I would keep making illegal moves. – – – – I am hoping that a year from now, I can read through all chess-tagged posts on this blog, and laugh. You gotta start from somewhere. 🤷♀️)
Anyway, so it’s strange to me that a total beginner would think they can see enough moves to resign out of courtesy.
One time, an opponent “offered” a draw twice, the second they started losing pieces. I guess offering a draw is a different matter from resigning. I didn’t think the opponents’ draw offers were a courtesy or decency or etiquette at all. I was actually mildly offended and refused the offers hahaha. Like, if you are a beginner (which I am too) then at least have the decency to finish the game to learn something. Or, well, have the decency to actually resign instead of pretending like you’re offering a draw.
Eventually, the opponent resigned. 🤷♀️