Hi,
i am a little bit confused by the discussion in the reversi-thread. In go it is simple. :-) If i am behind and i see no way to win a game, i resign and both players are happy with that. Resigning in a hopeless position is considered as polite behavior.
Until i read that some people have fun in playing every game to the end, evan if the outcome is more then clear.
So my yestion is:
If you are winning in these games beside Go, is it more boring to you if i play on or is it more exciting seeing the end? Is it considered rude to trying to win a hopeless game or is it rude to not let the opponent see the end of the game?
This is about reversi: I find it exciting to see the end, to see what I have worked for the whole game. I have no problem in resigning if there are only forced moves left (but perhaps the system can take care of that, see other thread). In reversi, the disc-count is important too. Perhaps not here at littlegolem, but on tournaments elsewhere it is. The endgame needs a different strategy and it's good to play it, regardless you're winning or losing.
I dont mind resigning in amazons, because when the areas are sealed, it's very simple to play PLUS I don't believe there is a such thing as disccount.
I think in Amazon, I would consider it polite to resign, when al queens are in a seperate area (or at least no to opposing queens can meet), and you have less territory then the opponent. (except the difference is not so big, and he has still thinking to do)
In Hex it is also somtimes easy to see the game is played when one player has 2 possible connections, at a point, and always can close one, if the opponent blocks the other. Anyway I guess if the losing player resigns, it is never rude. The Reversi tread was about if the winning player can declare victory before the real end of the game...
The answer to this question will vary with playing strength. As a beginner in a game I have no idea when the game is decided so I like to play it out. There is always something to learn in the endgame even if you know you will lose. When you start getting hold of the game there you should consider resigning when you understand there is nothing to be done.
My apologies to my opponents that have to make unecessary moves. I have been through this on both sdes of the board and I know that when an opponent continues to play in a lost position it does me no harm at all. After all you dont have to spend much time finding best moves in those situations.
Thanks to all the responses. Now after only 24 hours i at least got the guildline to resign in all games except reversi, where i can determine that my position is hopeless. Of corse i have to build up the playing strength for that decicion first. :-)
Little Golem