English Chess Forum

Warren Kingston wrote:A total arse, nice.

Well, you know what they say about speaking ill of the dead.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/commen ... 716632.ece

EDIT: Though I see he did have four wives...

I total respect for his achievements in the chess world but,

As I was a young junior making my way in the cut-throat chess world, he was one of the most arrogant people around, there have been plenty of other great veterans around at that time (some of who have since left us) who acted with alot more humility than Mr Phillips

Alan Walton wrote:

Sean Hewitt wrote:I would have thought that re-setting the pieces and handing the result to the controller would be perfectly acceptable if the opponent really is nowhere to be seen.

Still bad form not waiting for you opponent to arrive, it would only be a few minutes normally

Also don't both players have to sign the scoresheet?

Depends how long the player is away for I would have thought Alan ~ that's why I added the caveat "if the player really is nowhere to be seen." I don't think it's reasonable to ask a player to wait indefinitely.

Thankfully, as with most of the questions of this ilk they occur very infrequently, although once is once too often of course.

Most congresses and leagues don't get anyone to sign the scoresheet!

If you want to resign but your opponent has wandered off, it can't hurt to make a move and start the opponent's clock. If he comes back you can still resign; if he doesn't, well...

What's happening to our lovely game?

The etiquette of resigning is quite simple:

Smile
Hold out your hand, and congratulate your opponent on a good game
Offer to buy your opponent a drink
(if they're a proper lady/gentleman they'll buy you one - winner buys is the rule)

John Curtis wrote:What's happening to our lovely game?

The etiquette of resigning is quite simple:

Smile
Hold out your hand, and congratulate your opponent on a good game
Offer to buy your opponent a drink
(if they're a proper lady/gentleman they'll buy you one - winner buys is the rule)

What's the most impolite resignation you've had to suffer?

Sean Hewitt wrote: Depends how long the player is away for I would have thought Alan ~ that's why I added the caveat "if the player really is nowhere to be seen." I don't think it's reasonable to ask a player to wait indefinitely.

Indefinitely?
There is a clock for the exact purpose of having games of limited duration.
Tick... tock... tick... tock...

I played one game in a tournament where I was completely winning (those were the days) and went for a walk and came back to discover the pieces set up but no opponent. My scoresheet and pen were still there, and the arbiter came up and said that my opponent had handed in his scoresheet and then hurried off. A few years later I played him in the last round of the Civil Service Championship, a very friendly 16 player event. I was winning again and went for a walk, only to see him with his coat on sprinting for the door.
A player in Surrey has distinguished himself by explaining to you at great length what you did wrong if he wins, but when he loses, it is a different matter. At one match he "resigned" when I went for a toilet break, so next time I was beating him, I strolled off and when I reached the far side of the room, he jumped up and ran for the door. He has a problem when he loses as I think enough people have heard the story about when he turned a losing position into a good one, by taking a move back as his opponent wasn't at the board, and then boasted about it to his team-mates afterwards. (They were rather shocked and disgusted and he left the club shortly afterwards.) So people don't usually leave the board if they are playing him.
I subsequently played him in a friendly 5 minute event at somebody's house and he refused to shake hands!

I think these two players exemplify how not to resign with good etiquette.

I've been pretty lucky, not had to deal with some of the nonsense listed here. I've had one person walk off without shaking hands, but that's it. I always try to have a few friendly words with my opponent before a game, maybe that helps.

IanDavis wrote:

John Curtis wrote:What's happening to our lovely game?

The etiquette of resigning is quite simple:

Smile
Hold out your hand, and congratulate your opponent on a good game
Offer to buy your opponent a drink
(if they're a proper lady/gentleman they'll buy you one - winner buys is the rule)

What's the most impolite resignation you've had to suffer?

"I came here to play chess, not the Petroff" from the late Mike O'Hara on resigning having lost a piece at move 11 was the most memorable in more ways than one (it being my shortest game, let alone shortest win with black)

IanDavis wrote:

John Curtis wrote:What's happening to our lovely game?

The etiquette of resigning is quite simple:

Smile
Hold out your hand, and congratulate your opponent on a good game
Offer to buy your opponent a drink
(if they're a proper lady/gentleman they'll buy you one - winner buys is the rule)

What's the most impolite resignation you've had to suffer?

In protest at me politely asking my opponent to abide to the touch move rule (he had his piece and my piece in his hand at the time before trying to place another of his pieces on the capturing square with his other hand) my opponent threw his scoresheet at me and stormed off. Others include an opponent slamming his king on e1 so loudly that the whole of Hastings pier could hear, subsequent behaviour includes asking me what I'm f***ing looking at, refusing to shake hands, accusing me of laughing during the game after my opponent made a witty remark etcetc

One of the most impolite resignations I received was several years ago from a former president of the DCCA. His method was to was say "I cant stand this crap" and knock his king over. His aim was not too good and at the same time he knocked two or three other pieces over.

I dont know what brought this on but it may have been the very closed position where no pieces were taken until move 26 just prior to his resignation on move 30. I had noticed in previous events he was more at home in random messy open positions so naturally I closed everything up except for a small lever where I could attack.

I think I would have marginally preferred him to disappear to the tea area and default on time rather than insult my excellent strategy.

Which is worse - resigning with rather less than good grace, or not resigning at all? There's a particular player in the Coventry League who's known for never resigning - he always smiles and shakes hands when the game does finish, but it's still rather tiresome to have to play out K + Q + several Ps vs K to mate.

Michael Jones wrote:Which is worse - resigning with rather less than good grace, or not resigning at all?

Well, there are rules and there's etiquette/politeness.
If you can't stand your opponent not resigning in a lost position, you should ask for the rules to be changed.

That player does not do anything irregular.

I personally find extremely rude to demand/pretend politeness from others.

I know how rude it may appear not to resign in a lost position. However, playing against a computer (Chessmaster to say its name) that never resigns, I witnessed how often it succeeded to save the game even when I left the middlegame with a completely won position.
Then I realised that if I was making serious mistakes in completely won positions, an opponent of about my strength was likely to do the same when I was losing.
And thus I became more and more reluctant to resign, even if my position looked hopeless. Well actually when it gets REALLY hopeless, I resign, because there is no point in playing with a queen and a rook down...