Tuesday: Perhaps it's time I posed this question to my sports psychologist:
why are my 2 favorite sports/games (curling and chess) ones in which resignation in the face of virtually certain defeat is appropriate and expected (as opposed to the majority of contests--which are played until time expires, specific goals are reached, or a certain number of points are scored, etc.)?

I'm not sure it's merely a coincidence; this may be more a matter of temperament.