I would like to discuss something that appears to be commonplace behavior on BrainKing.

Let me preface my remarks by admitting that I've only been playing on this site for a short time, and then, almost exclusively Camelot, so perhaps my observations are only a holiday phenomenon, or perhaps they don't apply to other games.

Anyway, it is my impression that it is the norm here to continue playing the game, even when the outcome is obvious, and the cause is hopeless.  Resignation in that case seems to be the exception rather than the rule.

Let me be the first to point out a couple of things:

1.No player is forced to resign; obviously, each player has the absolute right to continue playing to the bitter end.

2.There are positions where a player seems to be hopelessly behind in material, yet has traps, tricks, attacks, or some other means of pulling a win or a draw from the jaws of defeat.

3.There is some benefit in continuing to play, and in so doing, learning from the technique displayed by the opponent as he or she moves on to victory.

That said, my background for over 40 years has been tournament (over-the-board) chess where if you are playing against a player much higher rated than yourself, and your position is hopeless with absolutely no chance to even draw the game, you resign.

I was just wondering if others have noticed this reluctance to resign in lost positions.

Again, I'm not complaining--it's every player's right to continue the fight!