It occurred to me on the way home yesterday that while I have watched bits of pieces of many pro matches played live on TV, I've never witnessed a resignation.

How do pros resign?

Do they simply say "I resign" ? Is there a special phrase? Is there body language involved? Do they slowly slide down their chair until plopping out onto the floor like a blob of jelly? Do different cultures have different resignation protocols?

The most common way I've seen without language is to put the stones you captured on to the board.

If we've learned nothing else from Hikaru no Go, we know how to resign.
1. Kind of make a choking sound in your throat.
2. Make sure you're making some sort of noise with the stones.
3. After you're done making the choking sound, stutter out the words, "I... I... resign" (preferrably with tears in your eyes).

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be immersed

Another way I have heard of it to place two stones on the board.

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Still officially AGA 5d but I play so irregularly these days that I am probably only 3d or 4d over the board (but hopefully still 5d in terms of knowledge, theory and the ability to contribute).

I thought clutching your knees was part of the formalities too?

Similarly, placing one of your opponent's captured stones on the board.

In Japan, sometimes, people say "makemashita" (= I've lost) or "arimasen" (literally there is nothing). The language-less methods mentioned above are also used. But I've noticed in the TV fast games that simply bowing slightly indicates resigning. After all, both players know the situation so any indication is enough.

I thought that was only done on the cover of Go World.

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Still officially AGA 5d but I play so irregularly these days that I am probably only 3d or 4d over the board (but hopefully still 5d in terms of knowledge, theory and the ability to contribute).

This, of course, leads to an immediate forfeit for cheating. It avoids having to concede that you have a losing position.

On occasion, the opponent will not notice that you played two stones, and will reply. When that happens, do it again on your next move. Several moves like that is usually enough to get you back in the game.

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In chess, one pro climbed on to the table and screamed "Why must I lose to this idiot??"

I've never seen it happen at a go board, although I have seen a few go games in which it would seem appropriate.

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Placing two prisoners on the board (Kang Dongyun): https://youtu.be/eMDN8hd8Qf4?t=1h9m18s
Placing one prisoner on the board (Cho Hanseung): https://youtu.be/7WY2TB9hXCM?t=1h7m10s
Tapping a prisoner twice on the side of the board (Lee Sedol): https://youtu.be/TxJsMOA9YFM?t=52m37s
Gesturing to the time referee (Lee Changho): https://youtu.be/LBBORH-6QRA?t=46m32s
Grasping the prisoner stones (Cho Hunhyun): https://youtu.be/lyImEC92zfk?t=50m27s

If somebody does this in the main player room at this year's US Open, I will buy them a beer.

If my opponent does this at the US Open, I will buy them two.

Promise made.

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- Brady
Want to see videos of low-dan mistakes and what to learn from them? Brady's Blunders

I've watched the scene 10 times, and I can't see when he's resigning. To me he just looks like he grabs his bottle, and then they begin to review the game. Are you sure he did not simply say "I resign"?

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La victoire est un hasard, la défaite une nécessité.

I think that's about as lively of a reaction as you're going to get from Lee Changho

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be immersed

Presumably, neither player was a pro. But, the 5th grader in this TV commerical resigned when he felt insulted.