When is the right time to resign or continue a game?

[Alberich]

Obviously you should resign when you know you're losing but playing Go makes it hard to see when you're losing unlike western chess when it's very clear to see you're losing. So my question is twofold:

1. Are there any tips for knowing the right time to resign a game to avoid embarrassment for prolonging the struggle?

2. Are there any tips for helping one decide to continue the game and not resign?

[Alguien]

A little about it at sensei

Resign when you are certain that you can't win unless the opponent starts filling his own eyes.

My only suggestions are:
- When you decide you should resign, play a couple more moves and then decide again. Don't resign based on a single board position.
- When you are sure that the only way for you to win would be a brutal blunder by your opponent, its better to resign and go to the next game than to place stones everywhere hoping for that blunder. It's unpolite, a time waste and you learn nothing for the next game.

I don't really regret resigned games, even if I later discover I might have had a chance, because the time not spent on a lost game is better used on one with possibilities.

[OtakuViking]

1. You know you should resign when your opponent has no aji left for you to exploit, all positions are settled and you're terribly behind on points.
Of course you need to know how much you are behind/ahead and the way to do this is to count points and then factor in weaknesses in the positions which might be exploited later.
As a general rule, keep playing until it is obvious to you that you can't do anything that might turn the game around. Never resign too early! If you can try something, try it! I vote that it's a more dignified way of losing than simply giving up prematurely.


2. Is there any chance of attacking/killing something? Can you make a desperate invasion and try to live in order to turn the game around? If so, keep playing

[Joaz Banbeck]

... but playing Go makes it hard to see when you're losing ...

I've seen a pro resign with 20+ moves to go. He knew that his opponent would win by 1.5 points.

When to resign? When the only way you can win is if your opponent has a heart attack.

[palapiku]

2. Are there any tips for helping one decide to continue the game and not resign?

If you are ahead, don't resign

[jts]

I would suggest not resigning until you're quite good. Go is actually not that different from chess in this regard; beginners are inclined to resign after, say, losing their queen, when in fact your strategic position may be absolutely better (even to the point of having a mating sequence that you're missing), and even if it's not, there is still plenty of room to recover if your opponent is e.g. weak in endgame.

[Alguien]

(even to the point of having a mating sequence that you're missing)

Oh yes. I've missed so many mating sequences...

[gowan]

2. Are there any tips for helping one decide to continue the game and not resign?

If you are ahead, don't resign

I hope my elderly brain isn't playing tricks on me but I believe it happened that the famous Japanese pro Otake Hideo 9-dan, multiple winner of the Meijin tournament and other top tournaments, once resigned a game where he was ahead because he was disgusted with his play. If you are a great master who cares deeply about the artistic character of his play, like Otake, then that makes sense. For the rest of us I think resigning when you think you have no chance to win is a reasonable policy. Sure, we'll make some mistakes that way and resign games we could have won if only we had seen the way but so what. You'll get to play more games that way and you will take a step towards losing the egotistical idea that whether you win or lose is at all important.

[Bonobo]

[..] I believe [..] Otake Hideo 9-dan [..] once resigned a game where he was ahead [..]

He’d be banned on KGS (or at least admonished) if this game had been played there—IIRC their TOS forbids resigning when one’s ahead

[Kirby]

The right time to resign is when it's not fun anymore.

[Alberich]

The right time to resign is when it's not fun anymore.

Define "when it's not fun anymore".

[oren]

Define "when it's not fun anymore".

When all the aji is gone....

[Kirby]

The right time to resign is when it's not fun anymore.

Define "when it's not fun anymore".

I think I can define what's fun for me, but if I have to define what's fun for you, then I've gotta say I'm at a loss...

[daniel_the_smith]

It is never the right time to resign!

...unless you're my opponent. In that case...

It is always the right time to resign!

[Laman]

resigning always hurts your chance of winning.

on the other hand, at my last tournament i won 3 games, by 20, 30 and 40 points, and playing out the endgame in these felt a bit pointless (for a 2k EGF). resign when you see that continuing just wastes your or opponent's time.

(edited wrong word choice)