About resignation

Some people hate to resign. Some cultures consider "death is preferable to dishonour," too and I have never been a fan of that attitude. Let's consider the situation.

You see that you are many points behind your opponent, and the opportunities to catch up are limited. What can you do?

• Hope your opponent will screw up. Try some really complicated invasion, or attack. This might work. However it shows a lack of respect for your opponent. This is Go, after all, not Chess. Your opponent got ahead of you - give him the credit for that.
• Continue playing - if you are online, maybe your opponent will lose her link and disappear. It happens.
• Continue and lose by a large margin. This is usually quite depressing, and you will probably not learn anything more from the game. Remember, this is not a Greek tragedy. There is nothing to be gained by going down in flames.
• Run away. That is very common online. Also considered very rude.
• Resign, leave the table and try to forget it ever happened.
• Resign, play another game, and try to avoid what you did in the last game.

• What is the object of the game?
• Why are territory points better than capture points?
• Why do I keep getting captured?
• What is a ladder?
• What is so important about "2 eyes?"
• Why does play start near the corners?
• How do I know when the game is over?
• Why would anyone resign?
• What are kyu and dan ratings?
• Who is Tel and why should I care what he thinks?
• Where do I go from here?
• More advanced concepts