Ask Coach Jessica: How to Know When to Resign and GM Mating Patterns

Hola, ChessKids! Looking at some grandmaster chess games, it often seems like they resign WAY earlier than I ever would. I mean, your position may be ugly, but is it time to give up? 

Clearly GMs are strong enough to know when their game is won. They either have recognized a pattern they know will lead to a win, or they have calculated it out.

GMs often assume their opponents see what they see and give up when they see a loss. But do YOUR opponents always see every trick?

PerfectPink wonders whether it's a good idea to give up if you are down a queen and your opponent is rated over 1000. Mrs. Jessica E Prescott (aka BoundingOwl) thinks, "Nope!"

1. By giving up you make it so easy on your opponent. They're like, "Phew! I don't have to work anymore."
2. You never know what could happen. Your opponent could blunder a queen right back!
3. By staying in the game you practice your fighting skills. Part of being a good chess player is determination, and persevering even in difficult situations is where masters excel!

Newly crowned U.S. Junior Champion GM Kayden Troff (only 16 years old!) recently exemplified #2. Click through the moves of this awesome short game where Troff appears to get his queen trapped but wins plenty of compensation for it. Then he traps his opponent's queen!

Game Analysis by James Satrapa

Now try some puzzles where masters get mated! These are good patterns to add to your repertoire. Hint: you don't even need your queen to be the checkmating piece!

What's better than a queen? Mate! Sac your queen to open up the seventh rank for your rook. Devious discovery!

Here is another mate in three. It's White's turn. This game took place in 1860, but the pattern is just as important today! Do you see the dreadful d-file? Sac that queen! Make forcing moves, or Black will checkmate you!

Another queen sac on the d-file. The second move is tricky: Be sure to eliminate the king's escape square on e7.

So how do you know when to resign? It's considered respectful to resign if the game is obviously absolutely lost. The question becomes, "does my opponent really know how to win?"

I would say if they are rated over 1000, a queen isn't necessarily enough to give up the whole game. If they are about to mate you in one move, though, or if they are using a ladder checkmate or a simple pattern that forces checkmate, then it's OK to shake hands and bow and congratulate them on a good game.

(Former World Champion Anand and current World Champion Carlsen)

Ask more questions on the Ask Coach Jessica Forum, and have a great week!

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