TalJechin wrote on 02/26/14 at 17:33:19:


Well I see your point; perhaps he thought I was being rude for not resigning?  Still seems odd, though.  After verifying that I was lost I played each of my moves almost immediately (just a few seconds to write the move down and execute them politely, no slamming pieces or the clock), and I had to wait about 3 minutes or so for 31.Qxd8, as well as for each of move 28, 29, and 30.  And I agree that it wasn't an exceptional mate--if I walked into it today I would just resign--but that was twelve years ago and we certainly weren't Grandmasters (you can see our rating).   

Maybe it's a cultural thing.  I suspect that most American and British players would think that I was being polite by waiting at the board to allow my opponent to mate me, and that my opponent was being rude in waiting 3 minutes to play 31.Qxd8 mate.  He obviously saw it; it's not some weird study with pieces in random places.

Not that I think I was terribly slighted or anything, this thread just reminded me of the incident.  I admit I'm surprised with the idea that I may have behaved rudely--I know Nigel Short has allowed his opponents to mate him instead of resigning at various times, and other strong players have as well.  I wasn't wasting any of his time as I was responding to the moves in only a few seconds.   

No big deal, anyway, sorry for the thread derail.

ErictheRed wrote on 02/25/14 at 19:16:38:

So have I (on the losing end that is). I made the first move of the mating sequence and didn't push the clock. So the choice was my opponent's: play the mate or making me lose on time. He being a nice guy chose the first option; the second option (something we even hadn't thought about) meant that the joke would have been on him.

Pale Horse, Pale Rider wrote on 02/25/14 at 22:07:18:


I had a similar case a few years ago. At least three winning lines for me and the only reason not to resign for him seemed to be that he was hoping for a trap somewhere. So, I spent 20-30 minutes trying to find what he was hoping for (I had like an hour left for five moves). After 30 minutes my opponent whines "Can't you make a move so I can give up?" 

Btw, on the "being an ass" part, I think that title belongs to the one who continues in a lost position, not the one winning too slowly. It's perfectly okay to resign even when it's your opponent's move. 

After all, their biggest hope is that the winning side will make a mistake - so showing that you haven't relaxed and intend to win in your own good time is probably one of the best ways to snuff out the last resistance.

IMJohnCox wrote on 02/24/14 at 22:41:34:


Savoring the moment, perhaps?   

I've experienced something similar, on the losing end.  I once had a very up-and-down Sicilian game with opposite-side castling, and I overlooked a very nice shot of my opponent.  I thought for a while, looked for a defense, cheapo, trap, anything--nothing.  I realized I was done.  But in a moment of good sportsmanship, I decided to play the line that didn't lose a piece, but ended in mate instead.  I made my move politely and waited for my opponent to play his mating combination.

And waited.  And waited.  And waited...

Something like 20 minutes later, he finally moved, and he took a couple of minutes per move to get to the mate, so that the whole painful ordeal took maybe half an hour.  I never did that again; either I just resign now or I make a move and get up and walk around, looking at the other boards.  If my opponent is going to mate me quickly I'll return to the board and shake his hand when the game finishes, but no more waiting around for half an hour.  I have no idea what happened that day, if my opponent was being an ass or whether he honestly didn't know he had played a mating combination or what.

lnn2 wrote on 02/24/14 at 15:56:20:


Wow!

Btw, maybe we should have yearly poll on the best (or most romantic/flamboyant/crowd pleasing etc) games of the of the previous year?

Scarblac wrote on 02/24/14 at 10:39:17:


Memory fail(ure) -- thanks for pointing it out.

kylemeister wrote on 02/22/14 at 15:42:32:

It was Anand's main defence in his match against Gelfand.