Explore · why resign?
WorksheetEvery click puts together 20 new positions of Why resign? at random to print – or 10, 30 or 40, 10 a page, with a page of solutions if you like.As a PDF: choose “Save as PDF” in the print window of the browser.In these games no mate stood on the board, and still it was over: one side resigned – or lost on time, the game does not tell. With at most five men the tablebase knows the truth; with more, Stockfish measured the last positions of the great players. Mostly the loss was deserved: can you see why? But sometimes the end came too early.
White to move. For White this is lost, says the tablebase – play its way through: the best defense and why it is not enough.
15,113 last positions in which the tablebase confirms the loss. The great players first – a click puts one on the board, “Show more” brings the next ones.
455 games were lost although the tablebase sees the last position otherwise: 395 were a draw, 60 even a win. Whether a player resigned or lost on time, the game does not tell – often the clock probably just ran out.
That holds above all for fast games: 40 blitz and 13 rapid games are among them. Of all fast games 5.1 % ended like this, of the classical ones only 2.8 %. With only seconds left on the clock, even a position that could be held is lost.
With more than five men no tablebase knows the truth. So Stockfish measured the last position of every such game of the great players (62,769 games, depth 18); from +2 for the winner it counts as lost – 61,035 times.
In 1,734 games Stockfish gave the winner less than +2 at the end: 1,392 were about level, 342 even better for the side that lost. Whether resigned or lost on time, the game does not tell.
Here too mostly in fast games: 385 blitz and 155 rapid games are among them. Of the fast games 4.2 % ended so, of the long ones 2.4 %.
16 measurements did not reach the depth within the time limit and do not count.
Data as of 12 November 2026.
