I just resigned from the first game I've ever resigned online, and I'm not certain I should have. 13x13, black, even match. For most of the game, I had control of the top and about half of either side. I also had a big tendril down the center, not connected to any of my walls. I managed to run it out, so it wasn't in immediate danger, but as the rest of the board developed, I struggled to make it eyes. Lower right corner was pretty settled, no room for eyes there. I could get one eye against the edge at the bottom, but didn't (why not?! I could have, and was never blocked from doing it.), so there was still hope if I could squeeze around on the 1st line and make another eye in the fairly open lower left corner. I did manage to get a foot into that space before the action moved elsewhere. Fights were coming out poorly for me in the lower right, the left side, and then the top (hey! stop that!), so I was playing on tilt, feeling hopeless, and gave up saving the tendril. The end of the game was a bluff by my opponent up in my quickly shrinking top territory, and I stupidly put a group of 6 of my own stones in atari. My opponent offered to let me take it back, but by that time I was mentally and emotionally done with the game and just resigned.
On the one hand, in that mental state, my chances of recovering the game were slim.
On the other hand, I could have tried to recover from that mental state.
Which begs the question: if I'm not actually good at knowing when I've lost the game, rather than feeling like I've lost the game, should I ever resign? When I'm upset, I doubt myself, but if I give up, I'll never give myself the chance to see evidence to the contrary.
On the plus side, my opponent was super nice, and chatty, and we're OnlineGo friends now.
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