This was brought to my attention by a pair of back-to-back chess matches, but it happens with video games too.
I'm better than many of my friends at certain games. For the purposes of this, I'll just discuss the chess match. My roommate and I are on uncertain terms right now. We get along to a certain extent, but we also get on each other's nerves. Recently, we started playing chess. Tonight we played the second and third game. I have won all three, each time because he has failed to defend his queen adequately. Two of the games have been back and forth; the last was sort of a rout, to the point where he resigned. I had sacrificed a bishop to take a bishop, a rook, and a knight, and then trapped his queen. I have been thinking about throwing the next game so he doesn't get too upset. I am fiercely competitive, to my detriment, and the only reason I can brook losing on purpose is that I'm up on him 3-0 at this point. Unfortunately, I had decided to play the third game somewhat recklessly, as an experiment and told myself if I lost, that would work out okay, which it did not. I don't want to insult him by not playing up to my best, and I know one only improves by playing real games, not meatballs. However, he got pretty frustrated by the end of the third game and I don't want to stop playing. It's been a while since I've had someone to play with aside from my girlfriend, and I taught her, so you can imagine how those matches go. So, to the point. Is it sportsmanlike to throw a match in order to rally your opponent's spirits and encourage further competition, rather than defeat him until his desire to compete is gone? And lest you think me arrogant, I can see us being on the same level in a few more matches, he's just rusty and more impetuous in the later game; his opening game is much stronger than mine. I want even matches almost as much as I want to win.
