Given avaliablity of a board, opponent and time I would choose a real game (ie on a real board with real pieces).  It feels more like a real game to me.
However chess.com online games also have great advantages also;

• analyse games an options for future moves with analysis board
• step through past moves
• download pgn of past games

What do you prefer?

It is important if you want to learn that you don't just play online you play regulary against someone in person. If you don't it will be a suprise to you on how different it is. eg. timer

But as you said it is also good to play online as you can analyse moves. See where you went wrong etc. Also with online you can study openings, tactics, and endgame all here at chess.com.

Overall I prefer playing chess.com at the moment because it helps me improve a lot. ( as i am studying quite a bit at the moment) 

Real OTB is comparable with Online Live but the latter provides a greater variety of opponents, which I find fascinating, and gives me more learning opportunities.

lukeyboy_xx wrote:

... online as you can analyse moves. See where you went wrong etc. Also with online you can study openings, tactics, and endgame all here at chess.com. ...

 You can also analyse the conversation - if any. For instance, if my opponent mentions "horsie", I consider whether the knight is one of his preferred pieces and, if so, whether I should focus my attack on it.

My preferences:

     OTB > Live Chess > Correspondence Chess

OTB tournaments adds extra dimensions to the game... heightened pressure, an opponent you can see and hear, who's prepared, and has body language you can attempt to read. There are also tournament scoring considerations, fatigue, surrpise pairings, interesting locales, comraderie, chess celebrities, etc. But it costs more, too.  :)

OTB really is different.  I've been playing a lot here on chess.com, and hadn't played face to face in a while.

When I decided to take myself down to the local chess club, I was amazed at how different it felt!  Even the difference of the overhead vs. side view of the board!

I'll have to play more OTB before I could give a preference, though.

It's a little difficult to play OTB while I'm at work. Playing online lets me play throughout the day which is a great advantage for me since I've only been playing for a few months. There is no way I could get this much practice playing OTB.

Can you play Live Chess for 90 or 120 minutes per 40 moves like OTB or is it just for Speed Chess?

 I definitely prefer the "real game". It's easy to lose my line of thought in an Online game. I think that to use the analysis board during a game hinders one's development. You should always try to picture future positions in your mind. I must agree with the others that Online games are a great tool to learn openings, though.

OTB I would rather play over any online form, it is the best way for me to train and learn better chess.

LIVE It has its pros and cons I prefer to use it when I just need to let my brain loose, sometimes I play games where I just do random stuff to get out all the loose end of hours of training, I don't care rating wise on LIVE chess

Correspndence I use just to have a high online rating sometimes I learn new things, but I am generally not surprised by very much a lot of the the games I see look the same, and no I do not play the same people over and over again.

Anyway yea I would always choose OTB should I have the oppurtunity.

I agree with you Chessbee it is more personal.

Yea it really does just depend on what kind of player you are or if you want to learn what kind of learner you are, nothing bad about any of them, just a personal preference.

OTB is the best by far. You get to look your rival in the eyes. Winning and losing are much more emotional in that context.

OTB

What you can learn in the post-mortem makes face-to-face chess a valuable learning experience. Much harder to get this from an online game.

I like correspondent chess best overall.

1.) Because if I'm sick, tired or just don't feel like it that day i don't have to play.

2.) I can take more time on my moves overall, write down my analysis while im playing and play better chess because of it, even using analysis board to double check i have thought it out correctly.

3.) The costs for over the board (O.T.B.) tournaments put me off playing them to much, by the time u count tournament fee + transport, if not local + accommodation + food and drinks = a couple of hundred or so just for one tournament.

But i tell u if u can afford it nothing beats the atmosphere and real people experience u get from playing in them. It always excited me, is also very taxing on ur brain too.

I like online chess because it allows me ot play more chess than I would otherwise, and I can take breaks if I need to or make a stupid move.  However, I do like actually feeling the pieces in my hand and seeing how the opponent is thinking when playing OTB.  LIve is ok, but hard now since I have a week old I have to worry about, and can't simply jump away at a moment's ntoice playing Live.

I definately perfer OTB games. Untimed if possible, too. This is chess in it's natural environment,IMO. Unless you can't find someone to play against (you can always find someone online), then there really aren't many advantages to playing online. You can record your games and analyze them just as well as an online game.

Live chess is my favorite way to play chess over the internet. I dislike only the time controls which seem to be geared toward playing chess for pleasure.

The only advantage I see in online or correspondence chess having over live online chess, is that it allows you a longer time to ponder your move. Databases, etc. help you during your game but provide nothing that couldn't be learned after a live chess game. Playing a game of chess stretched over weeks or months isn't nearly as satisfying an experience for me as playing one in a sitting.