Just curious how many players who play "turn-based" chess on here treat the games as OTB games (don't move the pieces around in between moves, don't consult databases.)

If you play OTB, I think it could weaken calculating ability. Anyone agree/disagree

One or two people in this discusssion and this one.

Realized, after starting this topic, that someone had beat me to it

I think it is a myth that you weaken your ability to calculate OTB if you use the analysis board.
I would say on the contrary cause you look at more possibilities open your eyes for more options/possibilities. I think I learned some from the analaysis board.

You don't think the ability to see calculations in your head that are more than a few moves long isn't weakened by not practicing that ability?

I do. I work it out in my head first and use the analysis board to check.

That makes sense

I never use the analysis board, but if a line is complicated enough I will break out a real set and board to check it.  "Blindfold" analysis isn't so difficult once you acquire the skill through practice, as hard as it seems at first.  I have found moves with the real board I missed analyzing without it, but only rarely.

But I don't use it because I don't need it, if I thought it would help I would use it, and any correspondence player who doesn't make full use of every reference at his disposal, including databases, which are legal, is illogically hurting his own chances. 

I use databases extensively as long as the game is in them.  Quite often the games in other lines, once you get deep enough, can give you ideas which can be tried or adapted to the line you end up in.  Not to go over those games is just dumb. 

I will use it only when the position gets very complicated and I'm debating two tricky candidate moves. I think using it on every turn is a very bad idea.

I know an analysis board isn't cheating in correspondence chess but I can't get over the feeling it is. But I'm far from a purist - I move the piece, see how the position looks and then decide whether to withdraw the move or click submit. I'd never get away with that in an OTB game. Another reason I like not using the analysis board is to gauge how good my intuition is on moves where I can't calculate the consequences in full but "feel" it's the right move to make

I play correspondence on USCF thats the only one I take seriously besides otb play.

Serious chess players study chess at home, the sit down and do analysis of positions even when they're not at tournaments with a clock ticking, and many of them play turned based or correspondence chess specifically to improve their OTB skills. 

As far as using the analysis board in correspondence chess, is that not exactly the same as having a board set up on your kitchen table when the next postcard comes in? 

I don't understand why people think it's inappropriate.

I guess I don't play enough OTB chess (confined to a few tournaments a year) so if I did use the analysis board for turn-based chess, I'd never calculate in my head. I might be more inclined to use the analysis board if I played OTB more often because I'd still be calculating moves in my head on a regular basis

I use chessbase 11 to look at my games and when the positions are critical I print out the board position and set up my tournament board upstairs and think about it and write notes on my 3 best moves with counters etc. I only play CC games because its entertaining and my otb skills can go up.

I have just started to play correspondence chess. I use the analysis tools and my chess board. I do this because after years of pushing wood and blundering around, I'm now trying to study and learn the game correctly. I will never use an engine to make my moves. I try, using the tools, to think out the best move I can. In correspondence chess, my rating doesn't matter; neither does winning or loosing, that's only an indication of how well I'm thinking and learning. A simular tool that I love is the chess mentor. It helps me to learn how to think about the possition. The rating that I think really counts is standard OTB chess.

I use Chess Assistant 12, use the database, move the pieces, generally choose at least 3 candidate moves, and consider each line till the end, and then evaluate the position I reached again. I believe correspondence chess is completely different from OTB, and cannot be compared. I also write long text on the positional factors of each position, a thing you cannot do in OTB.

And I also sleep over a move I found. I'm sorry to let my opponents wait, but I want to be sure that the day after I don't see something new. Again, I believe the two types of chess are completely different. Like OTB is different from 1-3 minutes bullet games.

I use CB 9 to research and analyze my CC games without an engine, the analysis is my own. It's very handy to have all my analysis recorded as I move the pieces on the "virtual" chess board, although sometimes it gets confusing since I basically do brute-force searches that can quickly get out of hand.

I suppose some players can get by without an analysis board even in CC but I think most players, like me, need all the help they can get.

I generally don't consult opening books, but I do move the pieces around. I try to do this to stretch my understanding of and also for calculating openings.This still is exercising my calculation skill. I do use the analysis feature to help me see things I otherwise wouldn't even consider due to it's obscure nature. I think I have a pretty good system. I played a rare over the board game against a friend last weekend and I only see improvement in my calculation skill and not a regression.

I usually, don't use the analysis board, but I should. It would help me.