We've all seen it  before...Someone is bored and wants to play a game of chess but there are no worthy opponents around. So he decides to play against himself. I've done it a few times, have you? Sometimes I subconsciously choose a side and constantly have to remind myself that I can't do that in order to practice pure strategy. 

I'd also like to know how this might affect your game? Does it make you better since you are playing an opponent equally rated to yourself, or does it somehow worsen your game? 

sometimes i *play* agaisnt myself to help remember openings or to play out possible moves my oppenent would make and counters for those moves but most pepole could not play agaisnt themselves without the starain of reminding themselves not to favor once certain side

I have tried it once or twice, but I always knew my own plan. (I won 100% of the time) : D

ADK

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I would think you never would win. Just a bunch of draws.

 

I play myself all the time, but I allow takebacks. I call it analysis

Then you have this aspect of it...if you have a self-mutilating personality, you always lose!  If you are an overconfident player, you fall into traps...

Here's the kicker.  Play moves, and then always try to find a flaw in what you just played, and no take backs.  Do it for both sides, and play both sides aggressively.  Forsake your plans and play for blood, sweat and tears.  You really will have a hard battle then - and a headache!  :-)

I can remember playing at the board during nights when I couldn't get any rest.  I would try out different styles of play, and play both sides with heart.  Of course, considering that personal analysis is always flawed, I was always able to find something I missed when I switched colors, and it made the game very tough, to say the least.  One side would finally become dominant.  It was rare that I made any draws.  I remember one time I played myself and I did manage to secure a draw, but it was a bloody battle.  Both the White and Black side of me were beaten Black and Blue! 

Cute story, by the way...it brought a smile to my face.

I play with myself ... ;) LOLZORZ question

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 Interesting, I wish I had that ability to concentrate on BOTH sides.

Thanks

I always thought the trick would necessitate some ability to forget/distance yourself from the game at hand, and I never really figured out how I might do that and keep it interesting. Like, should you only make a move once a week, and set it entirely aside so that you remain impartial enough?

I bet grandmasters can lay in bed doing that (visualizing throwing the pieces out, seeing variations), which trips me right out.

Moreover, how embarrassing is it when/if you play yourself and you have it analysed afterwards and both sides are making mad blunders? Haha. I prefer to screw up only ONE side of the board at a time.

In the movie classic "Grumpy Old Men" Jack Lemon's character played himself at 1 move/day. Maybe that would cut down on you favoring one side.

Well, it isn't really forgetting - try this - begin to purposefully create an imbalance on side of the board, and the other side play for a different purpose.  Let's say, for instance, that you want to practice attack, and defense at the same time.  So with White, let's play all moves as if we have an attacking purpose, but play Black with a more conservative approach.  This will affect your opening choices, and how you handle them.  It sounds hard, but really, don't invest extra effort into it.  Here's another way to do it.  Play out both sides full force for about 15 moves, and then purposefully make a lemon with one side, or better yet, play an unanalyzed move that is entirely speculative, like a pawn sac, or an exchange sacrifice... and then continue the game at full speed.  When you think you understand the plan, then do something sporadic so that you have to re-evaluate the position.

I used to do this a lot...I haven't really done it anymore, I just to analysis if I do anything anymore.  Right now I am in a fun stage - play chess and have fun, lose and learn, and celebrate my wins...At the moment, I don't even study my wins, as crazy as that sounds.  I figure, the idea works - so I use it until someone else proves that it doesn't work, and then I try to modify it...

I just like to have fun.  But if you are going to play against yourself, try new and creative things, like playing openings that you have no idea how to normally handle, like even something like 1. h4 with White, or 1. e4 h5...or something totally different.  You might learn a few positional approaches this way as well.

I have played games against myself in the past. I had to stop because they kept ending up in j'adoube touch-move arguments or clock flag-drop disputes that ended in brutal fistfights.

I also had to stop. I kept offering myself a draw. This continual offering a draw each move kept irritating me.

Playing Chess against yourself ?!  I think that's kind of weird ...

I play against myself all the time as it helps to boost my standard of playing and allow me to take the steps I want in order to have the game evolve into a specific position I want to experiment and explore. It's also good for openings as you can determine the routes that will be taken before an actual game. Then, when you apply that opening, you already know beforehand your opponent's likely reply and can cut down on time and plan further into the game.

The letdown is that 80% of the time the game will result in a draw (at least for me....) and that the best reply to you might be another to a different person. You are not another, and another isn't you.

WOOOT!!!! I have a good record againts myself 12-12-4. I'd say I'm evenly matched...lol

But seriously, I like to do this to see moves I could be played by other opponents. And the rest is analization.

Don't you guys know playing with yourself can make you blind ?

No, but once I had made a few seeks and one player accepted two seeks before I realized it.  He was playing white on one of our boards and black on the other...and replicated my moves on both boards...so I was essentially being forced to play against myself or I'd lose on time...all of which was really irritating.

Whenever I analyze a certain game either mine or another's, I often lose myself in a position where I'm not sure who has the advantage (either tactical or postional) and play a game against myself utilizing the resources up until a point in the endgame (if it lasts that long) where it is a dead draw or it is sure one side can win. It actually proves useful sometimes as it improved my estimation of my opponent's resources.

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 Who won those games? :)

 

..Funny but why do all of my games against myself always end in draws? :D

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Is this variant of play called Matrix Chess ?