When you sit down for an OTB game do you care that the pieces are not positioned centrally on the squares?  Do you care that the clock is squint and the times are marginally different (if analogue)?  Does it bother you if the board is not in the centre of the table or you don't have enough room to comfortably lean on your elbows?

If any one of the above are not right then it really irritates me, not that it's necesarily a big deal but I have no control over it.  Anything that takes my mind off the game is bad.   I fix all the above before I start playing.

Anyone else like this?

I care that my pieces are positioned in the center of the square, but other than that, I'm laid back. Mind you, during tournaments I am sometimes bothered by pieces that are off-center, but I won't adjust them because it would be rude to my opponent. My friends even irritate me by placing the pieces off-center right after I adjust them while going over tactics, analyzing a game, or playing a casual game.

I do try and adjust everything to my liking before the game begins (if I'm the one setting up the board and the clock), but as you imagine, people don't always place pieces in the center of the square, and that's the most irritating to me. I try and keep my attention off of it by fixing my gaze over the entire board rather than the position of a piece on a square. If I notice it, I tend to turn my attention to my notation sheet instead.

I admit that I get a little upset if both sets of Knights aren't facing 'inward' (toward the closest Bishop).

I adjust the pieces before the game. Both knights facing inward. It's a little ritual that helps me concentrate.

I can't remember the last time I played a serious game with an analog clock, so no problems there.

Like others, I absolutely hate knights facing up the board rather than facing the king, I dont know why, even when I first began playing chess as a total novice with others like me who told me that I was doing it wrong,.... that irritates me more than anything else!

I think its because for some bizzarre reason, all the way through the game it seems important to me to know which knight came from which side of the board, even though I know it is totally irrelevant and pointless :-)

I try to keep pieces centred but am not obsessive about it.

I don't think I'm too OCD but my one wee ritual is to touch all my pieces before I start the game. Without it they don't feel like mine.

After that, I just try and block out the voices in my head telling me to kill everyone.

"Dagger to left rib 3, check"

lol You have voices in your head when you play? ... This reminds me of a small devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other.  "Do it, it's a good mooove... you know you want to", "Don't listen to him, he will get you killed... play the safe option"!

I like to sit comfortably and out my elbows to the side and just... relax...

I don't like excessive noise when I'm playing Chess, and I don't like being disturbed to go run errands, or to answer the phone , or to answer the door, or to buy groceries , or to go to work .....but I do these things all the same .... Hey !  I'm Theempiremaker !

I try to not to let anything distract me. If I'm really into the game I can usually just make a map of the board in my head and not bother about the specific pieces. It's really futile to dwell too much on how the pieces are positioned on the squares.

no it doesnt bother me at all - when i get into the game i try to keep my thoughts on concentrating what to do, not how the pieces look. what does bother me is when my opponent has just been smoking and his breath REEKS, when he breathes out.

i sometimes get a song and my head and you know when its impossible to get it out? that happens.

You got to love those guys who yell AJUST  ADJUST through the whole game as they turn the Knight you just moved so that its looking forward

I like to have room for my elbows and the pieces in a somewhat orderly manner. Other than that most things dont bother me. I don't like the board being crooked either.

I'm obssesed with orderliness in my games! Pieces must be centered, Knights must be angled just right, and the board must be so far from each edge of the table.

Elbow room is definitely nice, although I've gotten into the bad habit lately of always sitting at tables as if I'm playing chess whether it's during a meal, at school, et cetera. (Elbows on the table, chin resting on my hand, eyes focused downward.)

But sitting like that is one of the few ways I can think clearly, now!

I always tend to knock over my king when he is castled king-side and I am reaching for a piece in the center or the kingside.

i had never heard of turning the knights to the side until reading this thread.  it sounds really weird!  so i did a google image search and page after page of chess boards showed the knights all facing directly ahead.  

and then i came across this:

if it is cool enough for mr. fischer then it is cool enough for me! 

Definitly.  I've never competed a tournement, but whenever I play OTB I do exactly that.  I also touch all my pieces (you're not the only one GrumpyComic), but I've had all my friends and most of my family tell me I have OCD, so it's natural for me. :) (And my Knights face out towards the opponet)

My obsession, or superstition, in setting up the chessboard is to put the king's bishop pawn in place last. Initially this was to remind me that this is a weak point vulnerable to early attack. Now I'm afraid if I put some other pawn in place last, I will lose. Fortunately this does not apply to online chess!