i have noticed that good players around 1500+ seem to only play people with lower rankings than themselfes. so for me being a low ranked player should i play lower ranked people than myself or should i risk it and play high ranked players?

 

gateman234 wrote: should i risk it and play high ranked players?

 

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That sounds like a comment from someone who is truly new to chess. Here's some brain food. There is no "it" to risk. "It" is a meaningless number that has NOTHING to do with chess. What you should do is play play play! You've got to really find out what your goal is too. Are you looking for a game just to pass time? Maybe you take your game seriously and use the otb time to put your goods to the test. You really need to know your objective before you can gauge what is going to be better action. I personally play on chess.com for some leisurely games, so I just send an open seek, and whoever pops up, I'll play. When I start serious chess study, I will want to seek out more sturdy competition, so I'll look for a higher rating range. It is always good to play above your rating. Playing below your rating can breed bad habits because you can get lazy and get tricked by 'false wins' as I like to call them, or games that were won more due to the opponents inability than ones own ability. I find that when I am just playing leisure games, I don't really take the game too seriously, so I end up with sloppy chess that is really a hinderance to chess improvement. Later this month I'm switching over to Master Training mode, at which time I'll be looking for any and all high rated players to come crack my nugget and hopefully help me fill it with good chess knowledge.

The fact that folks ranked 1500+ only play lower ranks than themselves might come from the fact that there aren't that many people significantly above that on this site to play. It might also come from the fact that some people will only play games they know they can win, and that's how they get their rating up that high. Offering open seeks is a much better way to play a large pool of people of all skills. Only then will your rating be most accurate and your playing improve at the best rate. It's the law of averages. You must, of course, spend the time looking back at games you've lost if you plan on doing some serious improvement, but even if you're just playing for fun, play anyone who'll play. Don't limit yourself by numbers.

Personaly i think should have a mix of both. It really depends on what your goals are,what u hope to get out of your games and chess in general.I tend to play more players i feel are about my rating level lately and adjust as i need too....

Generally try to play with people 200 points above you . Statistically this should mean you win every 4th game , which should be enough to keep you motivated , as we all need to win a game sometime . Playing higher rated players will tend to improve your game too, as they are more likely to capitalise on your mistakes

I agree with Talfan - play with people in a smallish range above your rating.  Don't take rating at face value though - look at how many games they have played and their average opponent strength - will give you a better idea where their playing strength is in relation to yours.