Do you believe there is psychology in chess? Explain.

Online and over the board in real life.

.. I've repeatedly find myself, intimidated, {if subconciously} ; That, No matter, how 'hard' I try ; At some point, or points, in the game ; And, given enough, of a 'rating' Gap ; My several hundred point, 'rating', disadvantage ; Will cause 'moi' to lose the game ; Regardless, of its' length !

This numeric type, of '6th sense' awareness ; I, and I'm sure others, have experienced ; Tends to be, an accurate predictor ; Around, 80% or so, of the time !  o:

Just OTB

The best way to calm down over the board is to constantly walk around when your opponent is thinking ...............or shoot him in the face jk

Yes OTB more often then not because you have more visual cues, spectators, body language of opponent, stare downs, and just the fact that you have to interact with another person might add some pressure.

Online chess gets rid of all that. Although as pointed out, rating can at times create doubt and a psychological disadvantage (or advantage) when playing.

indeed....good comment.  Rating has a certain "aura" that affects many opponents.

When I find I've dropped a Pawn or get myself into a difficult-to-develop position, I know I have to clear my mind of gloom before I'm best able to analyze the position and find the best strategy and move.  Also, then an opponent blunders, their quality of play often falls apart afterward.

When I play players rated significantly lower than me, they tend to make defensive moves like moving a Rook Pawn forward one square when it's really a wasted move compared to the threatening move they should make.

So, yes, there's definitely psychology involved.

One of the high school players I coached was in a losing position in an OTB tournament game and hoped his opponent would not see the winning combination.  So my player wrote, in big letters, RESIGN in his scorebook next to his next move while waiting for his opponent's move.  The opponent, thinking it didn't matter what he did, made the wrong move, but not a losing one. My player recorded his opponent's move, erased RESIGN, picked up a piece and moved it - slamming it down on the board, and yelled, "Check!"

His opponent was so psychologically confused and upset he promptly made a bad move and my player won the game!  My player knew psychology was an important tool, even though I don't condone that kind of behavior.

My player was keeping - barely - within allowed rules. There is a USCF Rule, 20G, that says annoying behavior is prohibited.  But I think that peeking at your opponent's scorebook, then complaining he made one loud move is not enough to disqualify the loud player.  And USCF Rule 15A says the move can be recorded first, then made or the other way around, which allows for changing your mind and changing the written move before or after you make it.

Pretty much. And I see MickinMD bit the hook again.

Yes, the indecision over multiple "winning" moves. Most people worry about what wins faster, while I just do which ever's simpler, because there's less chance of miscalculating complex combinations. Don't overthink easy wins.

I'm exactly the opposite. I love playing against much stronger players. There's no pressure on me to get any kind of result, and I'm really a scary opponent when I'm able to just play my best chess. In particular, I have this one 2100 player's number, with a lifetime plus-one score against him.

Psychology is only for the weak.

There is no other explaination for talents like Tiamanov or Larsen to lose 6 games in a row each to Fischer, than psychology.

Or for Petrosian to lose 4 games in a row.

Okay, Fichers play had a lot to do with it of course. But not that much.

Psychology is more guesswork than a real science.   We sort of know there is such a thing, and we futz around at studying it, but much like the weather (gg weatherpeople vs Irma) there are just too many variables in an individual to piece together a working model that can predict how a specific person will react to a specific stimulus. 

Is it there? yes.  Is it there in chess?  Yes.  Can it be exploited by someone who knows (or knows of) their opponent's mental state or blind spots or whatever?  Of course, with varying degrees of success, depending on the person involved.   Can that be done reliably against all your opponents?  That would be the billion dollar question...  I think maybe Tal had something going there ...  combine his skill and fame and those sacrifices, who would not be intimidated by a move like that made with confidence and that "gonna get you sucker" look in some of the photos?   But that was another time.  A cool headed GM today isn't going to be fooled by this sort of thing anymore, and if the move isn't sound, it will not win by intimidation as easily.  

/shrug ...  I can see it affecting individual games, and very rarely(at higher levels of play) between specific opponents,  but in general, I can't think that we will see a player rise to the top ranks due to causing opponents to reliably blunder from some sort of mental stress/intimidation (on the board of course) or oddball openings etc.   At best, I can see some confidence/slippage when facing someone much better (anyone challenging for #1 for example) but if anything, that kind of pressure tends to improve one's game, not decrease it.  

Fischer was ALL about psychology......he would never say that in an interview though..duh.