Do You Play Better Over The Board Or Virtually?

Yeah, I feel like my brain is so used to simplified pictorial symbols to represent pieces that seeing the arial view of 3D ones makes things more complicated for me lol

I play much better online because of the 2D fact and second the fact that i play daily chess, you have time and a training board to calculate and visualise so it boost my comprehension of the game (i'm a patzer OTB )

Both are ok, but again it all boils down to personal preference.

 

Online chess allows positions to be saved for post-game analysis of lines and variations, something which over-the-board chess does not exhibit as much (if no recording is made, and the whole board accidentally falls down, reinstating the position will be a challenge).

 

Over-the-board chess allows games to be played without the need for computer connections which do get laggy at times (one player can win a game because someone else disconnected).

 

I play both, and I do not have a particular preference over the mode of play.

 

Possibly due to the angle of projection. You stare forwards onto the computer screen or a phone, whereas you stare around 30 degrees (I am poor at making estimations) downwards to a physical chess board.

There are many very real factors to take into consideration. Shrinking the board helps some people. Some people don't remember where they have their pieces and they need to see. Other people have amazing peripheral vision. However, I think staring at a screen decreases brain activity for most people. Maybe this varies from one individual to another.

I have a friend and the color contrast of my OTB chess set was screwing him up. I've always played best OTB with preferred pieces on a green and buff vinyl roll up board ... in tournaments (as opposed to casual) and closer to home. I need a distraction free environment with the pressure of real competition to focus.

Most people are going to be slightly better OTB I think because although the cheat detection software is good, it is not perfect online, and this tends to slightly depress the rating of the honest majority. OOPPPSSS!!!! I mentioned cheating......

I can get really angry about it, but on-line is just for practice. It doesn't matter if someone cheats. Just tell them thanks for letting you play their software, that you couldn't afford it, and that they are a very generous person for letting all these people play their software. How dare the rest of us label them a cheater!

i prefer playing virtually

I haven't played over the board in ages.  If I did, I can imagine my frustrated opponent:

"Will you hit your clock already?"

"Why aren't you recording the moves?"

"You just moved your king two squares.  Are you intending to castle?"

"You touched the bishop first!"

 

I play even worse on a real board.

 

 

you're right i see the tactics often better when i look at my games in small i. e. in the front page before the selection

It’s just a matter of the learning curve, but the universality is not to be taken as a given. I can play well on either, but I have studied extensively on computer, and have played otb extensively also. I’d like to now coin the term ’counter-intuitive non-universality.’ This phenomenon also exists between long games and blitz games; I’m sure some of us know those who loathe long games, but love blitz games. Think of all the other areas of life this phenomenon exists: ice skating vs in-line skating, writing notes on a notebook app with a stylus vs tried and true pencil and paper. Dating via phone calls vs dating via texting (beware the former of the 2 is extinct). A large music collection consisting of hundreds of CDs and even cassettes and vinyl vs all of it on a computer hard drive, or on a steaming service for which you pay $10 per month (I know people who loathe the updated methods, but the end result is listening to the music at home or on the go). In the true story of Fiona Mutesi, not explained in “ The Queen of Katwe,” she was trained extensively via computer. Some people just crave the real… The physical. BUT, one major thing the digital chess training has going for it that you can’t get in real chessboard experience is the tactics puzzles training. It can instantly change to the next puzzle once you’ve solved one. Training extensively in such a system has been proven to advance one’s chess abilities greatly (see the book, “Rapid Chess Improvement”).

play virtually

I have pretty bad adhd and it affects when i read. I read things but i will have to re-read a few times and actually think about what im reading in my head or it will just go straight through me. I tend to be very intelligent but that is something i hate. If the book is not intriguing then it wont stick. Its the same way for online chess for me. It just goes straight through me. I stop forgetting to look for what my player is trying to do but otb i can actually focus. i am around 1600 rating over the board but when i go to play online i become beat by people down in the 1400. I constantly miss tactics online. 

I have been playing online chess off and on for several years. I never play over the board. Last night, I went to a chess group and played my first OTB games in a very long time. It was so hard to visualize everything. I felt like I was making a move and holding my breath because I couldn't register everything I see. I want to get to the point where I can enter USCF tournaments, but I need some major practice playing over the board. Its a real shift in consciousness.

 

I think what u practice... is what u strengthen!

Physically, because it doesn't strain my eyes so much, and you get the "feel" of pieces. On the other hand, however, "Touch Move" applies on physical board, but not on a digital one.

A wifi electronic board which able to move pieces on board at a reasonnable price

I completely agree. I think part of the reason I play better OTB is because I check all of my opponents pieces as I move my piece, and because the pieces move instantly in online chess I'll find myself realizing my blunder right after making it.

45/45?!?!? What? (And 60/0 is something better played OTB)