Well, give and take...
Tournaments are good, especially if the rating range is quite wide and you're near the bottom, but you will have to play some weaker players too. (to join many tourneys, you will have to get premium membership, though)
Or, join a few smallish groups, with lots of team matches, if the rating range is open, you often find yourself paired against strong opposition.
Yeah, I'm already using those techniques :). Problem is, when my games finish and I feel the "impulsive" need to start another, I find it hard to find a higher-rated opponent right away.
I guess another strategy is to post on these forums until I make some higher-rated friends who'll play against me ;)
well, you don't always have to play against someone who's rated 200 points higher than you. I would just create a game and play whoever comes up. it's ok if their rating is close to yours. after all, you never know how good someone is until you actually play them.
ill play you for 100€ a game!
Im your perfect opponent
personally im 2000 (the rating you said you were yet your highest rating is only 1800) and ive never had hassle finding opponents of this rating.......
@benws: Very true. That's what I'm settling for right now. I'd still prefer to play higher-rated opponents. It may sound weird, but it's no fun winning on a tactical oversight or blunder. I find that I learn a LOT more when I get beaten, and usually said opponent has a higher rating. Incidentally, would you be interested in a game? :)
@Skeptikill: What I meant was that my ideal opponent would be ~2000 now (before when my rating was 1600, it was 1800). And I live in the U.S.; I don't have whatever kind of currency that is =P. So are you interested in playing a game?
Some not entirely successful strategies here ... challenging-a-higher-rated-player.
Okay, so I'm rated at about 1800 (Turn-Based Correspondence) on this site, and typically I like playing players rated about 200 pts above my own. I haven't had a problem in the past since my rating was lower and there were more higher-rated opponents, but ever since my rating has spiked, I can't find too many suitable opponents (now ~2000) in the Open Seeks.
So is there a better way to go about finding the kind of opponents I want to play? I know I can "Create a Game" and set a rating filter, but it forces me to set the minimum to be less than or equal to my rating.
Would appreciate any and all help I can get. Thanks :)