Juan, just to share some insight on your thought
I have played so many games for so many years, and the stronger I got the stronger the players I met. And thus finding it harder to win. I remeber two particular players I played often,. One was a very strong patient player, and the other a slightly higher rated player, would attack right from the beginning. Understand not bold bring your queen out early, but methodically strangling the position away from me. And you know, it never improved my game, until I started studying chess on my own. Only then did I find out my major weakness. Moral of the story is by just playing a great player is not going to improve your chess that much unless that person is coaching you as you play. Please understand, this may just be me, and for others it may work the way you suggest? If you really want to try something different, please send me a PM
getting accustomed and expose to ones play
I once played someone weaker than me, but he was very good with his pawns. He positioned his pawns so there was no where my pieces could go. I don't remember how he did it, but it always took me 15 moves to finally break through his pawns so I could attack him. Often I'd just lawn a few of my own pawns, though he knew how and when to move his so mine could not break through. I'd then have to sacrifice pieces to break though. Once his pawn mine field was broken, I could beat him with my tactical skills, even with my reduced material. I wish I could play him some more and learn his style. But after beating him 3 times, he seemed to lose confidence in his style and started changing it up.
I think you can learn from playing people, but it is a much slower process. It is like trying to re-invent calculus instead of just buying a text book and learning it.
I played tons of games against beginners. I can start without a queen and beat them in 15 moves game after game. No matter how many games I play against them, they never learn. They keep making the same mistakes. I have to instruct them in order for them to learn in a timely manner. When my attacks are planned 6 moves in advance, there just is no way for them to see it comming. All they see is when it is two forced moves away from checkmate.
if we repeatedly play against a certain player,probability is high that we may acquire and be influence by how strong or weak our opponent is.if one is exposed to hard offense and defense and surprises that happen in the board frequently our mind will be conditioned to higher level of play . so why not play with someone whose style and handling chess pieces is different from you., also to get acquainted with varied different style and techniques.forget for the moment about losing,it is more about training and learning., to keep on improving on.