Yes.
I know my board vision suffers when I've been away from OTB play for too long, staring at a computer screen just isn't the same thing. Playing over master games on a chessboard helps, as well as analysing positions on a board. Still, there is no substitute for actual play.
Actually, when I go to the club every thursday my board vision is usually pretty horrible after just one week! I'm always sure to play a few offhand blitz games at the start of the evening before we get to the real games. At the beginning I'm making stupid moves and hanging pieces left and right! After 3 or 4 games though I'm sufficiently warmed up and play to my normal level.
Here's a good one for the Caissa Collective.
As an adult who has annoying things like "LIFE" getting in the way of his chess habit more and more, I've often wondered ...how realistic is it to keep improving (as measured by the Federation ratings) if one barely gets to play 1 tournament every 2-3 months? I keep hearing about a ratings plateau and I watch everyone at the next "class" rating level play almost a tournament every other weekend.
Let me break down my questions as follows:
1. Do the ELO/USCF 1800+ players ABSOLUTELY need to play Over-the-Board (OTB) tourneys that frequently (once a week, twice a month) to be in that kind of shape? Are there any exceptions to the rule out there?
2. Is there really such a thing as a ratings plateau? Obviously there is the practical law of diminishing returns ... the climb from 1400 -> 1600 is 10 times easier than 1600->1800 and it gets even harder on the way to the top. Once again, looking for exceptions here ... anybody who has not plateau-ed for quite a while?
3. Does playing more often online make up for time lost not being able to make it regularly to OTB venues (like tournaments or even the local club)? Or are you really missing something by pushing mice instead of a piece?
S.