How to lose...

I play a begginner at OTB play, however he is begginning to get discouraged. I am wondering how can I lose without making it obvious that I am throwing the game.

Ummm...can't you find someone more his level to play with him?

Pretend that you have a "master plan", which merits any sacrifices you may make. Whatever moves they make in responce, they will have "foiled" that plan (oh no!).

Remember, good solid acting can always take the act to the next level.

Don't lose on purpose:

1. It's disrespectful.

2. Chess players take many knocks and keep coming back for more. Learning chess is a long and rocky road and certainly not for everyone, if he wants to give up then let him.

I disagree.  Losing on purpose is fine.  Modernchess has a good idea.  If he knows that you're much better, though, maybe you can side-step the whole issue by talking through games as they're being played.  That way, you can outplay yourself, maybe teach him something along the way, and he feels like he accomplished something.  That's worked for me in the past.

i have to agree.  throwing a game is not good sportsmanship.  if you are better, you deserve the point.  if you actually blunder or are outplayed, your opponent does.  :)

Never loose on purpose it's even more discouraging to your opponent because it's not hard to figure out.

I've played analysis type games with much lower rated players before and it's still fun, you can talk about what you're thinking or see -- if they make a terrible blunder you can say "what about this" and motion your move and allow them a trackback etc.

Yeah, just let the beginner think on his own so that he can get accustomed to it. Help him out every once it a while, but not a whole lot while you are playing. I remember when I was first learning to play chess, my dad would let me win, and I always knew when he did, and it really pissed me off.

Hey, ARandomPerson, another approach you could take is to give odds.

Tell your beginner friend straight up - I've played a lot more than you, let's try to make it an even game... and play without your King's Rook. When they beat you at that (it may take a few tries), reduce the odds to a bishop, then a knight... you get some actual challenge in the process while they learn.

Some people are also just not chess-inclined.  Let's keep that in mind.

Man if you're beating him all the time he must really  be struggeling.  I'd suggest telling to play around with the tactics trainer for a while.