Online ratings

What multiplier would you use to determine the approximate USCF rating to this online rating. I would quess maybe .8 x online = aprox. USCF any ideas.

A survey some years ago on another online site, revealed the following: online ratings were higher than over-the-board federation ratings by 70 to 115 rating points, on average. While this does not imply that THIS site would have the same outcome, it might suggest that online ratings are generally higher than OTB ratings.

There are good reasons for this to be true, the principal one being that online players have more control over the choice of opponents than OTB players do, allowing some bias into the pairing process, and ultimately into the ratings.

Another possible difficulty in assessing the difference here is that the percentage of players here with OTB federation ratings might be lower than other sites. Still, it would be nice to put together a survey here to measure this very fact. (Of course, chess.com might be able to automate that if it chose to believe the numbers we put in on our profile pages.)

Are we talking about live chess ratings or turn based compared with OTB. I don'y play much live due to dc which u also dont get from OTB tournaments.

I was referring to Live Chess. Turn-based is another cat altogether. I don't play turn-based, so I'll have to refrain from comment.

From what I have observed (without an OTB rating myself) is that an accurate live chess rating and an accurate (up to date) USCF rating will be within 50 points of each other, either plus or minus.

Online CC chess tends to be 200-500 points highers...though not in my case, lol.

There is practically no correlation between chess.com ratings and OTB ratings. If you're curious about what your OTB strength might be I suggest you play in a tournament....OTB.

For some people this is true and for others the ratings coincide very strongly, and I doubt it is coincidental.

Sure, but there's no way to predict who's rating will coincide and who's will be way off...which means it IS purely random, depending on the person and their propensity for online chess. Online chess and OTB chess are very different things.

It's not completely random. What makes someone worse, or better at OTB chess are factors which simply don't come into play when playing a game of live chess.

For example, stamina, ability to play tired or under pressure, self awareness, self confidence, etc...

However the skill levels of a 1500 live chess player and a 1500 USCF chess player will generally be comparable, if all other factors are equal. At least as far as I have obserbed.

i know a few players whose online ratings are lower than their USCF ratings.  it depends on who you play and how seriously you take online games.  i think a lot of players play with less conviction here than they would in a real tournament.  it depends on how seriously you take online chess--many players use this as a practice ground far more than a serious display of their talent.

The ability to calculate is also much more important in OTB chess, as there is no analysis board to look at. Also the ability to think quickly is more important, not to mention the need to memorize opening theory whereas online you can just look up the book lines.

Maybe, but I don't know of anyone who plays chess to lose.

Edit: this is directed to ilikeflags

There is no analysis board, or game explorer in LIVE CHESS, which is what I am talking about. Online CC chess is veeeery inflated compared to live/OTB ratings.

When the ratings are updated this week my OTB rating should be around 1740, which is higher than my rating here at the moment.

Shows how seriously I take online chess

edit: Ahh yes then I misunderstood, live chess has much more in common with OTB chess than correspondence yes yes, although the atmosphere is definitely different.

Aye, that's all I'm saying.

no i'm not saying playing to lose, but playing with less conviction to winning and with more of an intention to pass time OR try out new openings, and work on specific  aspects of the game.  this isn't how everyone uses chess.com but i know players who this applies to.

I'm not a tournament player, so if this matters any, I'd say that live chess (long) is 200 pts below your online rating.  I am a mid 1600's player online chess and a mid 1300's player long game chess.  I have played over 300 games long and I would say that is pretty accurate.

Sure, that's why I stress that an accurate live rating and an accurate OTB rating will be similar.

Hay does that mean i should be a 1700+ player OTB now days? Its been a while since i played OTB.

Online ratings here are generally inflated compared to OTB AND USCF postal.  I see blunders in slow games here that I would never expect to see in OTB games by players much lower.  Sometimes.