OTB play vs Online?

Hey guys I have been playing online for a little under a year now and am looking to start playing for real in over the board play and I was just wondering what is it like compared to playing on the web and how much time will I get in a stadard tournament? How do I better prepare myself? What type of chess should I be playing on this website? Thanks

I am in the same situation and i have a big problem.

I play almost only online, with a real set, (real otb pieces+3d board), i can't see anything. It's like all my spacial recognition just disapear and i am desesperatly lost. 

I like to play Vote Chess and Online here on chess.com but you can get stuck becoming dependent upon a computer screen and the ability to use the analysis board to look at your game.

The best solution for me is to use onlly a board when working through books so that a board remains familiar.  In the advanced series by Yusupov, he states at the very beginning that ALL work be done on a board and that computers should never be used for analysis or practice.  You must learn to move pieces in your mind and visualize tactics without playing through them on the computer screen.  That's the big difference.

I'd say that OTB tournaments tend to be a little more 'competitive' than online chess, if that's the right word. Lots of people play online just to kill some time or to relax, while players who bother to actually drive to a real live tournament tend to take their chess pretty seriously. It's also much more social, you get the chance to talk to other players and to analyze your games with them, which basically amounts to free chess lessons.

Unless it's a rapid or blitz event, OTB tournaments usually have longer time controls, 45|45 or longer, depending on the event.

As for preparation, prepare to be crushed. Many people do poorly in their first couple of tournaments, just because everything is new and unfamiliar. It's all part of the learning experience. Concentrate on getting used to using clocks and writing down your moves correctly. Apart from that, just enjoy the experience and soak up the atmosphere.

If you want to prepare online, I recommend joining a group that focusses on playing live chess with longer time controls, such as the Dan Heisman Learning Center. That's about as close to the real thing as you can get on the internet.

Some time ago the same question came up here and I remember an answer about two and three dimensional views of the board.

When I am used for a long time to (only) watch the monitor when playing chess, and I for a change play games over the board, I understand what is ment, I have to sit straight up and almost keep my head above the board, to see the pieces from above.

Of course this is exaggerated, but the meaning is clear.

Preparation and type of chess is the same, please do not change that !

And I shuold say, playing blitz and bullet on the monitor with two dimensional board, you do it without a real set pieces and a  board !

Differences between OTB and Online:

1) More serious competition occurs in OTB than Online

2) As mentioned prior, many just kill time on here, like myself.  I only play my pet lines OTB.  Here, I'll play openings I'd never play OTB.

3) If you are one that has never studied a chess book, you can still beat people here.  If you go to an OTB tournament without ever having touched a chess book, you'll be lost!  Not talking opening books here.  Talking tactics, strategy, and endgames.

4) 2D vs 3D view.  When you study, study with a real chess board, not a 2D screen.

5) Time control - The vast majority of games played here are complete and utter bullsh*t because the time controls are too fast.  Common time controls in OTB tournament play, depending on location and 1-day vs multi-day, include:

(G/XX means Game in XX Minutes, or you have XX Minutes each for the entire game.  XX/YY, SD/ZZ means XX moves in YY Minutes followed by Sudden Death in ZZ Minutes.  Inc/VV means after every move, you get VV Seconds added (increment) to your clock.  Del/X means a delay of X seconds before your clock starts counting down (Common in the United States)

G/60 Del/5
G/90 Del/5
G/90 Inc/30
G/120 d/5
G/120 inc/30
G/150 del/5
30/90 SD/60 Del/5
40/120 SD/30 Del/5
40/120 SD/30 Inc/30

This is just to name a few.  There are an infinite number of other possibilities.

Thanks I have read several books and now I am working my way through the Chess Secrets series curently on The giants of Strategy and working my way though Botvinniks best games whith annotations by botvinnik

I expect to be crushed in my first apperance 

I have studied how to beat Pet lines if that is a common occurance I probably spent too much time on the computer than over the board

ThrillerFan's answer was good.

My first tourney was back in 1991.  There was no online play back then.  I entered an Under 1400 Section, as I recall.  I ended up with 3 wins and 4 losses.  My point is that if you enter a lower-rated section, (Unrated or Under 1200, for example) you might do better than you think.  I doubt if you will get "crushed."

Each round you'll be paired up with someone with a similar score as you.  So eventually you will start playing players of close to your own ability.

The time controls vary, but most of the weekend swisses offer time controls of 40 moves in two hours, or 40 moves in 100 minutes, or 40 moves in 90 minutes, and then SD... the rest of the game in an hour.

Yes, if you can practice a few of the tasks you're probably not doing now, like keeping score, and hitting your clock after your move, that will help. 

To prepare, I wouldn't play any online chess at all.  Play slower time-controled games over the board at a club or against friends.

I've played 314 OTB games.  I wish it were more.  (I personally know a LOT of people who have played a LOT more than that.)  I wish I started earlier and I wish one of my prior jobs didn't require me to work weekends.

I'm sure you'll do fine.  Report back here and let us know how you did.

thanks it wont be for a week i just wanted to prepare

I like how some people claim in these forums that they don't care if they win or if their ratings are horrible, that is blaoney. Most people want to do at least half way decent and notlose all the time.

I did not realize that there can be so much difference between 2D and 3D boards. I started playing chess in the 90's and the only way to study books was to use a real board and pieces (I had a chess program on my IBM PC XT but it was only useful for validating mat-in-2 puzzles and alike). Yet I had no problems with solving tactical puzzle on printed diagrams.

I prefer playing otb because there are no mouse-slips and each piece goes exactly to the square I intend. I lost many games online (live not correspondence) because my mouse dragged a piece one square too far from what I wanted to play.

If it is your first otb tournament than you must be unrated so you won't get into 1400+ section. Then openings are not so much important.

In my first tournament (G/30), I made 5 out of 7 - not bad but not very good. Then I studied two books, solved tactical puzzles and played a number of G/15. After like 3 months I managed to get 7 out of 7 in a G/60 tournament and became a 1200-rated player.

Otb play gives lots of satisfaction. You can see your opponents, analyse with them after finishing games, watch other matches while your opponent thinks. For me, otb and online can hardly be compared - the only advantage of online is that you can play whenever you have time which makes live easier, especially when you have work.

Still, I find myself being able to move pieces much faster on a real board than with a mouse - this makes me a better blitz player in real games than on the Internet.

As for preparation, prepare to meet some stronger opponents and don't panic - you will also play some weaker ones. Unrated players are hard to predict - they can either be very good (but unrated because they have not played any tournaments yet) or complete beginners. Do not push yourself for the score - rather prepare for great fun from playing live people 

The main difference is the emotional side of it!  When you play a good move that your opponent is not expecting, your see him react, either a sigh, a drop of his mouth, a gulp of his throat, a shake of the head, or a nod of the head etc.  These things you can not see online. 

And in a similar way I have the same reactions, when my opponent plays a good move that I wasn't expecting. 

Study beating unorthodox openings and defenses. You would play a lot of them. Those really works if their opponents are surprised and unprepared. And backfires incase of a prepared opponent.

OTB is just way better. Try it !

???

Lots and lots of tournaments allow unrateds to enter ANY section.  They just aren't always eligible for the full prize fund.

As an example, this next weekend the Continental Chess Association is putting on the 2014 Western Class Championships in Agoura Hills, CA.  As you can see by the flyer, he could enter the "A" section if he wanted to, and win a top prize of $800.00, instead of $1,400.00

Unrated must play in Class A or below with maximum prize E $200, D $300, C $450, B $600, A $800.

I can't play chess on the computer. It's not a problem with piece recognition, rather that I always get distracted. Even if I try to concentrate only on the game, I can't take it seriously and my mind wanders. My calculation is much more shallow than what I am capable OTB. As a result, I have played some atrocious online games and embarrassed myself a lot. I am trying to get better, though!

writing the score down and using the clock can be a HUGE problem for some people. It can eally throw your game off at first. My first OTB turney I thought I was doing ok writing the moves down but when I looked back hardly any of the scores were correct

My online ratings mean little to me, its my OTB rating that I use to judge if I am improving as a chessplayer. If I accidentally overstep time on an online game its not big deal to me. But OTB - last week I lost a game that should have been a forfeit and I have already called the TD twice about correcting the error.

Enjoying yourself is overrated. You cant take that to the grave with you, like you can ratings.