OTB vs On-line Chess
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BrooklynBrown
Sep 21, 2018
0
#1
In years, I haven’t played in a OTB tournament. During any given day, Chess.com takes up my idle moments: drills, lessons, tactics, opponents, and so on. I am having a hard time justifying renewing my USCF membership and playing in an OTB tournament. Am I alone in shunning OTB tournaments for internet chess?
Sep 21, 2018
0
#2
OTB is a great way to have fun with real people. It doesn’t have to be stress inducing tournaments it can just be a local club that meets regularly in a bar or restaurant I can’t tell you how many laughs we have at my club. That’s something you can’t get online.
Sep 21, 2018
0
#3
Yeah, it was so much fun playing in local leagues for my club team(s), helping them to win cups, gain promotion or win the top division, It was less tense than playing in weekend tournaments as an individual competitor. I'll probably go back to it at some point.
Sep 21, 2018
0
#4
ghost_of_pushwood wrote:
LouStule wrote:
I can’t tell you how many laughs we have at my club. That’s something you can’t get online.
Oh really? I've had a lot more fun on here than I've ever had at some brick-and-mortar club.
A club that runs rated games is better than clubs that don't, but both beat online cr*p by light years!
Cheating, cheap shot wins on time, complete losers that call you out on the forum because you do not accept their rematch, etc.
OTB chess is a test of skill. Online is who can move their mouse faster and not live in a rural, lag-induced area!
Sep 21, 2018
0
#5
BrooklynBrown wrote:
In years, I haven’t played in a OTB tournament. During any given day, Chess.com takes up my idle moments: drills, lessons, tactics, opponents, and so on. I am having a hard time justifying renewing my USCF membership and playing in an OTB tournament. Am I alone in shunning OTB tournaments for internet chess?
Probably most people just play online for fun.
I know I'm pretty much to that point, although I'll go to 1 or 2 tournaments a year still.
But as fun as online is, it can't replace OTB. They're two different things. If I stop going to tournaments it will be because I don't find it interesting or fun anymore, not because I've replaced it with online activity.
Sep 21, 2018
0
#6
BrooklynBrown wrote:
In years, I haven’t played in a OTB tournament. During any given day, Chess.com takes up my idle moments: drills, lessons, tactics, opponents, and so on. I am having a hard time justifying renewing my USCF membership and playing in an OTB tournament. Am I alone in shunning OTB tournaments for internet chess?
I haven't played in a tournament since the 90s. and its been a long time too since I don't play any OTB games. Online chess is okay, but there is nothing like playing some OTB blitz games once in a while.
Sep 22, 2018
0
#7
Once per week, I meet up with friends and play OTB games. We have a great time. My concern is renewing my USCF membership to play in a OTB tournament. I could just as easily upgrade to platinum on chess.com and get more bang for my buck. It’s hard to justify playing in OTB tournaments. Chess.com is available whenever I need to scratch my chess itch. Furthermore, by the time I spend driving to an OTB tournament, I could’ve easily played a blitz game or two right here. Chess.com is so good and convenient that OTB tournaments are no longer interesting. I know I am not alone with this sentiment.
Yeah, simply do what you like more.
Sep 22, 2018
0
#9
Moreover, I have had a great deal of laughs right here on chess.com. Some of the article writers should doing stand-up comedy. By the way, a few of these on-line opponents are downright amusing. There are a couple streamers that are just as entertaining as a sitcom.
Oct 13, 2018
0
#10
ghost_of_pushwood wrote:
Farm_Hand wrote:
If I stop going to tournaments it will be because I don't find it interesting or fun anymore, not because I've replaced it with online activity.
Me, I don't find it fun anymore...so I've replaced it with online activity. Mainly Daily Chess.
I'm not sure why people seem to find OTB tourneys so appealing. Being locked in a room for a whole weekend with a buncha per(s)nickety fussbudgets and 5-year-olds...not my idea of a dream come true.
I might enjoy going to a weekly club again...if I could find one around here. Or (come to think of it) if I ever bothered looking.
I share your sentiment.
Oct 13, 2018
0
#11
Back in the day, I really enjoyed physical clubs. The first club I was in was a public city club and it was a lot of fun at first but the crowd was almost too eclectic. Then I helped found the university club. That was better because quite frankly everyone was pretty similar in mindset towards chess and drinking and fun. Then I joined kind on an informal group of players who all were learning from the same NM. It was obviously a bit more serious. I was by far the weakest player in that group but it was a relatively serious group of players and again it was a ton of fun analyzing our tournament games together and just talking chess ... in person ...
Oct 13, 2018
0
#12
CavalryFC wrote:
Back in the day, I really enjoyed physical clubs. The first club I was in was a public city club and it was a lot of fun at first but the crowd was almost too eclectic. Then I helped found the university club. That was better because quite frankly everyone was pretty similar in mindset towards chess and drinking and fun. Then I joined kind on an informal group of players who all were learning from the same NM. It was obviously a bit more serious. I was by far the weakest player in that group but it was a relatively serious group of players and again it was a ton of fun analyzing our tournament games together and just talking chess ... in person ...
I still play over-the-board games at fast food restaurants, parks, and so on. However, the lure going to a REAL tournament is not as interesting: USCF membership dues, players that believe they will become Bobby Fischer within a year, the slow pace of the games, being denied the use of my beloved analog clock... Besides there's nothing better than listening to a few patzers trash talk about their blitz game. 
OTB you got no mouseslips.But if you touch you must play.
And here you can play whenever you like.
Oct 13, 2018
0
#14
BrooklynBrown wrote:
I still play over-the-board games at fast food restaurants, parks, and so on. However, the lure going to a REAL tournament is not as interesting: USCF membership dues, players that believe they will become Bobby Fischer within a year, the slow pace of the games, being denied the use of my beloved analog clock... Besides there's nothing better than listening to a few patzers trash talk about their blitz game.
ic. Yes. I haven't had a CFC membership this century and I think my last tournament was 1995. I can't judge what it would be like to attend a tournament as it's been so long. My last tournament we still had analog clocks .. LOL .. The kid I'm helping out is at a junior tournament today. I was actually thinking about dropping by just to see what the atmosphere is like.
Honestly, I find the online crowd has more ignorance towards chess than any club did. I've been struggling with the forum and posts like "luck" or "let's change the rules cuz insufficient material is dumb" or trolls saying "how did I win this game" or general rudeness and caustic personalities. All that said, I'm still here and playing and participating in the forums. I guess my point is the annoyances are everywhere.
Oct 31, 2018
0
#16
Another aspect of this discussion, which matters most to a chess player: online rating or OTB rating? Online ratings are easily viewed by opponents around the globe. OTB ratings are only of interest to tournament players or chess stalkers.
I pay much more attention to an OTB rating than I do online ratings. They are created in a much more controlled environment.
Oct 31, 2018
0
#18
madratter7 wrote:
I pay much more attention to an OTB rating than I do online ratings. They are created in a much more controlled environment.
I enjoy monitoring the daily changes with my online ratings. I get encouraged by the overall positive trajectory of my online ratings. It's akin to checking my weight. LOL!
Nothing wrong with enjoying your online rating going up. And it is likely to be a good indication your playing strength is indeed going up.
But for the reason stated, I pay more attention to OTB ratings. Because they are created in a more controlled way, it is a clearer indication of where you actually stand.
I do understand that online is far far more convenient than OTB.