Outside of club or league settings, how often (if ever) do you play someone FtF?

(FtF = "face to face", i.e. in person; title of this thread reached its maximum character_limit)

This question likely pertains more to 'casual' players than to those who frequent in local-regional club venues or professionals.

I, personally, seldom play against a live human being in my physical vicinity, since most of my acquaintances and friends do not play chess. Those whom I have managed to play against in person have been primarily a few co-workers, performed on my smartphone. (I do not presently own a chess set, and as such I have played a total of maybe three or four games of chess on a physical chess board/mat in several years.)  Two persons from my real life played against me on the "Chess with Friends" mobile app, rather than directly in person. (I prefer "Chess Mates[ Free] app for its functionality, specifically ability to save/e-mail entire games as .pgn files, and challenger to choose his\her side; the main advantage of Zynga's app is sociability since one has option link it to their Fb profilepic upfront, and rapid-review of games), and as probably true in most online interactions, the reverse has not occurred (i.e. meeting a pen-pal irl), although this is besides the topic.

In responding to the topic of this post as pertaining to your self, kindly share the following details of yourself (that you mind not divulging):

1. personal data

       a. your present approx. skill rating at time of posting

       b.your age (be as specific or vague as you desire)

2. how often you play chess in person..

       a. in the last year?

        b. in the last [insert time duration; month, decade, etc..]?  mention here your rating progression if relevant

       c. against how many different individuals?  acquainted with you how so, for how long? (family members? friends? stranger colleagues? extended family? at a public park? some other gathering? elsesuch?),

       d. per each live match or game in discussion, how ..

             * often is it on a phone (or laptop, i suppose.. even laptop though if one is availble then likely a set as well there would be, more sensible to use?) vs. a traditional board (or roll-up)?

             * often do you initiate it?

              * many games long does it usually last? length of game?

              * frequently do you win or lose (or draw)? depending on individual?  as Black or White?

My own answers

#1.

   a.~1200, maybe. mediocre but not as abysmal as my rating on here suggests. (I haven't used this venue for live chess in long time)

   b. mid-20s

#2. 

   a+b. I got back into chess just a few months ago. I have been playing mainly online and working tactics on my phone in spare time, although recently I have been seeking out anyone at work (a night-shift job) or on the bus therefrom who might want to play.  not very often; maybe six games total. Aside from that, many years previously; my older brother growing up, a few neighborhood buddies here-or-there, and a small chess club in highschool (which doesn't apply since it's a designated club venue), plus one exhibition simul against an FM.

   c. around 4 different persons, not counting those who knew scantly more than how to move the pieces: three co-workers, one fellow stranger on public bus.

   d.  Almost always I have initiated it (as such, offering choice of boardside to adversary), on my phone.  Most of them only one game, won by me, with a couple exceptions: a coworker whom I blindly let backrow-mate me in a position I clearly owned, and another guy also from work who plays quite strong (beat me twice, lost once, draw once). usually under 40 moves, novice games. (I would be honored to meet someone with serious skills in person!, and moreover have the opportunity to play him. just not at the all the effort to travel to a designated brick-and-mortar location on a particular daytime hours during the week...).

Face to Face for me is much more desirable than online chess.  I plat each week at the club, and as often as possible in OTB tournaments.

Do you ever play face-to-face with someone outside of a club or tourny venue? Or do those weekly engagements satisfy your face-to-face wants?

Finding casual players would be tough. A lot easier is club/tournament players of course. For that it is probably as easy as googling your state's chess association e.g. http://ohchess.org/ I see that's not what you're looking for though.

My suggestion would be to buy a set and set it up at a coffee shop at some regular time and day of the week. Maybe take your phone or a laptop to keep yourself busy in case no one sits for a game. Heavy pieces gives a good impression for the players in case your experience on a board is very limited: 

http://www.amazon.com/Heavy-Tournament-Triple-Weighted-Chess/dp/B009RSFOF2 

I had to spend the first few years playing only online because I didn't know anyone locally who played and it was a small town. I would play maybe a few games a year face to face. This may be more commonly referred to as OTB (over the board) chess instead of face to face. Anyway other than a family member on the holidays or a random game against a friend I played online.  Then I luckily found a group of casual players, mostly retirees, who would meet and play games. I played with them for a while and eventually became interested in tournaments and more structured clubs. After I began tournament play, luckily again, a few tournament players actually moved to my small town. We met and played once a week face to face for many years.

I've since moved to an area with more chess players, but actually I play on a real board less haha :) Now all my OTB games are tournament games.

Playing weekly, in person, against players better than me helped me learn a lot. Of course after each game we would talk about any key moments and do some analysis, even if it was only very briefly. I see you ask about rating and improvement, if you're interested in improvement this is ideal in my opinion. Although with online coaching and easy interaction on chess.com forums it's not necessary.

I play at the club, at tournaments, and a bunch of us will get together and hangout and play for fun.