The benefits of playing UNRATED live chess...

I'm constantly seeing these threads like:

"when is a good time to resign if I'm really dead lost"

"is it okay to win a game on time when the position is a dead draw" (K+R vs K+R)

I could continue naming topics that all come down to a basic truth:  The reason people behave badly or get all stressed out about what to do is because they're concerned about protecting their ratings.  

So, my solution is simple, play for a while to establish your nominal rating, then just play unrated.  I guarantee that you won't care nearly as much about throwing in the towel.  In fact sometimes I take great satisfaction in resigning a game that I AM WINNING because my opponent  just keeps shoving wood around, trying to make me prove that I can win with, say K+2 rooks vs knight + P.

So I say, give up the ghost.  Don't be a servile automoton to the idea of having to play rated games all of the time. Be FREE, play unrated and have fun!

Come on peeps...am I right, or am I right?

You are right!!!! 

nothing wrong in losing, it show you the way to improve your game. it guides where you want to go.

Who said there is anything wrong with loosing???  That wasn't me. 

You're wrong. Chess is not for fun, it is for rating!

I hope you're not serious.

umm..

isnt it better to play chess under pressure? liek omfg i dont wanna lose rating/ i wanna win and it makes you under pressure... which prepares you for the real world.. like in a tournament, last round, you need a win to secure 1st place, under pressure.. but if your not used to being under pressure.. bye bye

If you're playing for prize money or trying to get a GM norm or something I think you're correct about "pressure", but if you're on the internet playing for fun I think you're wrong.  The fact of the matter is that your rating is going to stay pretty stable once you've played a bunch of games...that is unless you're working very hard to improve your game.  My contention is really for those of us out here to have fun and are not chasing rating points and just want to play some good/interesting games.

I think most people are way too obsessed with their ratings anyway!

WAY TOO OBSESSED...

Oh yeah, I agree usually I'll play on for the sake of getting it done, but sometimes it's just mopping up and the other guy isn't even moving.  Usually I'll start by asking if he's "still there", if I don't get an answer I'll sometimes offer a draw or just resign and get on with my life.  I mean if my opponent has 3 minutes on his clock and I'm just sitting there waiting to drop the hammer I don't get any benefit from watching his clock run down.  Know what i mean?

 You're right.    But I don't quit a won game when my opponent is stalling in a totally lost position.  I just can't bear to give him the undeserved "win".  But there might be something admirable in the way you let it go.

The problem with playing unrated games is that people do not take them as seriously as rated games e.g. I play unrated games when I am drunk, tired etc.

When you take  a long view of your rating, whether you win or lose one game is hardly important.  Really, if you look at a chart of your progress after several dozen games, that +/- 10 points or whatever is insignificant as your rating will have climbed and descended many times.

I have to say there is a certain "whatever" sort of satisfaction that comes with offering someone a draw when their position is hopeless or even resigning if they don't accept the draw.  I'm not talking about players who beginners here.  With beginners I'll often offer to analyze with them and help them out either during or after the game.  I'm talking mainly about dealing with players who are roughly equal playing strength to me who are being recalcitrant.  It's particulary strange when they act that way in an unrated game. I can understand it in a rated game because some people really are very protective of their rating number.

Well, I'm not sure how much of a problem "not taking them seriously" is.  Afterall we are talking, in my case, mainly of 2/3, 3/3 kinds of games.  Not exactly the "erudite chess olympics".  I definately see your point if I'm playing a slow game.  It very much sucks to put serious time and energy into a slower/longer game and then have your opposition just give it up for no good reason.  That's why I play faster games...

Well, if you are playing blitz games, then resigning a game because someone is being unsportmanlike shouldn't be a concern at all.

I also play blitz (5 0) so I can play like 70 games in a week. It doesn't matter to my rating if I resign 2 games against some idiot letting his clock run down.

My rating goes up, it goes down, but it stays within a certain range...

Question, if you're playing like 70 games a week or whatever, why is your rating still @ 1200, which is the starting point here?

Well maybe when my long rating gets around 1700 I'll do just that. It's funny how sometimes my standard rating can be coincidentally bad, as I was in the 1500s on live chess 2 for a long time even though I knew I was at least 1650 there because I was at least that for live chess 1 for hundreds of games. Then all of a sudden I completely outplayed everyone who were supposedly "on my level" (1500s also) like I should although I still averaged better than 1648 on live chess 1. And I never disconnect anymore.

My point is that there really can be some sudden jumps in your rating backward (for me it was significant, but that was because I didn't have many live chess 2 games and don't play live that frequently anyway) when it really doesn't mean anything, so when you get to where you "know" you are (trust me you'll find one of those times) it probably wouldn't hurt to just play unrated until you feel (feelings are good enough) you're somewhat higher than your "floor rating". Stuff like losing simple positions in time pressure, won't bother me so much if it doesn't affect my rating as "I know I pretty much won, so I still feel good" but if it does affect your rating I feel horrible. Sure if I was in a tournament I would hate that, but that's quite different than an online game. I want to play for fun and to improve; I want a serious game, but not tournament serious.