I'm finding out that I keep stay around the 930 level on here, but in real life, I have a rating of approx. 1400. In over the board, I don't leave pieces on here en prise, but here I do it pretty often, so I know for sure that I am worse on here. Why is that? How can I play as good as I do in real life on here. If I can't learn to play as well as I do in real life, I can't really have good practice here. I am noticing that I leave them en prise closer to the end of the game with slightly reduced material. E.g, I played this game against a player who was about 370 points ahead of me (about 1300) and I would have likely beaten him, except for, I left my queen en prise.
Game: http://www.chess.com/livechess/game?id=593859404
I've playing on here two consecutive months.
en prise: moving pieces to a square that is being attacked without intention of letting it get captured.
My profile: http://www.chess.com/members/view/DarknesMetalDragon
(Newly added):One possible reason I might stay at this level is that I get overconfident about my moves and I forget to see if it is a blunder, or don't take long enough to do. But if that's the case, why don't I in real life?
While you gave infomation to help us understand your troubles here, you didn't give us much information about your OTB exploits. If the pool of players that you have played has some sort of inflated rating, for any reason, or if you haven't played enough games OTB against a wide variety of players near your rating range or in any tournaments, it is likely that your OTB rating may be a bit high.
Also, people cheat here and use other crutches that aren't necessarily considered cheating. That can have an impact on your respective performances.
That's interesting, I've often seen people suggest that ratings on here are quite often higher than the player's OTB rating.
For many people though, computer use can influence behaviour which affects concentration. Many people who go online can find themselves flitting between different tabs; checking facebook on one tab, email on another, reading a news article on another and so on. You then build a psychological association between going online and feeling your attention needs to be jumping between several things at once and it gets difficult to truly focus on one thing for long periods. It's just like many people have developed compulsions to check their phone nearly every few minutes and can't simply relax and focus on something else or even just sit quietly doing nothing, like on train or bus rids.
The following article sums it up well: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/7967894/How-the-Internet-is-making-us-stupid.html
It could well be in your case that the psychological associations you have made when using the net are hampering your ability to concentrate as well as you could do, having a niggling feeling something else might need your attention, even just subconsciously.
Of course, everything I suggested might simply be wrong in your case and one of the other suggestions above is the reason. Hope you find out whatever it is that seems to be holding you back!
No that is not the case at all. I'm on there for the entire chess game. I don't go on other tabs at all.
No, that's not what I mean. I am talking about how a person's psychological state can alter in certain circumstances. Many people who surf the net a can end up finding it difficult focusing on one specific task online at full concentration since many get accustomed to a certain behavioural pattern of moving quickly from one thing to another while online. When they do try to concentrate on one thing when online, their brain has become somewhat conditioned to the idea that being online = shifting focus a lot, and it hampers ones ability to get into a focused state of mind.
This occurs for many people. It can affect me sometimes too and I know several people who find it very tricky focus with full attention on something online as their mind quickly feels like its attention should be moving to something else and random thoughts can get in the way.
It might not apply to you but it certainly does for others. Check out the article I linked to for more info.