I wonder if anyone else feels the same about this as I do.
I frequently see players with invites open which are limited to players of a lower rank than theirs. Sometimes significantly lower, too.
I don't get it. Why would you want to play someone lower ranked. Isn't the whole point of chess to learn and improve. Surely its not to just beat up on the weaker players.
And the strange part is, whenever I ask them about it, the response is always the same. Indignant. Defensive. Just the way a bully responds when someone bigger than them tells them to stop picking on smaller kids.
Can anyone tell me, politely and rationally, if they have a good reason for choosing to play substantially lower ranked players?
If no one played people lower than them there'd be no games whatsoever.
Don't you realize that when you play a stronger person they are playing a weaker one???
And why would you want to pick a lower ranked person? Because maybe you don't feel like thinking so hard and maybe you need a win to bolster your confidence. There's nothing forcing people to accept those invites. They do it to play a stronger person and learn.
Its a reciprocal relationship.
My rating at freechess.org is right at 1200. I've beaten people with a rating right at 1500. I can't do it consistently obviously or my rating would be around 1500. I've also lost games where my opponent had a lower rating than myself. Personally if I don't take my opponent seriously because of his lower rating or I'm not focusing on the best move by playing mechanically I'll lose very fast. I guess it comes down to if the higher ranked player is having a bad game and the lower ranked player is having a good game then the lower ranked person is favored for the win. At this level I really don't think that the importance of strong or weak squares will come into the picture. At 1200 I can't all the time pick out a weak square to attack. Out right blunders however will be noticed and exploited.
Of course I'm probably wrong.
Originally posted by AussiePetePerhaps they have suffered a recent run of defeats, have lost confidence and their ego needs boosting.
I wonder if anyone else feels the same about this as I do.
I frequently see players with invites open which are limited to players of a lower rank than theirs. Sometimes significantly lower, too.
I don't get it. Why would you want to play someone lower ranked. Isn't the whole point of chess to learn and improve. Surely its not to just beat up ...[text shortened]... ationally, if they have a good reason for choosing to play substantially lower ranked players?
Not a defense of those types. But I know when i get my butt kicked against someone sometimes it is a blow against your confidence.
So sometimes it is just nice to take on a nice easy game you know you can kick butt in just to get some confidence back.
I also imagine some people feel they have a ceiling against which players they can be competitive and above that they dont feel that way. Thus their rating may go fairly high beating on their lvl or below, but they dont feel they are really capable of beating players at the actual lvl of their rating.
I dunno personally. I used to be more afraid of higher ratings so I wouldnt play anyone too high, but obviously I got over that. so now I only play lower rated players that are assigned to me in clans or tourneys or friends who still want to play me even if they are below my self imposed ratings limit.
Originally posted by dmnelson84I don't think it works out that by playing lower rated players you bolster your rating. For example, on here I've played plenty of lower rated players, my rating is 1652. On Playchess in slow I ONLY play higher rated players, I think the minimum rating for my opponents that I allow is 1700 - my rating on there is 1652.
The answer is that they want to bolster their record. Otherwise, they'd end up like me.
So yeah...