Originally posted by AussiePetewhen you play just for fun
I wonder if anyone else feels the same about this as I do.
Can anyone tell me, politely and rationally, if they have a good reason for choosing to play substantially lower ranked players?
when your gf wants to play against you
200 points (one class) can result in upsets because it’s quite possible to play good & a class better, or play badly, a class worse. More than that is a likely to be a mis-match. But it works the other way around, too. I received a challenge from a player rated 625 pts below me which I accepted. Early in the opening, his Pawns were dropping like flies. Then he lost the exchange, then he dropped a R, then a B which I didn’t bother with because there was a mate looming…all in 23 moves. After he resigned with the comment, “I’m clearly not in your league”, he sent me another challenge. What’s HIS motivation?!
I am in the 1500 band and sometimes I play with 1200 players.
Why do I do that?
To crush'em? No, sometimes they crash me. It'sjust a matter of probability.
To boost my ego? My ego is boosted, yes, but not after a loss to them.
To not wanting to be serious about chess? Yes, perhaps. To people 300 points above me, everything is so dead serious. If you're not confident with opening theory you're busted from the beginning. You just have to think more and deeper.
To improve my chess? Perhaps only to try some new opening ideas. But my improvement is not the main reason.
To have fun? Yes, it is fun to win even if you lose some too.
To help other people to improve? Yes, if they want to, I always answer questions about tactics and strategy when the game is over.
But also because my lower rated opponents play quicker, seems to have more fun with the game.
What I want is a mix of lower rated and higher rated, with slower games and faster games, with games for fun and games for serious. So I have always some games going with a few hundreds rating points below me.
But sometimes I am a few hundreds points below too.
When I start a new game, the opponent can always reject the game. If someone think I shouldn't play with them, why do they agree on the games with the terms known?
But - sometimes a 1200-players plays like a 1700 player - with a fair share of blunders.
Originally posted by eertognamI would far rather play 10 opponents rated 2300 and beat 2 of them than 10 opponents rated 1500 and lose to 2 of them.
Third party perspective:. I agree with dmnelson84, I would rather having a winning record than a losing one, regardless of my rating.
... but sometimes I just want to play quickly and don't want to think too hard so I will select a weaker opponent as against a strong opponent I will have to take my time and think because if I don't my rating will plummet.