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Edward S posted an update
I’ve discovered “unrated” games. I didn’t know it was possible to play real opponents w/o the little bit of stress of the rating effect. I should be better off playing a rated game when I have time to play, rather than “practicing” with unrated games. How does the group feel about this?
Andrew and William6 Comments-
I was actually just wondering about this. The only problem I’ve had is that there are far fewer people playing unrated games. I often wait for quite a while for a 15|10 to start, and I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a 30min game to start. I think the biggest upside is that you get to play people at a lot of different skill levels. I played a game with a player nearly double my rating today and it was a great learning experience. I felt like I was actually doing most things pretty well, and I held on well into the end game.
I think the biggest downside is that the rating is a sort of motivation. Not just for me, but for the other players. I’ve seen much more careless play in unrated games. My experience has been that opponents in rated games seem to want to win more.
I’ve been trying to convince myself that the rating doesn’t really matter. Of course I want to make number go up, but I’m not getting worse at chess if it goes down. I don’t think “ELO Hell” really exists in chess the same way it does in competitive video games. Something inside of me has a hard time with that number falling, but I really want to get over it.
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@williamareynoldsicloud-com totally echo you William with regard to the feeling when your rating goes down after a loss ! It is weird !! In a previous life , I played golf & if I had a bad round , that was all it was ! For some reason chess feels different . Sometimes wonder if I’m taking it over seriously , but as you say , I need to get over it too . Maybe I don’t play enough games so a loss takes on too much importance ??
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I’ve definitely found that playing more frequently helps keep me from stressing. If I don’t play for 2-3 days, I definitely get the jitters and have a hard time getting myself to risk the rating.
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@williamareynoldsicloud-com think for me it’s getting a balance between not playing enough ( as you say ) & playing too much ( incl training ) & getting ” over chessed somehow ! Have asked Nelson’s advice / opinion on potentially going ” stale ” . See if he mentions it on the 2nd live coaching . Thanks for your reply .
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@willrey1112 I have noticed that carelessness you speak of in an unrated games. People are freer and not as concerned maybe. I’ve beaten a couple of 1300s in unrated and I’m just about even playing 1100s in rated games.
There are these times, usually later at night, where I would like to play a game, but I’m thinking maybe I’m tired and not as focused as I should be. Maybe when I’m up too late or had a couple drinks is when I’ll play unrated.
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@tedsmith919gmail-com sounds like a good option !
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