(04-21-2020, 04:06 AM)Senor Fantastico Wrote:

(03-27-2020, 04:58 PM)The Real Marty Wrote: Okay, I typed all this and it's probably more than you wanted to know, but here goes: 

I rarely play against a real person.  I play against the computers.  If you hover over "Play" then click "Live Chess" you can either play against various computer programs, with names like "Jade-bot" or "Komodo-9," or issue a challenge, and someone from somewhere in the world with match up and game on.  You can choose how much time you want to put on the clock, what kind of game, etc.  I like 15/10 games, where you get 15 minutes total but every time you make a move, it puts 10 seconds back on the clock.  

If you hover over "play" and then click "computer" that is something different, where you can play a computer and get unlimited mulligans.  

I don't like playing against humans because it feels kind of weird.  You can actually feel the person on the other end.  And a lot of them will make you play the game out even when they should resign.   Even though it's all online and anonymous, I feel the competitive tension on the other end.  

My level is around 1100, which is totally mediocre.  I think master level would be around 2000, and grandmaster would be around 2500.  There are masters and grandmasters that play on that website.  I wouldn't play one, though.  It wouldn't be competitive.  So I play the bots that are rated from 1,000 to 1,200.  

It's free.  You can pay extra for additional resources.  But I'm too lazy to do something like study the game.  That's probably why I'm stuck at mediocre.   But I'm completely addicted.  

If you figure out how to have a board tournament, I'll play.

I've been playing on your site. Strangely, I'm like 1600 vs the computer and about 650 vs real people 

Maybe I should learn more than the one opening I know lol.

Surprisingly, playing a person is really different from playing a computer.  People do unpredictable and strange things.  Some of them study weird openings in order to get an advantage.  If you play the computers, you can kind of get the hang of them after a while.  I've advanced myself over the 1200 level (My current rating is 1207), and I routinely beat the bots that are rated in the 1300s now.  So I'm slowly getting better.  But I'm still not studying at all.  Just playing.  

I'm also finding that caffeine or an energy drink raises my game by about 100 points.  

So, do you have a real rating, or are you just estimating?

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