When I went on Daniel Lona’s podcast, he asked if I still advise my students to play in OTB tournaments. It was a reasonable question, because I’ve gone on a bit of a tear criticizing several aspects of OTB tournaments. My answer was that I do still recommend them to most students, but somewhat uneasily, because I know how difficult and costly they are to play in.
Despite the inconvenience, I recognize that the atmosphere at an OTB event creates a unique level of focus and intensity that’s tremendously valuable for many players. This is why many coaches say OTB is key for improvement, and there’s a lot of truth to that. What is said less often, but equally true, is that online play is also key for improvement.
I started thinking about this while watching the Magic: The Gathering streamer Andrea Mengucci. On his stream, Mengucci often plays offbeat decks (in Magic, you get to build your own deck to bring to an event; choosing an offbeat deck is sort of like playing an offbeat opening in chess). Many of these decks aren’t very good, and he doesn’t have a lot of experience playing them, so he loses a fair amount.
But when an important tournament rolls around, Mengucci almost always shows up with a highly tuned version of one of the best decks. What I realized is that he appreciates the different contexts and uses each appropriately: in low-stakes online games, he focuses on experimenting and learning as much as possible; in high-takes live events, he uses everything he has learned to maximize his chances of winning.
In short, this is how chess players should use online and OTB play.
OTB
Upsides: intensity, focus, community
Downsides: inconvenience, time commitment, illness/fatigue
When the tournament director announces the start of the round, the room quiets, and the clocks start, most players can access a level of focus that they simply can’t while sitting at home in front of their computer. There’s a lot of value in having the chance to take everything you’ve learned and bring it all together in a high stakes contest (not necessarily in terms of money, but in terms of psychological commitment).
OTB tournaments are also a great chance to meet and make connections with other chess players – at least they should be, but the punishing schedules often make this difficult if not impossible. That’s part of why current OTB events frustrate me so much: with a few simple changes, especially shortening time controls, they could keep all of the strengths and greatly reduce the downsides.
The biggest downside of OTB chess, however, is the opportunity cost: the other things you could be doing besides going to a chess tournament. I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m at a point in my life where, if I’m going to take a weekend off of watching the kids, I need to use it to rest and relax – not do something as stressful as a chess tournament.
If you travel to a tournament, you’ll probably be in a cramped room full of people who just flew, many of whom arrive sick. You’ll also be highly stressed and fatigued. This is basically a perfect storm to get sick. Even if you don’t get sick, you might be so exhausted that you can’t perform at your best for a few days.
Overall, tournaments requiring travel are enormously costly, not only in the money required for travel, hotel, etc., but even more so in time and energy. For this reason, they’re not practical to do very often for people with other commitments. If you have a good local club, especially one that offers a tournament with a one game a week schedule, that’s a great solution for many players.
Online
Upsides: convenience, volume, experimentation
Downsides: distractions, cheating, addiction
Compared to OTB tournaments, online play is far more convenient. You can find a game any time you want 24-7 and choose a time control that fits into your schedule. On the downside, it’s very difficult, if not impossible, to summon up the same focus you’d have at an OTB tournament. If you have social media open, or kids trying to get your attention, that will certainly sap your focus; but even if you eliminate all distractions as much as possible, it’s still a very different feeling sitting alone in front of your computer than in a silent tournament hall.
Cheating is also easier online, and probably more common than in OTB tournaments (although I don’t think anyone knows how much cheating really happens in either context). For some players, just the possibility that their opponents could be cheating becomes debilitating. The convenience of online play also opens the door to bad habits: playing mindlessly as procrastination, or in extreme cases even spirals of tilt and addiction.
These factors cause some to view online as at best a distraction, but I disagree. The takeaway isn’t to avoid online play altogether, it’s to recognize the risks and avoid them. For example, I have a worksheet that I use to make sure I’m engaging in online chess in the ways that I want to.
The fact that you can play more games online is a huge advantage. Getting good at chess requires a lot of practice. For most players, especially those starting as adults, it’s unrealistic to get the volume required solely by playing OTB classical games. Some faster online games are essential. Online it’s also easier to implement a workflow that maximizes learning. Last week I shared how I use Lichess studies to set up that kind of workflow.
The lower psychological stakes of online play can also be turned into an advantage. If you spent hundreds of dollars and sacrificed your weekend to play in a tournament, it’s going to be very difficult to play a risky move with unclear consequences. It’s much easier to play a move like that online. And you should look for opportunities to play those kinds of moves! Whether or not they work out, you’ll learn a lot from trying them.
I have heard of some players who regard their OTB rating as “real” and online rating as “fake”. Truthfully, neither rating is more real than the other; in many cases, the online rating is more accurate, because it reflects a larger volume of games. But if this mindset helps you detach from caring about your online rating, that’s a good thing. It’s essential to have some area where you feel comfortable experimenting. Lichess has a setting that hides all ratings on the whole site, and I think that’s a great option for many players.
Conclusion
Most players would do best with a mix of online and OTB play. The key is to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each and use them appropriately.
Approach online with a playful, experimental mindset. Maximize for learning, not for winning. And implement a healthy workflow that reinforces good habits while helping you avoid distraction and tilt.
When you go to an OTB tournament, embrace the opportunity to take everything you’ve learned and go all out to score the best result you can.
Nate Solon impresses me from his writings as a very intelligent experienced and most importantly practical chess coach. I would purchase a Nate Solon T shirt with his bearded face with the caption, Approach Chess Improvement Practically.
As someone who grew up playing exclusively OTB and have needed to approach online games as almost a foreign language that I'm not good at but HAVE TO speak, this post has given me a lot of comfort. It resonates with my recent experience playing a weekly correspondence game online with my trainig partner. I find it much easier to experiment with moves I normally wouldn't consider in OTB games. This has enhanced my imagination and made it very exciting to play online, and thus train for OTB. I'm lucky in that I live in a city where I'm never more than an Uber ride away from the tournament venue, but I completely understand where you're coming from in your recent posts about OTB chess.