Funny how people here say that one generally scores better against higher rated players while in some other thread the consensus seems to be that one can win rating by playing lower rated players all the time.
Can any of the players here post their chess insights on that? I'm pretty sure on average it won't make a difference whether you play stronger or weaker players but would be interesting to see some data.
Here's mine:
Opponent strength Rating gain Number of games
Much weaker -0.6 191
Weaker 1.3 128
Similar 0.5 318
Stronger 2.9 96
Much stronger 2.2 42
Well within error bounds of the by me expected same score in all categories.
Some other thought, maybe some players play style favors playing against stronger players, and some players play style favors playing against weaker players and so some perform better against strong players while others perform better against weak players.
Here is mine:
Much weaker -2.2
Weaker -0.6
Similar 0.6
Stronger -0.3
Much stronger 2.7
The much weaker and much stronger show the same trend as yours. I do not think this is within error bounds.
I do not see the link to playing style. If a playing style can beat strong players, it surely can beat weak players even easier... If the results were the other way around I could understand: some playing style may be good to beat weak players, but fail against the stronger ones.
much weaker = berserk. keep that in mind if it applies to you :D
i think it is Logical that a Player loses more Rating Points in average when he loses to much weaker opponents and wins even more Rating Points vs much higher rateds than vs similarish Players.
Example:
If i Play vs 3 similar rated Players and get 1 loss 1 win 1 draw then my gain/loss is about Zero
if i Play vs 3 much weaker opps and make 1 loss 1 win 1 draw then the loss has a much higher number than win and draw.
same vs much stronger opps
My rating gains:
Much weaker -0.6
Weaker 5.1
Similar 5.8
Stronger 4.7
Much stronger 22.0
As you can see, there differences between weaker, similar and stronger are insignificant, much stronger is based on only 1 game and thus 'random', however I played over 100 games against much lower rated opponents and there is a significant difference in gain (or in this case, loss).
I agree mostly with
@Lightsss about the weaker players thing. Also, it might also be a mentality thing. If you think they are weaker player and/ or you have a good position, you tend to play just "ok" moves rather than the best moves. I do think playing stronger players forces you to consider the best options because many times, games are decided by who is the most precise, not who is the first to blunder.
Dont forget the original question was actually is it 'easier' (more likely?) to play strong moves against stronger or weaker opponents.
Are you more likely to gain rating versus stronger or weaker opponents is a different question.
Turns out I have gained most rating against but stronger opponents, but second most against much weaker opponents! Those in the middle groups are lower gains.
The stats simply on 'games won' are totally logical. I won most against 'much weaker' and progressively less in each category down to 'much stronger'.
@KateKidna Well in response to the original question i would confirm that I am more likely to play strong moves against stronger players and more likely to play blunders against weaker players.
@MoistvonLipwig on second thought the play style may have more effect than I thought at first. A hypothetical very cautious and defensive player may be able to draw his games against strong opponents, thus gaining rating points and may be drawing against weak players as well, thus losing rating points.