Over-the-board

Over-the-board, abbreviated OTB, literally means playing on a physical chessboard. In an OTB game, the players are at the playing venue and make their moves on the real board instead of transmitting them through an internet platform. The Laws of Chess of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) are written to cover this form of in-person play.

OTB describes how the game is played, not its speed. An in-person game may use blitz, rapid, or classical time controls, labels for progressively longer limits on how much thinking time players receive. It may also be casual or part of an organized tournament. OTB therefore does not automatically mean 'classical chess' or 'official tournament chess.'

The most direct contrast is online chess, where moves are transmitted over the internet. It also differs from correspondence chess, where the players do not sit opposite each other at the same board and instead send moves remotely, normally with much longer thinking periods.