Hide the opponent's ELO?

Is there an option to hide the opponent's ELO? Sometimes I wish I would not know my opponent's rating, so that I develop my strategy independent from whether he is better, worse, or as strong as me.

I don't think there is an option to do that, but I think they could add this feature, it might be helpful sometimes.

On the website, live games can be played in the focus mode.

https://support.chess.com/article/859-what-is-focus-mode-how-do-i-turn-it-on

Yes--use the focus mode or just tip the screen up to hide the rating. It's a good idea--when you see a low rating you relax and play sloppily and when you see a high rating you can freeze or get intimidated. Best to have no distractions and play your best no matter what.

We should also hide their names. Usually I don’t look at their names while playing. But the other day I made a mistake to look. One opponent is named “stupid “ something. It made me play stupidly in that game😞

The names are useful in tournaments because people often stick to an opening system. I had trouble playing a guy who always plays the Alekhine very well. I saw his name, recognized it, and made the game transpose into a Vienna. He lost very quickly. So in tournament situations I want to know who I am playing.

That’s very clever and solves the problem. Another consideration is that concealing the rating may lead to another problem. If I see a very strong player I will play something extra lackluster and dull like a French Exchange or Rubinstein. It’s not a good idea to get into a wild, open game with a high level player. In regular in person tournaments we know the people, their preferences, and their ratings and play accordingly. That’s an aspect worth considering too.

Hey guys here from 2022. So this is what I use to comprehensively conceal all the ratings during a game (user ratings, chat rating, win-loss points deduction etc).

Just copy and paste the following into Chrome AdBlock's customization filter:

www.chess.com##[id^="white_player_rating_"]
www.chess.com##SPAN[class="user-rating"]
live.chess.com##[class^="icn icngame"]
chess.com##div[class^="board-player-userTagline"]
chess.com##div[class^="chat-stream-component"]
www.chess.com##SPAN[class="user-tagline-rating user-tagline-dark"]
www.chess.com##SPAN[class="live-game-start-component"]
www.chess.com##[class="live-game-start-component"]
www.chess.com##[class="chat-scroll-area-component"]
chess.com##div[class^="chat-scroll-area-component"]

In mobile app it's possible now

It's also possible on the website now.

Hiding the opponent's ELO can be useful for focusing on your own game strategy without being influenced by the opponent's ranking. It helps you to play based on the game itself rather than adjusting your tactics based on how strong you think your opponent is. This can lead to a more fair and unbiased gameplay experience, allowing you to focus purely on your own performance and improvement. Using the best app hider for this purpose can enhance your ability to maintain this focus.