Getting worse instead of better.

I have played near 1000 games on this site. I reached 1100, but now I’ve been dropping constantly until now. I’m now 880. Why am I just suddenly so horse poop at chess?

This was a good read, thank you.

If you click "more" there is a Rapid 60 min and 45 | 45 preset. 

So I think where you can save time and set yourself up better, is play a more traditional opening, like the queens gambit for example. If you're black and white plays e4 play e5. The main thing is openings are about developing your pieces and getting you king safe by castling, unless you want to go into into it deeply by studying openings. 

Don't feel bad, I went from being a pretty lousy player to now being a totally rotten, terrible player.

Just play smart

I've gone from 900s up to 1249, now back to 923 over two years.

I'm simply getting worse, making a lot of mistakes that I don't when higher ranked. 

 Losing sucks, yea I'm probably not any better than you, but here's some "tips": 

- Focus in your game and take your time. To focus, you can move away distractions and just look at your chess board, calculate before you play a move

- If you're still not getting better, you're maybe a bit stressed and you should stop playing and take a breather! Don't overextend yourself, take a break when you need to, even if you need to get to a rating, you still gotta rest! 

- Maybe you can pause the playing and do your puzzles. You can apply those tactics to your games.

- When playing, make sure to stay focused, don't calculate AFTER playing the move, and don't play fast, maybe play Rapid? You'll have plenty of time to think (but not like 10 minutes ) and make sure to use your knowledge. Look out for your opponent's best move, threats, and checks and captures.

-  I don't recommend doing chess games for more than 2 hours. Your eyes still need to rest from your screen. Don't strain your eyes and make sure to take a break from your screen! Too much of everything isn't good. So go take a break and eat a snack. 

I hope these help!

I got up to 1270 and now I can't break 900.  I had to quit because it was too frustrating.   People either got much better or cheating is on the rise.  Either way I am playing people putting up 80-90%'s at 850 I don't know what thats all about.

I don't think I would worry about the OP. He hasn't been online in over 8 years. 

Chess.com changed the start for new players from 1200 to 800.  Not surprisingly, the average on rapid has dropped from around 1200 to 800.    Compare your percentile from when your rating was higher to what it is now.   I used to be 1450-1500 and am now down to 1350, but my percentile is at 92% which is actually higher than it was months ago. 

Exact same thing has happened to me a few times, but at a lower level (1000-1100 ish).

I seem to have streaks where I just keep losing. . . and I can feel myself playing bad but not stop it (the same does happen in reverse, and its not simply due to getting paired with lesser players when on the way down and better players when on the way up.  Sometimes I seem to be putting everything into my game and getting trounced easily and repeatedly, other times I seem to be winning with almost an almost arrogant carefreeness!  When losing I seem cursed and when winning I seem charmed, but its all in all of our heads!)  

All I can say is that there is a reason why sports psychology is a science and a career!  From principles such as 'beginners luck' to 'losing streaks', any competitive venture seems to involve mental things which go beyond easy explanation!

I'm stuck on 400 and I keep losing it gets really frustrating.

I know the feeling. Younger I drew against a multiple state champion and beat a couple of masters. After a twenty year gap I started playing again due to pandemic boredom. 

My game was horrible but I figured I could shake off the rust and get back to the point where I was 20+ years ago. Nope I continued to play horribly. I get strange results now. I win 11 games in a row (several times) and then lose 9 in a row or even more multiple times. I must be the most experienced low rated player around. LIttle or no progress. Frustrating! I however am a bit of a bulldog so I will keep trying.

I would like to add to the frustration of the phenomenon of feeling like I've improved and putting some numbers behind it, and then going on losing streaks and dropping elo back down.  I started playing on chess.com with mainly 3 minute games. Makes sense that a set time limit, i might be able to get a lot of games in.  That worked out for a little while, but more often than not, I run out of time a lot.  So I switched to 5 minute games. That worked out better for me, and I could convert to some more wins.  What appears to happen, is that I will play a lot online, then play people at a real chess board for fun, and just be a machine against them, winning more often than not. Then after a weekend or something, I am feeling like I am back at the beginning, stinking up the place, and not being very good, having 5 game losing streaks, win 1, then lose 4 more, etc before being frustrating.  I practically have to ask, are there supplements I can take that enhance my thinking abilities? I know this: I am not nearly as talented as these Grandmasters. I cannot memorize things well enough to be sure I come out ahead in an opening. Sometimes when i have no time limit for a move irl, I can still blunder a piece. I get so perturbed when I get "family forked", that it's really a game ender for me.  So there must be a reason why it seems like through these testimonials and my own story that I have peaked at chess, and i cannot get higher out of my low rating. I watch the videos, and the dudes that say, "Don't blunder a piece, that's why you lose games!" In other words, are we experiencing mental deficiencies? I mean, when you see Magnus lose to the young players, is it because that young prodigy has this nice fresh brain and the older dudes' brains aren't working as well? I mean, imagine if blood doping was a thing in Chess so your brain was at top peak condition. 
I understand that perhaps reading some material or watching some videos might help enhance your game. Maybe getting a trainer, but what is effective?  I keep seeing in a leading social media platform ads for chess like i have never seen the likes of, like aimchess by Magnus group and it's like crazy...can these apps actually measure your game and actually try to train you to play better? Like do i need an AI to watch me play chess and help me move? How many people here actually benefit from being assisted by machines? Anyone have any takeaways? 

In this game, it's like an obsession, and I would like to win when I play, naturally, everyone would like to win. So what does it mean when it seems like you're not getting better? Or you get better, then feel burned out to where you lose 100 points of elo again? I'd hate to keep playing and lose elo back down to my lowest level. I literally started at 800 on blitz (3 to 5 min games, and i don't play those other timed ones, and I think chess.com starts you at 800) and I slipped as low as 300, maybe just below at 295. I cannot get passed and stay at 400, and it would surely be nice to keep improving and climbing.  I am fairly certain that someone will just say, "Maybe chess isn't for you?" Please don't discourage me from this mental way of socializing with my friends! As for online chess, sometimes it's impersonal, and just a game. Yeah, i've played the bots. They can kick my can a lot too. I struggle on them.  The advanced bots get difficult. It's frustrating.  

It happens from time to time. Just go back to basics and stop trying to force it

Don’t tilt.  Change your time controls to something slower.  Change your opening repertoire.  Keep a fresh attitude.  Dont go into a game with a defeatist or negative attitude.

if you’re truly a 1500, law of averages says you’ll get back there.  One does not spontaneously regress without a reason.  Usually, its something external, because chess knowledge just doesnt disappear.

Dont worry about elo.  Your elo will end up being wherever it deserves to be.  The important  thing is to view chess and chess improvement as being fun.  There are a lot of other things in your life that adds frustration.  Dont let chess be one of them.

this will be an upcoming topic on my blog, once i have time.

https://www.chess.com/blog/foobarred1

I also think I am getting worse at chess. I got 200 rating points in two months (1300) and now I am back at 1200 - 1150 now, and it's not because I am getting stronger players. I was actually doing quite well at the 1200 rating point, but now it's hard even getting there. 

Also, I am losing against my friends (Not chess.com friends) more frequently. I think it was because I was too focused on the Leagues, like trying to get on the league at the last moment.

I tried to play a few games of Blitz instead of Rapid, but they are about as strong as they've been a couple months ago to me, so I couldn't beat them. Right now I just try to improve in puzzles and do more lessons in Learn.