Hi, fellow woodpushers.

Lately I have been playing a lot of opponents of lower and approx the same rating as myself, just to find that people doesn't make any mistakes anymore. But they do punish all my tiny mistakes. So I was wondering if this is a result of people getting better and/or me getting worse? Or maybe something else?

Earlier there was always a chance to fight back after a minor mistake. But that is rarely the case anymore. Any ideas?

L-)

that's rather suggestive, isn't it?...

Probably you are just having a bad streak. Or bad luck with opponents on a good one.

Short breaks can work wonders.

If it were a long term phenomenon, they wouldn't have lower or equal ratings. I can't think of a phase change that would appear suddenly including anything associated with "CPU heads."

perhaps you are getting unlucky with your opponents.  i once started a game with someone at around 1250 - 1300.  in the few days we were playing he climbed to over 1700.  i hadn't realized, but he had only finished one game when we started and finished several as we were playing.  last i saw he was 20 and 0.  well, i guess you can tell by that how i did...hehe.

When my opponent's "Avg. opp." is 4-500 points lower than his rating, which again is 100-200 points lower than mine, and I'm being manhandled - then I can't avoid thinking something is wrong. But maybe my game is just terrible off these days and anyone could beat me.

Opponents not making mistakes and not overlooking any tactical opportunities can make a chessplayer paranoid. :)

L-)

sorry xloserx, i just noticed that you are rated high enough that you are probably not meeting up with players who are new and just on the imediate climb.  you may even be high enough that someone may in fact be using an engine. 

^  Planeden, read xloserx's forum title :)

I usually don't have the patience for sorting through all sorts of tactics in a cc game... but one time I was bored and had the position set up on winboard... I had the TV on also, and was trying to find a combination out of the mess I was in.  I sat there trying all sorts of different moves and move orders for about 40 minutes until I accidentally found something... it saved me and the position would be equal.  Inspired, I continued to try hard in that game, and won with a very nice tactical finish... I wonder if could find the game now...

Anyway, other times I would miss mates in 2 and lose (very frustrating)... I know what you mean about the paranoia though... but maybe your opponents are trying extra hard with you 

@orangehonda:

It's a nice thought anyway that my opponents are trying extra hard with me. :p

And I must confess that I don't spend too much time on my games, most of them anyway, but I don't like the recent punishment I'm getting. :p