At the end of the day it’s just a puzzle solving game. You should respect all players no matter their rating.
Playing "CHESS" as an under-400 ELO
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Nov 21, 2025
0
#203
Chess is for all. Making fun of ELO is just going to discourage them.
Part of the reason why many players have such a low ELO is because whenever you make your account if you say you’re a tournament player your ELO naturally starts higher, but if you say you know the rules and basics or you don’t know anything at all, then your ELO starts much lower. Another reason why many people get such a low score in a very short period of time is because the first 1-20 games are extremely important for determining whether or not your ELO will be high or low. Just because someone has a low ELO, doesn’t mean or make them stupid. If you’d like to have a high ELO then the main things to remember are: #1 when you make your account tell them you’re a tournament player, #2 you have to play your first games are very important, and #3 your first games you win/lose change your score dramatically.
And just a reminder for anyone who has a low ELO: you aren’t stupid. Just because your ELO is low doesn’t mean you’ll never get a higher ELO. And if you don’t give up, nothing can stop you! Please don’t put yourself down because you “have a low ELO”.
Reminder: every GM was a beginner!
mylo_the_dog wrote:
Under 400 elo. There is not a “real” way to play chess. You were under 400 before, weren’t you?
I respectfully decline to participate in this campaign in favour of the u-400 cause
chesswlh4 wrote:
Also I mentioned this in my comment that there has been no attempt of “takeover” U400 players just exist and they get hated on.
Imagine if I was on a wheelchair and I would just decide to exist as a firefighter or a policeman
Dec 6, 2025
0
#210
Idrinkyourhealth3 wrote:
chesswlh4 wrote:
Also I mentioned this in my comment that there has been no attempt of “takeover” U400 players just exist and they get hated on.
Imagine if I was on a wheelchair and I would just decide to exist as a firefighter or a policeman
Why not just try to act like a decent human being?
Dec 6, 2025
0
#211
DrSpudnik wrote:
Idrinkyourhealth3 wrote:
chesswlh4 wrote:
Also I mentioned this in my comment that there has been no attempt of “takeover” U400 players just exist and they get hated on.
Imagine if I was on a wheelchair and I would just decide to exist as a firefighter or a policeman
Why not just try to act like a decent human being?
Unfortunately that isn't possible for @Idrinkyourhealth3
22 days ago
0
#212
Idrinkyourhealth3 wrote:
I'm not saying that under 400 ELO players should be prosecuted or be put in jail, BUT we need to adress some facts. An under 400 ELO Game IS in fact a different variation of chess if you look closely. There is no strategy or visualization, they are just making barely legal moves....and by normalizing It and allowing It we are disrespecting the CHESS community by calling It chess. Every day I see more of them, they are coming in waves and taking over the forums, hiding in the shadows, they are planning to finish us as a logic-based community. Community that we put so much time and effort to build, we are now failing to protect It. And also protect the u-400s against themselves.
Having an under 400 ELO and playing chess IS a contradiction in itself, an incongruence, a paradox, a system error. Disregarding logic in a logic-based game.
I'm sorry, but if you have to preface your argument by saying "I don't think people who aren't good at a board game should be imprisoned because of their skill level, BUT..." then, well, I'd probably give up writing an essay about whatever it is you want to talk about. When you say that people on the lower Elos make "barely legal moves," you don't sound like you're driving home a point, you sound like you don't know what you're talking about, because I myself am an absolute noobie with little expertise and I've played and received game ratings of 800-1000+ having made mostly decent moves - and lost. I don't pretend to be a pro chess player, and I never will be, but I don't hear Chess.com saying, "Sorry. You suck, so get out;" I don't play chess because I want it to be my life, I play it because I enjoy it, and as I know a lot of people do and should.
So, if the evil 400 Elo-monsters that are haunting your dreams truly are coming in waves and hiding in the shadows, I think the reaction from a reasonable person should be, "well, good;" because the thing that destroys a friendly game community isn't an influx of new people and casual support; it's forum posts like this that are intended to target and discourage while accomplishing neither, having been worded so blatantly as to fail to convey any believable rhetoric. I don't care if I'm pitied by wise elders such as yourself for having a 100 Elo should I ever drop to that level, any more than I would care if I was pitied by Magnus Carlsen for a 2000 Elo should I ever get that. I solicit neither.
What else would you call 100, 200, 300, 400 Elo chess if not Chess? Chess: Losers Edition? Monkey Chess? Chess but Let's Face It It's Not Really Chess? I'm sure those names will catch on quite nicely. Harmful to the chess community. That's the cutest thing I've heard today. The most beautiful aspect of Chess.com is its global inclusivity, its accessibility and applicability to people from all around the world. Why do you think that a person's national flag is displayed by their username during each match? Because the website doesn't become weakened for the presence of variant abilities, cultures, languages, and skill sets; rather, those countless variables are what gives this website its strength. Variability is the driving factor in the difficulty of chess itself.
After only 3 plies, a chess board has over 8000, almost 9000 possible configurations, and do you know why that is, O Great Protector of the Meek? It's because chess itself is frickin' all over the place. Chess would not be difficult if not for the insane amount of variability within it, the broad, near-endless spectrum of circumstance. Higher Elos would not even EXIST if not for that difficulty that is derived, not destroyed, by diversity.
If dreams were easy to reach, they wouldn't be dreams, they'd be reality, and the stage afterwards would be the dream. If you care about the Chess community and people with lower ratings as you purport to, then try not to dissuade people from trying to do something in the name of your imaginary utopia. And by the way, I also thought that Elo was an acronym, it's a common mistake actually.
21 days ago
0
#214
@Walter-Flint Oh so VERY well said. Thank you for expressing the outrage I feel for A-holes like @Idrinkyourhealth3. I salute you.
And to anyone who makes comments about the length of the post, eat my door stop. If you're to freaking lazy to read then you are an indication of what is wrong in this world.
21 days ago
0
#215
AnswerZone wrote:
AnswerZone wrote:
Robyoman wrote:
AnswerZone schreef:
iPlayChess610 wrote:
umbravolt wrote:
AnswerZone wrote:
iPlayChess610 wrote:
Idrinkyourhealth3 wrote:
qjud wrote:
When i play against people under 400, They often fall for dumbest traps… most of them are new beginner or kids with 7-11 years old. (mostly)
how do you know their real age ?
Hey I am 10 and I am 1567 OTB.And here are a few people (not listing names, only titles and age.) from my state.
NM-11
FM-11
CM-12
CM-12
( I am sure we all have heard about Abimanyu Mishra)
Wow.... chess is crazy... CM at 12 is crazy (I mean, even having a title at 12 is crazy...)
I am only 2 months old and already 1807 otb
Wait... Your age is 2 months?
He is DEFINETELY not 2 months with 1807 rating and able to type on a chess.com post.
Don't be a hater. Young people often play more creative chess, which can make up for extensive study, and he's probably just naturally gifted.
2 months though?
I am not being a hater, but his account is well over 2 months old.... which is why I don't believe he is 2 months old... Sorry if I was mean or disrespected someone.
I thought they were being facetious. :-)
21 days ago
0
#216
Idrinkyourhealth3 wrote:
I explained it in great detail already in the middle pages, I'll tell you again: calling out the lies deters and disuades the disingenuous liars and makes the u-400 more cautious and self conscious. And also potentially more life-fulfilling choices after the reality acceptance process
WOW dude. You are seriously in need of good psychological counseling. How about you stop pushing your BS here on a chess forum and instead go do something productive like watch grass grow ... that is far more your intellectual level.
21 days ago
0
#217
Idrinkyourhealth3 wrote:
I'm not saying that under 400 ELO players should be prosecuted or be put in jail, BUT we need to adress some facts. An under 400 ELO Game IS in fact a different variation of chess if you look closely. There is no strategy or visualization, they are just making barely legal moves. Definetely not playing the game the way It was meant to be played...and by normalizing It and allowing It we are disrespecting the CHESS community by calling It chess. Every day I see more of them, they are coming in waves and taking over the forums, hiding in the shadows, they are planning to finish us as a logic-based community. Community that we put so much time and effort to build, we are now failing to protect It. And also protect the u-400s against themselves.
Having an under 400 ELO and playing chess IS a contradiction in itself, an incongruence, a paradox, a system error. Disregarding logic in a logic-based game.
I'll start with the premise "chess is a beautiful strategy logic based game. But like any game It can take away from you more than you may realize, more than It can give, sometimes. And I think we can all agree with this quite: Life, just like chess, has a time limit.
In my most honest opinion the biggest struggle of an under 400 ELO is actually not chess but the unempathetic IRRESPONSIBLE higher ELO people that missdirect them into chess or try to keep them in chess by projecting their own self lies into them, encouraging them to take lessons,to continue playing or to get better.
To summon It, the most optimistic analogy i can come up with : being an u-400 elo and playing chess is like Stephen Hawking competing in martial arts. A blind guy playing Fortnite. Shaquille Oneal in an undercover spy mission. A camel in the Alaska Ice sheet and a cat swimming.
Please lets stop pretending that the u-400 species is enjoying/exteacting-value-from/contributing-to chess more than it could in other games/fields/aspects-of-life. And i am myself a 100% an animal supporter, vegetarian and pray every day and believe in Jedus and wish the best to everyone.
That said , I think It is disingenuous and UNACCEPTABLE to lie and encourage them to take chess lessons or to get better at chess. If you are doing it for their good then you are just lying to yourself and being irresponsable by projecting your own lies into others.
If you are an u-400 and you are reading this, I support you in my heart and I aknowledge your struggle and remember that there are some fun chess variations where logic doesn't prevail (that much ) . But you can never escape logic completely. And you can't escape common sense and can't dodge the fact that you need logic to exist. Therefore you have to get good at It, as quick as possible. One way is by playing chess, and taking chess lessons here, in Chess.com
.... if you remove all 400 ELo there has to be a lowest rating
21 days ago
0
#218
and, lol, many people below 400 ELO are.... better than me, a 2000
IMAGINE FOR A MOMENT if you actually make It possible to go lower than 100 elo or below 0, and legalize ilegal moves here in chess.com . How about also a button that enables the possibility to change a time limit in the middle of the game? Because that would be just a step further in the direction yall trying to go. Once the healthy structure is lost - chaos takes over; and trolls will rise from the horizon to dominate, auto-destroy and bring down others with them into a non ending chaotic spiral loop
Under 400 elo. There is not a “real” way to play chess. You were under 400 before, weren’t you?