Strengh of "low" rated opponents

Hey there! I am not playing that much on chess.com unfortunately and there's a simple reason for it: Every time I come back on this site (in general I like this site!) and start playing in some tournament, I see some 1000 crushing everybody. Often times I get killed by a 1000 or so (I'm 2300 on Lichess, so far like 1700 here xD), you loose all your rating points and it's just no fun. I was wondering wether there's some bigger issue with cheating/sandbagging here of it's just normal that low rated players are often times crushing it. Some insights by people who are familiar with the in and outs on chess.com would be appreciated :) Cheers&have a great day to all of you!

@Mr-Mudd: 

Thanks for insightful response to my post

 

The 'not playing yout best' - part surely is also a factor . The improving point also might very well be the case... 

 

It's just perculiar to me because (as mentioned) on other sites I did not meet this phenomenon at all. When you're playing someone rated 500 points lower or so - sure. But players that are at the absolute bottom end of the rating spectrum... that seems very weird to me. I don't think that a big amount of them are "self-improved-during-the-pandemic" geniuses.

 

On Lichess or 1,2 other sites where I played a big enough amount of game you never see low-end-rating players doing so extremely well.

 

 

@Mr-mudd was hating on the Flying Spaghetti Monster smh...

But if a 1000s rated player is spanking 1500s and 2000s over MULTIPLE games... um me not feel good... they sandbag or come strong from lichess etc... maybe play once rating settles down so its more clear

I saw some 1000s rated players totally spanking 1700s 2000s and winning a bunch of tourneys I haven't played in any one chess.com in long time...

     Chess.com lets newcomers choose their rating--beginner, middling, strong, whatever. Some who have played chess for a while outside of FIDE, USCF or other organizations don't realize they have a good bit of ability and just opt for "newbie". Or perhaps they are unsure how to play online and underestimate themselves. Then they crush everyone in their class until they reach their true level.

     Many years ago when I first discovered organized rated chess I was intimidated by the solemnity and "rituals" so I did poorly in my first couple of tournaments and got an otb rating in the 1300s (USCF). I entered a couple of sections of postal chess and declared myself to be a weak player, so I was given a low initial rating. It turned out that with the ability to move the pieces in home analysis my too-frequent gaffes and oversights disappeared and I was much stronger than the rating I originally estimated, so I easily beat everybody. A few years later, matched with stronger players, my results evened out.

     Perhaps some of these 1000 players you are complaining about just didn't know their own strength. Soon they'll get their rating up to a more realistic level.

     

I don't play in tournaments at all, due to the reason you described. Unfortunately, we can't trust the newcomers and there's no way to avoid the possibility of an unfair opponent.
I play with high-rated players only, mainly unrated games.