Huge drops in elo please help

Hello, 

I am making this post out of pure desparation. Over the course of the last month, I have dropped from my high of 729 all the way into the 400s. As far as I can tell I haven't changed anything in my style of play. I've tried all the tips on other threads, such as taking a few days off, making sure I get enough sleep, stop playing after a few losses to avoid tilt ect. I love chess and I know that the game isn't about elo, but I cant help but feel demoralised to the point where I don't really want to play anymore. Has this been happening to anyone else? Does anyone have any fresh tips on how I can start improving again?

Many thanks, 

Bilbo

There are things beyond our control, that's why there's no need to be demoralized when rating goes down. However, if you truly have the passion for the game and you don't like losing, you should study. Playing is fun, and it can be more fun once you understand the game much better and win games. You played better players and you lost; so what? All chess players lose games. You had a slump; even world champions had those. Systematically study the game if you really want to improve. It's not just the time, it's not just the effort, but it's also the method of studying. Good luck!

Improving Your Chess - Resources for Beginners and Beyond.....

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/improving-your-chess-resources-for-beginners-and-beyond

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

1) Slower time controls. 15|10 or slower. 10 minutes is not enough time.

2) Only 1 or 2 games per day max

3) Puzzles every day

4) Endgame study 2-3 days a week for 1/2 hour to an hour

5) Opening study/study of annotated GM games the same amount as endgame study

The first game I took a look at was 10 minute rapid. You managed to play 10 moves and blunder 2 pieces in less than 1 minute.

SLOW DOWN. THINK BEFORE YOU MOVE. CAPS INTENTIONAL.

The things you tried to fix your problem of losing a lot of rating points will not stop it. Taking time off (unless you are frustrated and need to some time to decompress), stopping after a few loses (to avoid a tilt) will not fix your problems. That is because you have not tried to find out why you are losing your games. The main reason you are losing is because you are blundering pieces. Example is your game against reetvic1.

Move 5 is the first example. You play the move Nd5. This instantly losses the knight. You did not check to see that the square you are moving to is controlled by the pawn on c6. The pawn just takes the knight on the next move. A move that does not lose the knight is Ne2. Move 12 is another example. When the knight moves to b6 it opens an attack on your bishop (which is undefended). Best move is to trade off the bishops so that you don't drop the bishop or un develop it to keep the bishop. Protecting the bishop with the rook (while better than just dropping it) is also not good because then you put the rook on a square that is not ideal for it, and sacrifice development for two moves. Move 38 is another example of this. You trade the your rook for there knight. That is a bad trade. To make it worse you gave up your last piece that was not a pawn when your opponent still has their rook. Don't do that unless you have calculated the entire variation and you can force your pawn to queen, or into a winning endgame position. If you could have forced them to give up there rook to stop a pawn from queening then you would have a winning endgame position. A better move would have been Rg1 to protect the pawn. That way you force them to have to make more moves, and coordinate an attack on the pawn on g5. This give you time use the one advantage you have, and that is your three connected passed pawns supported by your king.

Evaluate every trade through the lens of material gained and lost. Pawns are worth 1 point, bishops and knights are worth 3 points, rooks are worth 5 points, and a queen is worth 9 points. Also do blunder checks for every move. This will help you avoid losing material, and dropping pieces. Learn the opening and endgame principles, and focus on tactics. That will help you improve.

Analyze your games after they are over. That will help you improve, and also will help prevent losing a bunch of games in a row. Identify why you think you lost the game, and what you could do in the future to prevent losing for that reason.

Hope this helps.

Here are some articles that can help you learn some of the things I mention above.

https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-principles-of-the-opening

https://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-endgames

https://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-tactics (focus on forks/double attack, pins, skewers, and discovered attacks)

https://www.chess.com/article/view/study-plan-for-beginners-bringing-it-all-together2 (only look at step 3 in this study guide right now. the rest of it will not be that useful until you are stronger player. It gives the ten reason on why you lose a game, and that way you can categorize your loses, and detect patterns in your play.)

https://www.chess.com/article/view/after-the-rules-what-should-beginners-study-next (some of this may be a little advanced for level but there is a lot of good info on what to learn at your level also)

Hikaru hinself said Blitz and faster Raoid time controls have a tendency to fluctuate faster than classical rating. So this isn't something new or your fault. It's the nature of things.

Fluctuation is fine. I guess the real question is why are you stuck at 400s. You said you tried everything. Whenever someone tells me that, I already know the problem. You tried everything. Stop.

Of course, I knew that's just a desperate expression to mean I think I tried all my best but still got nothing substantial.

Seeing your games, I think you need to work on your tactics. Practice puzzles A LOT. Develop conservatively for now until you're quite confident with your tactics. Wait for your opponent to make a tactical mistake. Don"t go wild. At your level folks tend to go wild so if you are good at waiting, it's just a matter of time before they lash out and nake tactical mistakes.

I can teach you EXACTLY how to think during the game (opening, middlegame and endgame). Your chess understanding will never be the same and you will improve a lot. I charge $10/h, but if you can’t afford too many lessons, don’t worry. I can teach you a lot in an hour. Here to help if you are interested.

If you want to study by yourself, read ‘Logical Chess’. It is really instructive book. You have it on youtube as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eTB7oHeRgM&list=PLUrgfsyInqNa1S4i8DsGJwzx1Uhn2AqlT