I'm in the 700s, and sometimes it seems like everyone is just...better than me in general.

I'm only winning games when my opponent makes incredibly obvious errors; if they don't, I get decimated.

I genuinely can't remember the last time I had a game that was really close, or one where I didn't win solely because my opponent messed up really badly at a critical moment. Either I utterly crush my opponent, or I get utterly crushed. There is virtually zero in-between to be had. 

What's even more frustrating is that sometimes I get games where I get destroyed as usual, only for Stockfish to tell me that I played no blunders and only one or two mistakes; my opponent was just better. 

I've hit a brick wall many times here, but this one feels particularly disheartening. At least when I just stopped getting better before, I was able to realize what was happening and do better. Now I can't possibly figure out what I'm doing wrong. My best guess is that I play too passively, but that's mainly because I'm not the greatest at recognizing good attacks, despite my best efforts.

I suppose it's time for me to just stop playing for another week or so. It worked the first time, after all. I'm most likely just frustrated, but it's...well, frustrating how often that occurs.

You just gotta keep playing and forget about your rating. I think its pretty normal for lower rated players games to swing back and forth wildly, its just from a lack of understanding in positions. Everyone hits a wall its only natural you can just keep improving unless youve been playing since you were a kid and had people encouraging you im probably 1500 but righ now im 1100 and i just stopped caring i was so upset at first then i just stopped caring lol

theres things your not noticing thats the best i can tell you, youre missing attacking chances your spidey senses arent firing like theyre supposed to to keep improving i dont think anyone can really tell you without looking at your games

maybe you’re just a good defender, explore your attacking side

Truth.

I'm a 350 in the exact same situation- My opponent screws up- I win. If they play a solid game i'm cooked 70% of the time. I need help. I feel like the above comment describes my predicament perfectly. Two of my best friends are better than me at chess and I get steamrolled and then utterly demoralized. I need help. I think my mind has already generated my playstyle, I just need help figuring out what it is and building on it. I want to best my friends. Please help. Dive into my games if you have to, but I warn you, they're a Christmas tree.

Accounts:

ihatechessbutloveittoo

TheRookDuelist

On the account you're posting from you've steadily gained 72 points in the last 30 days, with a K/D ratio of 1.6. Seems like reasonable progress to me dude!

When my ELO reached the mid-900s I clearly hit a plateau, with any wins coming off my opponent's blunders. I found it helpful to study the "Learn/Insights" feature on chess.com. For example, I learned that I was usually falling behind in the Opening. Another rather surprising finding was that I play much worse in the morning, compared to the afternoon.

I have backed off playing rated games for now while I work on the problem areas that turned up in Insights. For example, I clearly can no longer get by with just the main line of my openings, I have to "do the work" and learn the more common variations that I am seeing now.

Improving Your Chess - Resources for Beginners and Beyond

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

I’d be hard pressed to believe that you played games where neither you or your opponent blundered. Show me the games and I’ll believe.

Anyway I am doing this on my phone so I can’t show you the game I am talking about, but in one game your opponent actually missed a tactical shot you had after he took one of your pawns. Before this blunder was made by your opponent the game was even and no blunders were made. So this game shows that sometimes there is a middle ground.

Of course after you missed your tactical shot your opponent destroyed you simply because when you miss tactical shots you had after your opponent made a move it generally makes the game easier for your opponent, which is why you lost very badly after you missed a his tactical shot. I’ll post the game I am talking about after I write this.

Chess is a game where if your opponent doesn’t make a mistake, and you don’t either, it’s a draw. In order for somebody to win, somebody has to make a mistake, therefore, it shouldn’t be surprising that you only win when your opponent messes up badly.

I guess the degree of the mess up is the plot you are trying to sell. I’d say you win so long as you blunder less than your opponent. A blunder is a blunder. I would say that you are making an alibi out of, “I only win when he makes a huge mistake,” which means you typically don’t try to improve you just blame your loss on your alibi. Reinfeld talks about how players create alibi’s in his book Why you Lose at Chess. If you want this idea more throughly explained then check out that book.

Ditch the alibi, that’s my advice

https://www.chess.com/live/game/123954053383

Here is the game I was talking about

ok

If you’re playing passively or struggling to find active plans, it may help to dive deeper into understanding middle-game concepts and pawn structure.

I just had a look at your two most recent games, and in both cases your biggest problems are a result of what I call "board blindness" in my own play. Basically, you immediately know you've suffered from it when your opponent makes a move and you "oh, I didn't see that!", at other times it is only revealed upon reviewing your game and the computer points out "you could have just taken their Queen you know" (or something like that).

Anyway, what I've been trying to do to reduce those sorts of oversight errors is to practice "catch and release." What I mean is, every time a piece moves, it "catches" new squares but it also "releases" old squares. So the first thing to do when your opponent moves a piece is look at the new squares it "catches", that will help you spot any of your pieces that come under attack. And don't forget to check the squares "beyond" your piece for pins, while it doesn't immediately "catch" those squares it does have potential to catch them (so it helps you spot pins and skewers that way) or beyond their own "blocking" piece for any potential "discovered attacks". But just because their move may now threaten one of your pieces or pawns, don't make a move yet.
Because the next thing to check is what squares did it release? Did your opponent stop protecting one of their pieces or a perhaps a square you would really like to put your knight on (for example). What "options" do you now have that you didn't before that piece moved?
Now, so far, I've only talked about things with respect to the piece that moved and the squares it controls itself. But when a piece is put on a square, it doesn't just control some new set of squares, but it also creates a blockage to the player that moved. It will "cut off" control from the player's other pieces. So part of the "catch" check is to look for "what pieces of my opponents are caught up in this new blockage?" Has the piece interfered with one of their other pieces (i.e. has their Bishop cut off their Rook's control of the file?) or are those two pieces now working together? I know blockage isn't really a good term when they work together, but let's not quibble.

So you also look to see how moving the piece has "removed" any previous blockages, what "blockages" have been released. Has one of your opponents pieces now, as a result of having that blockage released, captured new squares directly (has their "potential" been released). And if you've checked for this sort of potential earlier, then you have a good chance of being alerted to the danger of some discovered attack when the piece gets moved in the first place. 
It takes a bit of time to do all these checks, but it is just checking the capture and release side of any move, including the catch and release of blockages on their other pieces and the creation of new blockages on their other pieces.

Once you get into the habit of doing that all the time you will greatly reduce those "oh, I didn't see that" type of mistake. And eventually spotting sequences of moves or tactics, is the next step, which is often just an extension of this whole process; you are just looking at a series of catch and releases. The more you practice catch and release, the quicker you will get at those evaluations, and the easier it will be to remember any "warnings" you flagged earlier (i.e. ooh, that Rook is now lined up with my Queen so their Bishop moves my Queen will need to be dealt with).

You are not calculating at all if your this low rated it's impossible to be this bad unless your not even trying no offense.

@SSGOKU29,

Saying “no offense” doesn't absolve you of being intentionally rude and unhelpful here. Plenty of players below 1000 rated are trying to improve, and some people take to the game easier than others. Chess isn't an easy game to be good at.

No it's not being rude at all I am pointing out that he must not be calculating at all. He must be playing without thinking. The average player if they try is about 900. So if your not calculating your not gonna get results. Dvoretsky talks alot about this.

Game is rigged you cant win my dear friend AI alghorythmical conspiracy and server room AI ELO gatekeepers

I looked at your two losses today.

in one game, you violated a basic opening principle on move 7, by moving a piece a second time when you had not developed your other pieces. Then on move 8, you left a piece hanging.

in the other game, you violated an opening principle on move 4, by moving a piece to where it blocked your d-pawn and so would slow your development. Then on move 5, you overlooked a pawn fork that lost a piece.

my advice is simple. Learn the basic opening principles. Practice them so that they become automatic.

it may help to play slower games so that you have time to think. Quit playing rapid or blitz until you know the basics and can apply them without having to think.

take time to check your opponent’s threats.

All of this is basic advice for beginners. You may want to check some books, videos, or websites that give such recommendations. I am sure that there have been hundreds of forums that have provided this advice for beginners.