Im scared of lowering my rating

This is the highest rating I have ever got. (145) rapid. And I am afraid of lowering it. I remember when I hit rock bottom: 100. I played with another person who was 100 and won. Then my rating got higher and lower over and over. This is the highest I have got and I am afraid that I will lower it back down to what it used to be. So I have been playing with bots. I beat Sven, who is 1100 Elo, but I am still afraid. Any suggestions?

The only way to never lose is to never play. Besides, what's the worst thing that will happen if your rating decreases? A few digits will change on a computer screen?

Learn how to play properly and you won't lose so much.

#3

Very unhealthy advice! In this case, 'losing' per se is not a problem

Bots in the 10th move and lower are good, but after that they just malfunction, so that's why you won.

Analyze a mistake you keep doing and try looking for a better move in that position. Helped me fix many common mistakes.

Play against friends in unrated and more, just keep practicing to make it short.

Stop thinking ratings are self-worth points.  They are ultimately unfounded and meaningless numbers that no one will remember in the heat death of the universe, just like existence itself. 

Almost nobody in the world cares what your rating is, and six months from now no one will care what your rating used to be. If you don't play, you will never improve. And if you don't improve, who cares what your rating is?

Your perspective on rating turns it into nothing more than a vanity metric.  It's not. In practical terms , this assessment of your playing ability helps chess.com find opponents for you with similar skills.  You shouldn't fear losing, because you will. If you don't, your rating will increase until you start losing. 

A bit simplified, but when playing similar rated opponents you will win as much as you lose. And your rating will fluctuate 100-200 points up and down, just to variance. At your rating level swings like that are massive, so it's easiest to just ignore it and enjoy playing games.

Hi! My name is Lauren Goodkind and I’m a respected  chess coach and chess YouTuber based in California: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP5SPSG_sWSYPjqJYMNwL_Q

I wouldn't worry about loosing rating points.  Points are just points.  You have to think about your rating as the stock market.  Ratings go up and down, just like the stock market.  

If you lose, then treat each lost as a learning experience.  Analyze the game and learn from your mistakes.  This is a great way to get better and then hopefully your rating will overall go up with time!  

  I hope that this helps! 

At 145, u cant go much lower. 

that's harsh

The best way (at least for me) is to think of it in terms of goals and milestones. Your highest ever currently is 145 and that fact doesn't change. Even if you somehow dipped down to 100 rating, the fact that you reached 145 rating before didn't change! 

This is a cool observation because the same holds true for any "new high" rating. Most people value intervals of 100 in rating (especially once reaching 1000), so keep working on your chess and keep learning and don't worry too closely about the rating numbers. If you improve, then the numbers will eventually go up to catch up with your chess ability  

The rating numbers also change A LOT over time due to variance (basically, human plays don't play consistently like bots so some days we play better than others), so obsessing over the numbers won't help...but using the rating numbers as milestones can be a powerful tool. Just imagine how cool 200 rating will be for you, or 300 rating? You will never experience those if you are afraid to play, so when you are ready, you have to put yourself out there and keep trying

This blog post might also be useful for you, since I'm guessing you aren't aware of/using opening principles yet. They help chess players even get to 1000 or higher rating! Obviously, 1000+ takes more than just a few guidelines out of the opening stage of the game, but it is a good starting point if you want to improve something and don't know a good place to begin:

https://www.chess.com/blog/KeSetoKaiba/opening-principles-again 

Around 1000, learning basic checkmates (like Queen + King vs King) or basic theoretical endgames (like King + pawn vs pawn when it is winning or drawn) can also be extremely helpful to know

You shouldn't be afraid of dropping in rating. If you are committed to getting better, you'll be able to jump way up from your current rating in no time. However, I wouldn't recommend playing against bots as practice. 

Losing is no fun, but you shouldn't let that stop you playing. Whatever your rating, it's bound to happen to everyone sooner or later. It can even be a good thing, because once you start progressing up the ratings, it means you'll meet stronger opponents and they'll be able to beat you until you figure out how to start beating them. You might be losing more, but facing stronger opposition ultimately means you're getting better.

I notice you play a lot of blitz games. Personally, I don't think anyone at our level (under 1000 rating) should be playing any games with shorter time limits than 15/10 rapid.

Play longer games and give yourself more time to really think about each move (both your moves and your opponents). I played a lot of 10 minute rapid games and felt like I was getting nowhere, but once I switched to 15/10 rapid, I felt a big improvement. I still make stupid mistakes, but it happens less often.

Play longer games and I'm sure you'll soon find yourself beating tougher opponents and gaining more rating points in no time. 

Let me clue you in to a little secret.  The only person that cares about your rating is YOU.  Fear will get you nowhere. 

Just don't worry about it. Keep playing & let the rating go down if that's what happens. It will only make you stronger in the end. every game you loose makes you get better. 

We can play unrated daily games if you want to, i am around 1300. 

Rating is just a number.That's what my chess teacher told me 

Remember, you don't get better by pushing up your Elo number, you get better by winning more games. And one of the best ways to learn how to win games is to lose games first and then learn from them.

But also, I totally get this. Every time I hit a rating peak, I start to get scared to play, because I don't want to ruin that number. And sometimes it's hard to remember that it's not really the number that we're trying to build, it's our understanding of the game.