Losing Streak

Do you guys ever get unbelievably frustrated? I think I’ve won 3 out of 10 games today. I was so happy to finally reach 800 and now I’m back to the 700’s.

I think if I get a little flustered from a loss, my next games will get worse and worse. And then I’m just desperately trying to get my rating back to where it was before my losing streak.

I think I’m mostly frustrated because I’ve been doing lots of tactics training, studying and all that. But it seems like I’m hitting a wall lately and can’t improve.

I love chess. I’ve only been playing seriously since around November. But man it gets frustrating!

Any suggestions? I usually play 15 | 10. Maybe it’s too fast?

I've had that problem for a while but I've been working to get over it. If you lose a few games, maybe stop for a bit and take a break, you will probably play better if you get a bit of rest to get your mind off the streak.

It fluctuates my guy. I play 30 mins only and still struggle with time so if you do struggle with the time aspect make it longer.

Take breaks in between. When your winning you want to play again and again instantly when your losing if you do the same the results will be worse. It’s psychology the get back aspect

I know it’s hard not to be results orientated but for myself I’m practicing non attachment but to the game/position only, that’s it. Ratings/results can turn into a completely different aspect and personally you’ll start to lose the enjoyment/fun or what’s left especially if you are frustrated on a losing/tilted streak.

Like the snickers commercial your not yourself when hungry so to speak that probably goes for chess or anything in life (too emotionally attached is like anti chess because it’s very much a logical game).

I started in December and went from 350 to 870 in about 40 days then went back down to 600. Recently I’ve stayed at 1150ish for what seems like eternity lol. Ratings is just that unless your rated highly I hazard to guess it will not be linear not like that is such a thing for a human at all it’s not how we operate in anything we do. Progression naturally isn’t linear either, integration of learning is like a thousand times more important.

Are you inputting what you have learned and remedies past errors? I’m starting to write notes and it does help on the occasion.

Hope you get something out of this

From one novice to another

Isn’t Morphy that said a person that plays chess is a gentlemen but a person that plays chess well is a sign of a wasted life. Something like that. He’s not wrong

Iv tilted 200+ elo in arena tournaments. Play to many games we burn out and become less sharp. I find i play my best if i keep it to a few blitz games a day. I dont think i could play more then one 15+10....too long to sit for me.

lessons, puzzles & hands-sitting.

When I was 900, I dropped many points. Losing streaks suck

Yes. I'm suffering from one at the moment. I can tell my level of focus isn't really there, but I have all these games that I'm currently losing, to play out in daily, then I'm not gonna play for a while, until I get a little time to study again. I was in the same place about a year ago, and that helped. 

 

Also knights can burn in in an eternal fire such dumb piece

Try to develop a result-free attitude. In a long run, it doesn't matter if you're rated 700 or 800 or 1000 at the moment. Your goal must be to test your new knowledge/ideas in practice, to get feedback,  learn from your mistakes, make adjustments and improve your play. Focus on learning, not on the results of a particular game/games.

If you feel that you're "hitting a wall" then there's something wrong in your "study approach".

Here, I cannot say what's wrong, because I donno what your study routine looks like.

you still have more wins than losses+draws in total
you haven't yet reached 800, you've made quite the journey, but now you have to play against people who are already there, and once you can consistently keep yourself up there, it's official you've done it. i've gone past 1000 quite a few times but i haven't been able to keep it just yet.

if you kinda want a cheap way to improve, a lot of players at our level just don't really know how to respond to gambits, so maybe you could incorporate those into your openings

Lots of great feedback! I sincerely appreciate all of it!

Hi! My name is Lauren Goodkind and I’m a respected  chess coach and chess YouTuber who helps beginners out : 

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

 

I suggest playing with a slower time control.  Here are some other things you might want to consider: 

Hi! My name is Lauren Goodkind and I’m a respected  chess coach and chess YouTuber who helps beginners out : 

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

Here’s some ideas to help you get better.  

-I’ll be happy to analyze one of your chess games for free for my YouTube channel, since I love to help beginners out.  Share one of your games with me!  This is a great way to get better!  

-If you are serious about chess, I highly recommend you hiring a chess coach to help you.  

-Also consider all checks and captures on your side and also your opponent’s side. Always as, “If I move here, where is my opponent going to move?”. Do this for every single move!  

-Play with a slow time control, such as G/30 so you have plenty of time to think before every move. 

I also offer 500 two-choice puzzles on my website: https://www.chessbylauren.com/two-choice-puzzles.php

Oh yeah I recently lost 10 in a row, dropped 100 points and sadly was ahead in many of them until I blundered it away. It is what it is. I enjoy playing and puzzles but of course it is more fun to win than to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. You ahead of me so you have that going for you. I guess this is just an enjoy the journey kind of thing. If you need a win challenge me. If you fall behind take heart you are just that much closer to me blundering it right back to you.

HAHAHAHAHA case in point for me giving one away away after I wrote the above  from a missed mate in 3 and later a missed mate in 1 to getting checkmated. https://www.chess.com/game/live/39410916427

 

Just keep training and keep focused during your games reading the board as hard as you can. Your score will fluctuate, but that's probably because you are trying new and different things or taking longer to calculate because you think there could be a tactic. There is nothing wrong with that, I know it's frustrating, but just think about how much you've actually learned.

Hey Seth!

I totally get you. I got so frustrated I stopped playing for a while. I like to practice with the bots, read a book or literally stand up and do a breathing exercise because like you a loss throws me off and I can't think of anything other than "Don't lose!!!" and make even bigger mistakes. I know we will get here, its just a long way to go!

Play games where you have 30 minutes. And everyday before you play set a goal for example, “I’m going to play 5 games today, I want to win 3 of the games.” And thus you will slowly and steadily improve. Also take your time and don’t rush, but don’t go painfully slow either. Hope this helps, I use it as well.

Whenever you lose a game, stop playing and analyse it first. That stops mental tilt.
It channels the negative emotions of losing towards a positive goal: improving.