Massive ELO drops

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SufferYouth
I have been playing a lot of rapid ever since I joined. I have over 1000+ games now and I have learned more openings and counters and I still getting ELO drops and being stuck between 600-800. Any tips to improve? I have also been playing a lot of puzzle 3 days since.
IMKeto

You're never going to improve playing fast.

Garudapura

Take each move slowly and recite to yourself verbally or mentally what is the point of the move you want to make, does it follow the basic principles of the middle game & opening?

If you break it down every single move and analyze your games after, you can find if you had a wrong judgment.. why is that so? Don't repeat the same mistake again happy.png

The systematic approach is the key to playing good chess

anhbao123

After see some of your game I can see some of the biggest problems Firstly, stop playing for a while after a lose streak, about 8 or 9 lost in a row. The first thing I see when look at your game is the 14 lose streak, that's a big problem, you can't play properly when your emotion isn't good. One of your game I saw you just threw away your queen in move 3. Do not hang pieces or pawn in one move for no reason. Before making a move, check if anything can capture your piece, avoid thing like this can help you improve by a lot at low level. You lack of basic opening principles. In many of your game, when the opponent didn't put pawn in the center you just push your pawn to 5th rank for no reason. All that does is weaken your pawn structure, instead you should develop your minor pieces (knight and bishop) then castle and develop queen, rook. This is important because in low level, many players don't have proper opening knowledge. You need to learn opening properly. You seem to how to set up an opening but don't know how to play it. For example, there's a game you played Stafford Gambit (I don't recommend playing it because you only win with trap and not real chess so you won't get better), your opponent didn't seem to know the trap but you didn't either, then you just lost the game because you don't remember/know how to play the opening. This is a common opening trap that I've seen you missed a few times. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f6 3. Nxe5 fxe5 4. Qh5+ g6 5. Qxe5+ Qe7 6. Qxh8

laurengoodkindchess

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

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

I have tips to help you improve your chess skills so you can win more games.  

-I  offer a  free beginner’s free eBook on my website, www.ChessByLauren.com in case you are interested. The book is about asking questions before each move.  

-Learn basic tactics such as the fork, discovered attack, pin, and more.  I offer interactive puzzles on my website: https://www.chessbylauren.com/two-choice-puzzles.php  

-I recommend two books for you: “50 Poison Pieces”   and “Queen For A Day: The Girl’s Guide To Chess Mastery.”  Both books are available on Amazon.com.  Both books are endorsed by chess masters!  

-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. 

I hope that this helps.  

NavigatorKuudere

Play faster games.
I know this is counterintuitive, and against what most people say nowadays.
Still, I firmly believe that playing on just one type of time slows your progress. Try playing 1 blitz every 4 rapid. The reason is that it will force you to start thinking faster. It will lead you to many losses at first, but once you get the hang of it, you will start playing well faster. Therefore, you will have more time to think on unfamiliar positions.
Also, feel free to add me as a friend. I don't play here often, but I don't mind giving you some advice in what I can.
Not that I'm good anyway. I'm just a blunderer 1200. Still, I believe that I can still teach you a trick or two.

KeSetoKaiba
SufferYouth wrote:
I have been playing a lot of rapid ever since I joined. I have over 1000+ games now and I have learned more openings and counters and I still getting ELO drops and being stuck between 600-800. Any tips to improve? I have also been playing a lot of puzzle 3 days since.

 

This should help a lot I hope happy.png

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

chess is a learning process that doesn't happen overnight, but keep with it and keep learning and you'll improve long-term for sure happy.png

KeSetoKaiba
NavigatorKuudere wrote:

Play faster games.
I know this is counterintuitive, and against what most people say nowadays.
Still, I firmly believe that playing on just one type of time slows your progress. Try playing 1 blitz every 4 rapid. The reason is that it will force you to start thinking faster. It will lead you to many losses at first, but once you get the hang of it, you will start playing well faster. Therefore, you will have more time to think on unfamiliar positions.
Also, feel free to add me as a friend. I don't play here often, but I don't mind giving you some advice in what I can.
Not that I'm good anyway. I'm just a blunderer 1200. Still, I believe that I can still teach you a trick or two.

 

This will work better than most people think to a degree, but this is not the most efficient plan, nor is it the best for long-term improvement. Better is longer time controls for long-term improvement. Mostly true because when you are starting out, you aren't sure what exactly to look for in a position! You need to use some extra clock time to try to figure that out, come up with plans, search for better moves, scan for hanging pieces, look for opponent threats and so on. You can't do this with little time on the clock until you are much more experienced and are familiar with many more chess patterns.

Another reason to improve long time controls first is because it boosts your overall chess ability and understanding. This will indirectly help you also get better at shorter time controls, but getting good at speed chess only helps you improve speed chess and does little to nothing for your longer time control chess. Sticking with longer time controls gets two birds with one stone. 

Speed chess can also be self-destructive to your chess progress if used incorrectly because it conditions your mind to think faster and lets you get away with not calculating or thinking things through as far as you should. This is a horrible habit to reinforce for long time controls and you don't want your long-term chess improvement to suffer because of it. 

I actually love playing speed chess, but it has its place and it isn't best for learning chess.

Paleobotanical
SufferYouth wrote:
I have been playing a lot of rapid ever since I joined. I have over 1000+ games now and I have learned more openings and counters and I still getting ELO drops and being stuck between 600-800. Any tips to improve? I have also been playing a lot of puzzle 3 days since.

 

You've gotten a mixture of solid and what I would call not-so-solid advice in this thread.  I think one concrete thing you could do that would improve your game would be to play at least 15|10, or better yet, 30 minute games.  And, don't just pick the time control and play fast, instead use the time.

For every move, try to make a list in your head of available checks, captures, and attacks, both for yourself and for your opponent on your next move. Evaluate each one to see if it helps your position.  You might discover that they've left a piece hanging that you can just take.  You'll be more likely to see your own hanging pieces.  You'll start to catch places where you might otherwise hang a mate-in-one or even a mate-in-two.

It was a big deal when chess.com reclassified 10 minute games from "blitz" to "rapid."  The reason is that 10 minutes is just a lot faster than the other rapid choices.  Play slowly, look at each detail of your position, and better ratings will come.

(I too have twice had significant rating dives, one fairly recently, so I understand the frustration.  But, if you focus on having a good learning process, you'll be more likely to improve.)

Paleobotanical
TheNameofNames wrote:

No seriously pins, discoveries, center control, trading down, basic endgame theory that'll get you to 1000 if you don't blunder major pieces and make equal or better threats. 900s are also fairly bad at calculating capture outcomes in capture chains. So be weary of that as well

 

Well, sure!  Basic tactics are essential.  But, the way to learn those skills is to play more slowly and use the time to consciously look for chances to use them.

snc92192vn

I dropped in Lichess from 1220 to 1152

ChessMasteryOfficial

Learn exactly how to think in the opening, middlegame and endgame — this is what I teach.
Always blunder-check your moves.
Solve tactics in the right way.
Analyze your games.
Study games of strong players.
Learn how to be more psychologically resilient.
Work on your time management skills.
Get a coach if you can.

ThunderousOverlord

Dont' feel bad. I started at 475 or so in 2021 and improved to 1135. I've dropped over 300 points since then and have been stuck there for about the last 4 months. I try not to focus on rating, do plenty of tactics puzzles, and do my best to get a deep understanding of the theory behind my opening repertoire.. Being on a plateau is painful but I'm trying to keep my eye on long term improvement. Still, it's deflating and weighs on your motivation., Good luck.