Practice makes Pathetic
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The more I play recently, the worse I get. I’ve lost 200 points over the past few weeks. I thought I’d at least remain stagnant in my rating. Lessons and puzzles seem to be having no effect. Hang it up?
No. Have a break, don’t get focused on points (yeah, they’re addictive), get back, then play for fun!
Well, works for me anyway!
Well, works for me anyway!
i lost about 100 points daily ELO in... six days
i got into 1000 elo, and got back to 900 its a bit frustrating but once you notice that your game is improving, getting more and more elo points is just a matter of time, i guess
You play only 10-minute games. Five or ten seconds/move isn't enough time to analyze the position at hand, remember what your lessons may have said, and accurately calculate whether any move you are considering will work out well. If you really want to learn to play well you will have to be more patient. Play longer time controls, play otb, get a good book aimed at beginners (many suggestions available in chess.com "For Beginners" forums). Once you understand more your game will improve.
Caffeineed wrote:
The more I play recently, the worse I get. I’ve lost 200 points over the past few weeks. I thought I’d at least remain stagnant in my rating. Lessons and puzzles seem to be having no effect. Hang it up?
Ratings typically fluctuate within a range, sort of like the stock market. You're probably just at the low end of your range. (I took a peek at your all-time rapid rating chart.)
Regarding advice, what @mpaetz said...
Caffeineed wrote:
The more I play recently, the worse I get. I’ve lost 200 points over the past few weeks. I thought I’d at least remain stagnant in my rating. Lessons and puzzles seem to be having no effect. Hang it up?
This is completely normal... I have had drops from near 1400 rapid to almost 1200... from 1400s blitz to below 1200 ... I was on the end of a tilt around 1300 in blitz a few days back too... Now back to 1400+ blitz... getting to that 1500 mark lol...
- Take a break
- Review your games and errors... Like I noticed my Bird's Openings games were not going well (too much queenside castling) and weak squares for knight hops etc being exploited
- Notes are a big big factor in improving; 12 Great Notebooks; I made a OneNote account but it does not have chess diagram you can make Chess.com Blogs for diagrams and set them to private/preview mode...
- Basically note down mistakes you make, missed tactics/ideas etc... group them by theme, weak squares; based on openings etc
- You can also start to stick to some openings like Italian Game and learn a few move of theory; and take notes along the way & branch out etc... (I only know few moves of Italian eg... But I learned a bit of advanced french)
LOL @ Hang it up, even carlsen goes through dry spells, my rating is incredibly low for what my elo should be around the 1500s, just happens to everyone. take a break and say praise be to yevon, Tidus style.
OP, what is happening to you is normal. You began to play a lot online, because you can. But it was too early for that. Your rating is yet no rating FIDE wise. The reason is, the FIDE don't bother giving ratings to players who can't even check on endangered pieces and pawns at every move, and turn chess into a sad joke.
Since you mostly encounter other such "pre-beginners", you get used to win every now and then on blunders that should happen only once in many games. and have got hard time coping with a serie of opponents averagely paying more attention to their stuff.
Just work on not playing a move until you're sure you're not losing material for it, and don't forget to cash every gift from your opponent, and, without doing anything special, you'll be at 1000 Elo before you know it.
Then, you can begin to learn chess.
@ryanovster Ahem where did you get the around 1500s elo for your rating... me Jealous of Platinum membership though 
I started in the 500 range and slowly worked my way up to 980 over the course of several months. Suddenly one day the trend reversed and I’ve been slowly dropping for weeks. I’m about 750 now and continue to lose. Sometimes I think the community as a whole is improving so if you aren’t getting better you’re getting worse, comparatively speaking. I don’t know if there’s any truth to that but it makes me feel better than simply accepting that I’m steadily getting worse at the game.
Don't hang it up.
Points up and down are a bit of a mystery to me.
I find watching a YouTube video helpful when my games are stagnating.
I recommend Gotham Chess and Chess Vibes.
Don't worry it seems to happen to everyone.
Points up and down are a bit of a mystery to me.
I find watching a YouTube video helpful when my games are stagnating.
I recommend Gotham Chess and Chess Vibes.
Don't worry it seems to happen to everyone.
Also those points graphs are deceptive.
The upward axis is not done in correct increments so the ups and downs appear more extreme than they actually are.
This is my current pet peeve with chess.com.
The correct way to draw a graph is to put a zig zag line at the bottom of that axis to show that you are only showing the top part of the graph.
Seriously, I learned this in high school.
Draw your graphs correctly chess.com.
The upward axis is not done in correct increments so the ups and downs appear more extreme than they actually are.
This is my current pet peeve with chess.com.
The correct way to draw a graph is to put a zig zag line at the bottom of that axis to show that you are only showing the top part of the graph.
Seriously, I learned this in high school.
Draw your graphs correctly chess.com.
Coming across strong competition is not the end of the world. Don't lose the psychological battle. You can rally and show you can play good games.
Don’t be ashamed, everyone gets stuck sometimes, just gotta ride it out.
Last game i had 11 blunders in 26 moves.
Not to be ashamed of, tho?
Caffeineed wrote:
Last game i had 11 blunders in 26 moves.
Not to be ashamed of, tho?
But did you win?
No
Do drills and endgames, and watch videos if you have diamond membership