Being a 1400 player is a crap shoot.

Being a 1400 player just feels like im stuck in a void, on one hand it seems like some players have a response to everything I can think of, while on the other it's like they have no idea what their doing.

for example:

Why is there so much diversity of skill in the 1400 rating class?

Could be stylistic rock paper scissors.  Their "skill" isn't different typically but rather their approach to the game.  It's also relative.  Black did some careless things in both games, like giving up the central pawn and Nxe2 despite the knight being great and the bishop bad. 

In the second game's opening 3.Be3! was better as the c-pawn restricts black, he'll need to accept some positional weaknesses in order to free himself further.  2...e5?! was a dubious choice since it's a target and can't support a ...d5 advance from e5.  

3.c4 doesn't do anything concrete in the position, you really want to restrain that d5 square and 3.Nc3! does so much better. 5.e4 was positionally suspect because it left a gaping hole on d4 while e3 is no longer available in case of ...Qb6 with pressure against f2. 

6...Ng4! gives much more for black, f2 is so weak.  6.Be3! would save white. 6...Bxe3 7.fxe3,d6 8.Be2 and the doubled pawns restrain some valuable squares while also opening some files.  

Also, wrong recapture, 10.Qxe2 keeps the e-pawn defended.  10...Bxf2+?? just loses.  

11.Nxf2 would have been a safer recapture, though 11.Kxf2?! still wins for white.

12.Kg1 stays winning, 12.Ke1? leaves white only slightly better and actually gives black compensation for the lost piece. 

13.Nf2! keeps an edge for white by confronting the active knight.  White may be playing a defensive game here but he's still up a piece.  The king is looser after the game move.

13...Nxc3?! is still equal, but 13...Re8! bringing another piece into the attack while maintaining the tension seems good for black.

You have to learn from your mistakes to grow in chess...as in life. Analyze your wins and losses equally.

Thanks for the constructive feedback greatoogieboogie

In 6 weeks ive gained 100 points and its crazy to me to see 1500 players play worse than 1300 players, I guess I do make just as manny mistakes as the people in this rating range, and some times I miss mate in one or two during longer games, but common..........

Yes, I am learning that openings dont count for much, they got me from 1200 to 1400 so I do think a bit of opening theory is good to learn eary on but not memorized moves. Now im trying to lean towrds learning posistional advantages and end games, all and all I still think its crazy that on occasion a 1200 player will give me more problems than a 1500 player, but I guess we all have good games and bad games.

Becareful alot of unrated (1200 players) are not really 1200.

I have seen alot of high level players who like to play unrated with a provisional ranking. However, They are much stronger than you could imagine.

I have faced several who have strength of close to 1900+.

I manage to draw and beat a few. I guess I have been lucky because I haven't lost against them yet. lol However, I do think it has to do with the fact they keep playing low level players which I believe if all you do is face low level players your chess skills will not improve.

Which is why I like to face high level players. However, sometimes I do play unrated and anyone can challenge me which is why I have faced some strong 1200 before.

The other part about some of the 1200 or lower rated players at least on online chess, is there are several that forfeit a lot of games in a row due to timeout which kills their rating, but doesn't really reflect their skill level.  I've played a few of them already.

I agree this whole rating seems to be more of a craps shoot.

Win verse 1590 Rating

Loss verse 1512 rating

You just can't always be sure what to expect.

But this is true for all levels of chess.

When 2812 Carlsen faces against a 2747 super GM, it's not like he doesn't have to think because he is rated 65 points higher... even a 2427 beated a 2600 is not exactly an upset.

To see your chance of winning, look at your resulting rating chance. If you would gain 8 rating from a game but loose 4, that means that will loose about twice as often as you win or have about a 1/3 chance to win assuming you and your opponent's rating is accurate.

These numbers don't move around much. Against someone rated 120 points higher than me, I might still have as much as a 43% chance of winning.

So the probabilities don't change much.

1400-1600 rated players are most unpredictable. Sometimes you face absolutely idiot, sometimes player who plays all moves correctly and sometimes the both. Like he is 1800 rapid but 1450 blitz and he beats you.

And they move so quick like is a bullet game, on time control of 5/5 or 10/5.  They will try to do whatever they can to stop you and beat you on most anoying way, no matter that i am playing unrated on phone vs them.