Common rating plateaus

Just out of curiosity, what are some rating plateaus (please specify which system) you guys have been stuck at? What have you done to get out of them? Thanks.

i was mostly stuck at the 1000s and i am currently stuck at the 1100s [uscf]

1200s is one spot. It is considered the average area for a reason.

I've also noticed that 1600s can stopper quite a few people. Note sure why.

Finally the classic 1999. Breaking into the 2000 range. Often difficult.

my uscf rating is around 1740 and has been there for a while now....cant seem to break 1800...but then again i havent played serious chess since 2012 so that could be it

No kidding.  When the roughest part of your career was almost dropping out of the top 50 and almost going below 2700... hehe.

I have a USCF rating plateau that may be one of the longest ever.

2188 for 40 years.

Yeah but if you stopped playing USCF events then that's an unfair advantage.

waffile, true although I am not sure it is an advantage.  

When I first started playing chess I was stuck at that 800-900 range for well over a year. Then some of the intermediate tactics started to stick & I quickly shot up a over 1000 in a short period. Then only a few months later I reached the elusive 1200 mark and have been there for about 5 years (though sometimes I don't play for long periods, like entire years after I "quit"). These ratings are not official, but I have pretty much the same rating on chessmaster 10, 11, grandmaster edition, & here on chess.com. And when I used to play on yahoo I was rated around 1200. That seems to be my ceiling.

I have also noticed that on chessmaster I can win or draw any opponent under 1300 and only lose if I am really not focusing. But, I have never had a victory against any of the 'personalities' over 1300, either losses or draws [(mostly losses) but I did get a draw once agains a personality rated over 2000 (game was only 23 moves and it forced the draw on me via 3 fold)].

As I understand these ratings are benchmarks. I could be wrong...

below 800 you know the moves and the rules.

800 - 1200  beginner

1200 - 1600 intermediate

1600 - 1800 expert

1800 - 2000 strong expert/master

2000+ - Master/IM/GM

I had one around the 1000-1100 range and then briely again getting out of the 1700s but I did read somewhere that based of statistics from a survey a big majority of players say getting out of the Class B (1600-1799) range was the toughest but I think most commonly someone will get stuck trying to break out of the 2400s if they even get to be that strong!

Robert Jack, I'd say it's more like:

0-1000  beginner

1000-1400 advanced beginner (strong social player / café master)

1400-2000 intermediate (class player) (most tournament & club players)

2000-2200 Expert

2200+ National Master (NM)

2300+ FIDE Master (FM)

2400+ International Master (IM)

2500+ Grand Master (GM)

2700+ Super Grand Master (Super GM)

I'm stuck between 1100-1200 and yes, i think i'm betwen beginner - advanced beginner.

Of course i'm talking about Chess.com rating, i have no played any real tournament.

I wish my rating would plateau. Lately it just keeps dropping :(

There are people who exhaust their time studying and still cant break the plateau.I think it's because most  people's brains are not flexible enough.That is why kids are very good at absorbing knowledge.Their brains are still not hardwired.

To break out to the next level you need to be adaptable to change.As a beginner those knight in the rim is dim dogmas wont cut it anymore.As an intermediate those hack attacks wont work anymore.You need to refine your positional chess.As an expert ,you need to change your thinking in the opening and the endgame.And so on and so forth.

The more you climb the ladder,the more specific positions will become and the less likely generalizations will be helpful

^^^ If there is a secret to improvement its what you just said thats what helps me improve.

where does 1000-1400 fit in for a 13 year old?

^ think he means sand bagging like how a 1500 cna stop playing for years getting to a 2000 stregth or higher and then dominate the tournament scene

I don't know about plateaus, but I am still trying to figure out how my blitz rating apparently starts at 1200, and I have a pretty decent 42-28-3 record, yet my rating has dropped to 1150? ;)

My "standard" rating of is closer to my old USCF rating.

But do study chess like endgames, strategy and tactics?