How did I go from over 1500 to under 1400 in 15-20 games

I've played over 1000 games here - and recently reached as high as 1517 after a steady march upward from around 1400. But in the last 15-20 games I'm now back down to 1376 - and can't seem to do anything right. What in the world has happened?

It's normal to fluctuate + and - 100. If 1500 is your peak, then you could easily go to 1300 after a bad period. Get a good night's sleep, ideally for a few days in a row, play at a time when you can finish a game without distractions and in a mood when you're willing to focus. Little things like this can make a difference. Sometimes I like to warm up with unrated games or by doing tactic puzzles. Usually my first game or two of the day is really bad.

Anyway here's your rating graph going back 1 year. I wouldn't think of you as an established 1500 yet, but you have been improving, and you've crossed 1500 a few times. Just keep at it.

Oh, and trying to incorporate new knowledge into your play usually results in a rating drop. So if you've learned some new ideas you're trying to use that could be it.

Thanks for the advice from all. I've often wondered if it would be better if I didn't know the strength of an opponent until after the game. Is there a way to turn off the opponents rating?

When I don't do well suddenly it's almost always because I'm not calculating much, or well. Sometimes it's lack of focus, or being tired. Being over confident could do it too though. I see you lost to a few 1300s. Maybe after breaking 1500 you thought your wins would be automatic?

Once after a GM lost to a much lower rated player, he commented that "my rating couldn't protect me against good moves!"

Another quote along the same lines "Sometimes 2nd rate players beat 1st rate players because sometimes 2nd rate players play 1st rate moves."

Anyway, here is one of the 1300s you lost to recently... but look, his peak rating is is 1606 which he achieved just over 1 month ago. So
1) we all have bad streaks and
2) Your opponent may be able to play a lot better than their rating suggests

https://www.chess.com/member/sebahattinaktas

i have found that some players do play much better than I expect based on their rating. And, I guess misery loves company, but it is an encouragement to see that someone else has experienced the same thing. One stat that I also found helpful was the average rating of those I beat and lost to has gradually gone up - which my be a better indicator than a short-term rating fluctuation.

losing???? just a guess 

I just lost two games to mid-1300 players - due to two really stupid blunders. For some reason I've totally lost my concentration. Watching the MLB playoffs - cubs vs nationals probably didn't help.

sometimes we are not going to be sharp in chess, there are good days and bad days just like life I have 1900 on blitz but sometimes I have fallen into almost 1600, thats a 300 point loss, also there are days and I am on 1800 and reach 1900 in 1 hour, good days and bad days, thats all

Not unusual.... look at my stat, I have a high 1587 and now hovering at low 1400. I'm not that overly concerned of my rating here since I use it to experiment on new and various openings I'm not familiar with. In other words....just having fun.

I honestly do not even look at the opponents rating except in daily....an IM at our old club told me years ago to just pay attention to the position on the board because it is the only thing that matters....

This is fairly common just as all other players here noted. Sometimes we have good winning streaks or we are on peak form (explaning why we can hit a record high rating). Other days we do not play so well, or the opponents we receive are stronger than what their rating suggests, or we can even, well...hang 10 queens in 10 games by 10 mouse-slips.

Simply try again. Even if the losses have put your rating down, your rating can go up again for sure. I had a period of time several months ago where my Blitz rating went down by a big margin of around 250 rating points within several days. My regular chess-playing friend (we play both over-the-board and on Chess.com) had a not so fortunate experience. He dropped from a high of 2200 on Chess.com, and presently he is rated lower than 1750. But we still keep playing because chess is fun to play.

Perhaps this includes you - you could well be playing better than your rating suggests as well. The players who have previously lost to you may have felt that your playing strength exceeds their expectations. The average opponents' rating is also a reasonably good indicator of how strong the field of players that you play against are, but we cannot use it to an absolute certainty. Take my bullet stats for example - my playing strength has not dropped or gained by much, but ever since I opted to play in more Chess.com tournaments with almost the whole field lower rated than me, the average rating of my opponents correspondingly dropped.

I once had an on form period in solving Chess puzzles on another site when I managed to solve the first 16 puzzles correctly, and I also had a terrible period where I started the session with 8 incorrect solutions. I guess concentration is key, but it was hard to establish initially for each session that my concentration is good or bad, since most of the time I start off my first two puzzles with one of them being correctly solved (I cannot say for sure that if my first puzzle is incorrectly solved, then my concentration is lacking).

Great thread because everyone is supportive. It is good to see this. I peeked in because I too have

had a drop in rating. Many of the comments apply - being tired, distracted, etc. Also, I adopted new openings and tried out new tactics based on reading and had epic fails from this. Learning and meeting the mind of the other person through infinite diversity in infinite combinations is of more value than a rating, but of course striving for excellence is to show respect to oneself and others.

These are rather new to you and different from what you usually play, and you may not be able to adapt to these new ideas yet. After a while of playing with these ideas, you will become more experienced to deal with them.