If I win 4 out of 7 games will my rating points slowly improve?

Hi there. I'm new to chess, only started late April. I must have filled in the original questionnaire very badly as I started with nearly 900 posts! Crazy! I was more like a 400 player. So I quickly fell to that level but then have been slowly building up. Currently around 800 rapid. (But over 900 Daily, where I am stronger with more time to think). I love chess and am working hard and am getting better. But Rapid is my favourite and where I most want to improve. I'm in no rush. So, my question is - if I aim to win 4 out of 7 games, is that a good target? And will my rating slowly improve? Or do you think I should aim for winning more like 5 out of 9, or even 6 out of 11?!? What do you think? Thanks.

Meant 'started with 900 POINTS' (not posts)! :)

If the average of your opponent's ratings is roughly equal to your current rating, then yes, winning 4/7 (scoring ~57%) will perpetually raise your rating.

The matching algorithm will place you against players at your level, so if you win more than you lose your rating will go up and you will face tougher opposition. It will try to keep you at 50/50 win loss. You have to keep improving if you want to win more than you lose.

Many times I lose a game because of a mouse slip (I’m old). I don’t care because my rating goes down, I face weaker opposition and it pops back up again. It always heads towards my playing strength and 50/50 win loss.

On average, yes, but for the vast majority of players, the win percentage will be right around 50%. Why? Because when you win, you play harder players and are more likely to lose. Only people who are very very weak, or very very strong, wins and loses balance out. The way you gain points is by doing well against stronger opponents.

Oh, but your question was more about improvement.

Your aim should be to learn something every game... sometimes (well, often times) that means finding your biggest mistake, trying to understand why you made it, and then coming up with a plan for how you'll avoiding making that mistake in the future. If you miss your opponent could play somewhere, then your plan might be to spend more time looking at your opponent's pieces and where they can move. If you're not using your time effectively you might plan to have roughly 1/2 your time left on move 20 (and average game is about 40 moves).

If you're often losing material you might decide to solve tactic puzzles regularly.
If you're getting lost positions without losing any material then you might decide to study a book on strategy.

If you lose 10 out of 10 games in a day, and learn 10 lessons, then a week from now you'll be better. If you lose 80 out of 100 games in a month, and learn 100 lessons (you make mistakes in won games too) then a year from now you'll be much better.

But if you just focus on winning games you'll hover around your current rating because you're not learning anything

One well played loss will do more to improve your game than 10 poorly played wins. 

This is all very helpful, thank you. I've been on a huge upward curve in the last 2 weeks with both Rapid 30 and Daily. Things are clucking as I am studying hard. But now - up to around 800 - I am indeed playing better players and it's going to be tougher. I nearly won against someone 900+ today, I should have won after a solid opening, but I threw it away with some bad ideas and bad moves. Yes, indeed, I WILL learn from this...... I think if I can win 6 out of 11 games this would be awesome

The best answer is "PERHAPS".

It's quite possible to win 4 out of 7 games for the rest of your life and never improve.

However, you should certainly improve if you learn basic tactics and examine your games for mistakes and good moves.

I went over your game as Black against ohCheck... on 9/27/21 (I happened to choose a perfect game for teaching/learning).

Analyze it with someone like llama47 if you can (we don't know one another).  That game is full of missed one-move tactics on both sides as well as typical and expected moves at your level. Your last move is a beauty.

I'm suggesting analysis with an experienced player for a beginner like you rather than you getting bogged down with every last detail on the site analysis.

Meant things are 'clicking'!! .... Anyway, I agree learning and improvement are way more important than points. But, what do you think - is winning 6 out of 11 a reasonable aim??

Thank you johnxlouge! Yes I was pleased with my win against OhCheck. I did analyse it but I will go back and take another look. Goodness, I'd love Llama47 to analyse it!

"is winning 6 out of 11 a reasonable aim??"

The first thing they teach you in statistics class is that you can statistically prove anything.  The problem with your winning 6 out of 11 is this.  You can play 11 opponent all rated much lower than you, and win 6 of those games.  Did that make you a better player?  Did you learn anything? 

Forget about things like trying to win "x" number of games out of...

Focus on the game at hand.  Take your time.  Do your own analysis.  DO NOT use an engine for anything but checking for blunders and missed tactics.   Play people that are around 100 points higher than you.

But I was even more pleased with my win against ybah2201! Particularly making one of his bishops soooo bad near the end. And ybah2201 was over 1000. I need to bring my careful but more imaginative play into Rapid. ... I was wanting to attach a screenshot showing this bad Bishop. Do you know if I can do this??

Thank you IM. Fantastic, wise advice as ever. :)

He's only an international master of bacon though. His chess advice is fine, but be sure to ask him for pork related tips.

That's great llama. I'm a vegan but I don't hold it against IM Bacon as he is awesome!.... Maybe I can nudge him towards eating a bit less pig though?? ;)

Oh, groan, just analysed the game against Dongus that I said I should have won. Well, in the second half of the game I played HORRIBLY. So many blunders. Worst game I played for quite a while. So, yes, I will learn from this for sure!

To get better analyse all your games especially your losses. This is so you can find the mistakes you most often make in your games and work on them.

se me complica, en castellano no escribe nadie

como se hace para entrar a ver o a jugar en una mesa o partida?