It's Not Adding Up

If you click advanced rather than beginner when creating your account, is there an average rating difference in competition you will face starting out between the two levels?

Personally, I have similar experiences. I could play someone on about 800 Rapid and defeat them with relative ease. I could play another on at 800 Rapid and be completely dismantled (I rarely play Blitz and prefer 30 min. time controls as I need time to think through moves). I think my own game is uneven but also the rating number does not tell you very much.

that doesnt imply cheating just inconsistency at the lower levels

Focus on your own improvement rather than getting frustrated at weird rating inconsistencies.

If we just suck it up and say nothing, then how can we expect any improvements? I see it more as giving constructive feedback. While it is an open forum, it's possible that the people in charge might take notice that more than one person is sharing the same concern. Maybe it will turn out to be the spark that is needed to ignite positive changes.

It is a cheating platform, that has equal number of AI bots answering rediculesly when people complain, as they have bots playing ypur profile at absurd ratings.

The perception of cheating levels is orders of magnitude more than the actual amount. The vast majority of games and players are clean

https://support.chess.com/article/648-what-do-i-need-to-know-about-fair-play-on-chess-com

https://www.chess.com/article/view/online-chess-cheating

https://www.chess.com/article/view/chesscom-update-february-2025#FairPlay

The site closed more than 100,000 accounts in January for fair play violations and has a full team of staff working on reports along with some automated systems for detection.

https://www.chess.com/article/view/fair-play

That said, discussions of cheating, potential cheating, or cheat detection are not allowed in the general forums. If you want to discuss join the following club https://www.chess.com/club/cheating-forum