Keep losing until I get better?

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Avatar of Vacuum-Tube

In music it's said that you won't improve unless you play with musicians who are better than you, which is very true. But here it seems that I'm always playing against people who are way better than me and my rating keeps going down. For one thing, it seems rather extreme that losing a game means losing 45 rating points. For another, I feel I'm being matched with players who are far out of my league, even though our ratings are pretty much in the same range. It's not that I mind losing, it's the frustration of not knowing how to gain real competitive skills.

I do very well with the puzzles though.

Avatar of thereturnofthesnowfox

The more you play the more your ratings will stabilise.
Less points gained when winning, losing or drawing.

Avatar of Vacuum-Tube

That's good to know, thanks.

Avatar of Innominata

Yes just keep playing and losing. It's the best and fastest way to never want to play ever again.

Avatar of AsperaSky
You lose 45 points per game?
Avatar of LieutenantFrankColumbo
Vacuum-Tube wrote:

In music it's said that you won't improve unless you play with musicians who are better than you, which is very true. But here it seems that I'm always playing against people who are way better than me and my rating keeps going down. For one thing, it seems rather extreme that losing a game means losing 45 rating points. For another, I feel I'm being matched with players who are far out of my league, even though our ratings are pretty much in the same range. It's not that I mind losing, it's the frustration of not knowing how to gain real competitive skills.

I do very well with the puzzles though.

And as long as your main focus is rating your improvement will not happen. Your losses are your #1 lessons to improvement.

Avatar of Vacuum-Tube
AsperaSky wrote:
You lose 45 points per game?

Actually it's more than that. On July 1 my rating was 1087. On July 10 I lost a game and my rating went down to 992. That same day I lost again and my rating went down to 917. After losing the next 8 games my rating is now 654. That's a loss of 433 points.

Avatar of Caffeineed
Give up now. It’s not worth it
Avatar of Vacuum-Tube
Caffeineed wrote:
Give up now. It’s not worth it

That's very helpful of you, thanks.

Avatar of friendlyskp143

ive been looking at ur games and it looks like you have tunnel vision (no offense intended) so i find practice games and game reviews to be really important. For me, chess is all pattern recognition, so if you even memorize 2 patterns, youll see them in almost every chess game you play

Avatar of Vacuum-Tube

Pattern recognition is something I can work on, yes. Thanks!

Avatar of blueemu

Ignore your rating.

Too many players get their ego all tangled up with their rating. The rating is intended only for pairing purposes... to determine which opponent you should play next. It is not in any sense intended as a measure of intelligence or self-worth. Keep the two from getting tangled, or both the rating and the ego will take damage. Try using a rubber band.

As for the large rating swings (45 points or more per game) That is simply because you haven't yet played enough games at this time control to stabilize your rating. There will be large rating swings both up and down until your rating "homes in" on its natural value. Just ignore it. Losing a bunch of rating points just means that your next opponent or two should be a bit easier.

After you have played enough games that the algorithm is confident about the numbers, the rating swings will approach 8 points per game.

Avatar of Vacuum-Tube

That's great advice, blueemu, thanks.

Avatar of blueemu

If you did well with puzzles but poorly in games, that is symptomatic of one of two things:

1) It might be nervousness about playing actual Human opponents.

or 2) To solve puzzles, you need to be able to spot a winning tactic if you already know that one is there - for instance, if you have been given a puzzle to solve. To do the same thing in a real game, you need to be able to (a) create the opportunity for a winning tactic, (b) spot the opportunity instead of letting it slip past, and (c) NOW you get to use those tactical skills that you developed solving puzzles.

Tactics flow from a superior position, so perhaps you have trouble gaining a superior position, which would generate tactics for you to find.

Avatar of Gottfried94

If you are 600 rapid, playing games will not help you improve, your opponents are weak. They will never punish your mistakes properly and you will get away with blunders. If there's any experience you are gaining, it's bad experience. You are likely to memorise bad patterns and once your rating goes up on a good day, stronger people will immediately drop you back down and you won't even know why.
What you need is outside help. Youtube is great for that. A strong coach even better, if you can afford it

Avatar of Vacuum-Tube

I can afford it and I want it, but I've looked all over for a good teacher but none are to be found. I had one once but his heart didn't seem to be in it and he couldn't keep his scheduling together. I agree with you that I need outside help.

Avatar of Gottfried94

There's a guy on Youtube, "ChessVibes" is his channel, 2400 NM, haven't watched him for a while but he should be still around, streaming sometimes even. If I was beginner, he would be the one I'd want to watch. He only plays rapid games and explains every single move, which is exactly what a beginner needs

Avatar of blueemu

Here is a thread that you might read if you get the time and curiousity.

GM Larry Evans' method of static analysis - Chess Forums - Chess.com

It's really too advanced for a beginner, but it might clue you in to some of the concepts that you will be working with in the future.

Read my posts 4, 7-to-10 and especially post 12; and then play over the three sample games on pages 1 and 2, reading the notes to the moves.