Slumps are normal. It's part of being human. Unless your name is Tal or Carlsen or Fischer, operating at your peak for an extended period is not going to happen. Take some time to just play through some of the great games of the past. That will sharpen your skill and rekindle your love of the game.
What causes slumps?
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We all have good days and bad days. It has to do with sleep, nutrition, real life worries...
On a good day with your lower rating you play lower rated opponents. You are sharp and focussed and give it your best effort. You win and your rating goes up.
On a bad day with your higher rating you play higher rated opponents. You take it easy, play sloppily, blunder and lose. You rating goes down.
Dec 2, 2023
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#4
Consistently following the right principles is crucial for stable results. Establishing a good system to avoid blunders is also immensely helpful. These two principles form the foundation of my teaching approach, and when students apply them, they often witness significant improvements in a short period.
Dec 2, 2023
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#5
I used to teach chess tactics and strategy at a few chess clubs around the Canadian Maritimes.
One thing I noticed was that when a player learns new chess concepts... especially new strategic rather than tactical concepts... they often start making simple errors that they would normally avoid, such as blundering away material. This slump in results continues for a while until the player manages to integrate the new knowledge into their existing arsenal of chess techniques.
Then their results go back up, to a new level higher than before.
One added bonus of this theory is that when you blunder away your Queen, instead of feeling like a fool you can tell yourself "Hey! I must be improving!"
what blueemu says is true.
lately I have been studying a lot of Tigran Petrosian games. he had a real talent for sacrificing the exchange for a superior position.
now every game i am looking for exchange sacrifices and I find the exchange sacrifice but I do not get the superior position. lol😆
Dec 2, 2023
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#7
I feel this. I'm tilting and will come back and play longer games before playing blitz again. I'm making moves I'm know are bad and just not caring, like moving to move or something.
Dec 2, 2023
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#8
I guess asking for material was the wrong question, but I really liked what blueemu said about integrating new concepts into your existing chess game. That is what I feel like is happening. I learned some really strong strategic ideas and then I rose highly in my rating, but then I started making careless blunders that I had not made for a while. Chess is tough. It's like you are constantly unlearning what you learned that made you ok, because you now can. understand when something is else more important to the position. All while learning how not to miss the simple stuff too.
I like tygxc pointing out that we all have off days and when you rise up the rankings your off days get punished harder. Chess is tough.
Chess is tough. But dang I love it so much.
Dec 2, 2023
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#10
hangrysealion wrote:
... but I really liked what blueemu said about integrating new concepts into your existing chess game. That is what I feel like is happening. I learned some really strong strategic ideas and then I rose highly in my rating, but then I started making careless blunders that I had not made for a while...
If you want to REALLY tank your rating (by learning some more strategic concepts) try reading my posts in this thread:
GM Larry Evans' method of static analysis - Chess Forums - Chess.com
My posts number 4, 7-10 and 12, then play over the sample games. Post #12 is the punch-line.
@ OP: Trying to forcefully apply a specific opening or strategy. That usually gets me into slumps
Dec 2, 2023
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#13
I feel you man, in the last 90 days my Elo has dropped by nearly 300. I've been playing a lot more regularly, watching chess content on YouTube, solving puzzles (my puzzle rating has skyrocketed yet my Elo keeps dropping). I'm kind of at a loss on what I need to do in order to bounce back. I'm trying to push through and just keep on keeping on, but it breaks the spirit a little losing so many games and making obvious mistakes that I normally wouldn't. I'm scared to take time off and reset because I'm afraid this will make me even worse. Slumps are rough
Is there any material out there that explains why I keep forgetting I'm bad at chess sometimes? I had a strong push up to a new rating in rapid, but then I sank way back down. I felt like I was handling opponents in my rating and above fairly well consistently, but now I'm making blunders left and right. Is this what hubris is? Is it a known thing that when you get better there comes a point when you stop thinking as hard, cause you think you are too good? Or is my brain deteriorating due to a chess related disease?