Why am I tilting so much?

If anyone takes a look at my graph it's (sadly) very noticeable  :.(

Hi CommandingKing, for me ... it is a trap. The more I tilt the worse I play. The worse I play, the more I tilt. I put up a sign 'Losing is also training.' But I recently have added, "IF I learn from it."

You are doing wonderfully - not to worry. Work hard to get out of that cycle but be easy on yourself; everyone goes through this!

Rapid and blitz ratings are highly variable. Fluctuations of 50-100 points are routine and changes of 150-200 points occur occasionally. 

If you finally reached 1354 and then dropped back down, the most likely explanation has nothing to do with tilt. You probably never really were at the 1354 level. That peak was a blip. Your true skill level is lower. So, your dropping back down is not tilt but is just a correction.

Tilt? Yes, it can be a problem. I don't play too many games the same day so as not to be locked into one defeat after another. I also tend to play 30 mins Rapid which gives me adequate time to ponder moves.

I have to agree with @mikewier to be honest. There's a good chance that @CommandingKing, by pure chance, got to 1354 elo in rapid because his opponents were:

• Distracted by something while playing against @CommandingKing.
• Were fatigued/sick while playing.
• Attempted some tactic or some positional strategy that didn't work out for them.
• Hung a piece and were never able to recover.
• Some combination of these factors, or something else entirely.

All of those things can result in an otherwise strong player losing to someone who's not as good as them.

But that's fine. @CommandingKing the fact that you got to 1354 elo in the first place shows that it's possible for you to do it again. I recommend that, instead of continuing to play when you start to tilt, you try one of these things:

• Do some puzzles. It'll satiate that urge to keep playing, while not risking your elo dropping further.
• Do some tactics training. Chess.com has many, many courses available on tactics that will greatly improve your Chess skills: https://www.chess.com/courses/all?skillLevel=intermediate&gameAspects=tactics (again, it'll satiate that urge to continue playing, while also not risking your elo dropping further).
• Take a break from your computer/phone. Go for a walk or do some cleaning around your house. Something that doesn't involve looking at a screen nor requires much focus. This will give your mind time to wander. That'll help your mind settle, so that you can come back to Chess.com ready to gain more elo.

Tilting is common, because many people get the urge to rectify their rating. I know that very well: I've been there myself. What you really need to do is take a break and do something that lets your mind wander.

@LineDodger, it struct me that it is similar to gambling - when one loses money but keeps playing to attempt to win their money back! You provided great information and this is a great post, thank you!!!

It's funny that you say that - I thought the exact same thing while typing out that post. Yes, tilting is certainly reminiscent of gambling addiction; particularly those who spend hours playing on slot machines. Pull the lever, watch the machine light up and have another go. Again and again.

Except, it's not gambling. Chess is a skill-based game. Players that are tilting are just in the wrong frame-of-mind, that's all. All you have to do is take a break, let your mind wander; and trust me, you'll come back stronger.

It does kinda make me wonder though: If a player plays a lot of games in quick succession (especially blitz and/or bullet) and they keep losing lots of elo, but they continue to keep playing despite overall losing dozens or hundreds of elo points in only a couple of hours; should chess.com have a system that monitors that and eventually presents them with a notice recommending that they take a break?

Perhaps the notice could provide a list of healthy/productive alternatives? The reality is that players tilt because they want to rectify their rating. But as long as they're doing something Chess related, then subconciously, most player's brains will probably be satiated. But I still think that taking a break is the best thing to do.

The notice could say something like:

"Hey there! We noticed that you've been playing a lot of games in the last couple of hours and are losing a lot of elo. We believe you may be tilting and we're here to help! If you just wanna keep playing, that's all good: Just close this pop-up box. But here are some alternatives that we think could really help you avoid tilt:

• Take a break from your device. Go for a walk around your neighbourhood and let your mind wander. Then come back to Chess.com stronger than before!
• Try some puzzles training. <link to puzzles. If they're a free member, maybe let them have unlimited access to puzzles for the next 30 minutes or something>
• Try one of our courses. Here's one we think you may like! <link to one of the chess.com courses>
• Try a slower time control. You'll have more time to think and will make less mistakes <link to 30 minute rapid>
• Try a Chess variant. They can be a great way to have some fun without having your elo rating involved. https://www.chess.com/variants

A notice like that could help a lot of players get out of that vicious and unproductive cycle of playing, losing, repeat. It'd be better for their mental health and they'd almost certainly have a happier experience with the website (rather than, in their mind, associating Chess.com and Chess in general with a vicious cycle of playing, losing, repeat). They might even decide to buy a gold membership if chess.com keeps giving them happy hour whenever they start tilting. They might start to really enjoy the puzzles, but obviously don't wanna have to tilt to get a brief bit of time to play more than 3 of them.

I also do agree with @mikewier and @linedodger that my true rating should have been under 1350. Right now I'm at about 1100 though. That's almost 250 points lower, and considering that I had never been under 1150 iirc since I created my account (for the first couple days it needed to adjust first but since those days) I find it hard to believe that I truly belong in 1100. Maybe 1250 or 1300? My main problem is that I can't get my rating back up. Tilt is normal, but ever since I've had this tilt, I took a pause and my games are often lost by ridiculous 1-move blunders, which didn't really happen at my higher ratings.

No - Your main problem is obsessing over your elo rating. What you should really be directing your energy towards is analysing your past games. That's how you actually improve your Chess skills (which in turn, will improve your elo). Analyse your past games extensively. Not just with game review, but also by hand.

You stated that your games are "often lost by ridiculous 1-move blunders". Look at your games where you've lost due to one of these "1-move blunders". Try to figure out why that move was a blunder. Game review will tell you in very black-and-white terms that the move was a blunder, but it won't tell you exactly why it was a blunder (unless you're a diamond member. Then you get a brief explanation. But sometimes, even that is insufficient in truly explaining why the move was a blunder).

To get a proper explanation, you have to analyse the game and figure out for yourself how that particular move gave the game away. Then, you learn from that blunder.

For example, let's take a look at your most recent game.

You won this game (good stuff! ), but I still think it's important to take a look at a blunder you made while playing it. You allowed a pawn to fork two of your pieces, since you captured with the wrong piece.

This is a thematic blunder: What I mean by "thematic" is that this blunder is a special type of blunder called a "pawn fork". It will happen again in future games unless you learn from this particular instance of it occurring.

The good news though is that pawn forks are easy to avoid. Always monitor the placement of your pieces. Are two of your pieces standing side-by-side, like they were in this game? That's fine, because those might be good squares for those pieces to be on - but always monitor for pawn forks! This kind of monitoring is a skill, and like any skill, you just have to work on it in order to get good at it.

Final verdict:

• Always take note of whether or not a piece can be recaptured by multiple enemy pieces.
• Never assume that your opponent will recapture with a particular piece. They might surprise you and recpature with a different piece.
• Bonus tip: This also applies to any piece on the board that can be captured by any piece. For example, your opponent might play a "brilliant" move and sac their rook to get rid of a powerful knight. Never assume that a piece is safe from capture just because the only piece that can capture it has a higher value than it. That's how "brilliant" moves occur.

Alright thanks for the advice!

No problem at all. Sorry if my words seemed harsh at all. Reading it back, I guess I can just be a bit firm sometimes.

Same I'm going to stop playing speed chess for a while