Why can't I improve my rating?

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Kevin_Grem

I have been stuck around a rating of 1400 for what seems like forever. I play all the time and yet never seem to get my rating up. 

I play tactics trainer and got my rating up to like 2700, but my rating in games is only 1350. 

The crazy thing is that often when I review my games they reviewer says I play at a rating way higher than my actual rating. For example, here is a recent game I played where they said I played with 95% accuracy, and at a rating of 2150. I COMMONLY play at ratings of what they say is 1800 or 1900, and with accuracy that is above 80%. Yet my actual rating does not reflect this. 

What can I do? 



xtreme2020
The estimated elo is always much higher than your real rating, ignore that and accuracy, and play 15|10 rapid games then analyze them after without the engine for a while
Kevin_Grem

I'm bumping this because I want some more answers

Archon_Fulminology

"Why can't I improve my rating?" Well, let's change the question a bit.

You need more wins to improve rating, so now why are you losing? At around that rating its really less about finding out how to win and more about finding out why you lost. You should identify your weakness and recurring mistakes and go from there.

1400s can play very accurate games like you said, but the thing is they can't do it all the time and its usually due to a recurring mistake that developed into a habit. These are usually bad ideas or miscalculations they got away with around 1000s~1200s and was never punished, so it stuck with them.

If what you say is accurate that you often have high accuracy and high rating performance, then you DO have what it takes to play beyond your rating, its just that there's a bad habit making you lose like you were behind your rating. Your rating is the result of your win-lose ratio, you can't base it on your strongest performance alone. You're not always gonna play at the same level every game.

Figuring out what's causing you to lose can be hard to identify alone, and you may need another person to point them out for you which is why some people get coaches or study buddies. But sometimes the engine will do.

So let's say you finally pinpointed the culprit, whatever it may be.. now what? Well, as the GOAT once said, "Sit at the chessboard and play with yourself."
In all seriousness, Argue with yourself. If you can remember or reidentify the idea behind these mistakes and why you made them, great. Now try to prove yourself wrong. Why were they bad ideas? Now take your new answer and argue against the third party or engine. Allow yourself to be corrected, and understand why you were inaccurate. Don't just let the engine tell you you're wrong, let it prove you wrong.

TipsyTrickster

Sometimes you just hit a wall, and game review telling your approximate rating is just an ego boost even if it sounds harsh. It says I played +400 points my rating in most games even though I know its bs

basketstorm

@Kevin_Grem

Download game's PGN, edit your Elo there (and Elo of your opponent), upload to analysis, do a Review. Ooops, chess.com now rates your play differently.

So don't trust those numbers, they are deceptive and mean nothing.

And also don't trust chess.com ratings. They are very distorted. They do not reflect actual differences or similarity in skill. They should. But they don't at least here. And you can't compare them to FIDE directly especially after FIDE has fixed their distortion recently.

ChessMasteryOfficial

Consider switching to longer time controls (like 15+10 or 30+0), giving yourself more time to calculate and play at your full tactical potential.