Why my rating fluctuates as waves of the sea?

Hi all,

I'd like to get your opinions/suggestions about what I see happening with my online rating since, basically, ever.

It fluctuates between (lichess rating I mean) 1250 and 1450 continuosly. Once I get to the top (for me), than I start losing point, maybe to 1300 and even lower. Than I start gaining points etc, and the story repeats forever.

If you try to plot it on chart, you clearly see that it is like a sawtooth waveform.

When I gain points, very often I do it with a very steep trend.

I started developing the idea that it has to do with my biorithms, so I thought I may compare the chart of my rating evolution with that of the so-called biorithms, but shall I really do that?

Is there an explanation about that, or am I one the unlucky ones that suffers of this situation?

And most importantly: is there a "cure" to this? I'm tired of spending so much energy every time, to recover from points lost again, and again, and again.

When I look other players' rating charts in lichess, I rarely see the same situation. This generates quite a frustration.

Thanks!

AG

It could be that you relax too much (lose focus or killer instinct) when your rating is high and then sharpen your focus when your rating has dropped. My puzzle rating looks similar to a sawtooth waveform.

That happens to me too. My highest rapid on here has been 1175 but it's below 1100 now.

I think I'm finally figuring mine out. Ya see ; I have my seek setting at 25- of my rating to 400+ of my rating. The algorithm seems to be to be fair. But it gives opponents in the lower to mid level of my seek , and that bounced around a bit. But if I win several in a row like 6+ and if I'm on a good streak; it then gives me a person maybe as much as 175+ above my rating. This usually coincides with thresholds. For instance where I am now in 3 min blitz. I can be like 1220 and win several. But right around 1280 to 1297 is when it gives you the chance to prove if you can beat someone 200 points your better. I broke 1300 yesterday. This morning back around 1240. The algorithm challenges us. And if you respond well the challenge will increase. It seems you earn your shot at the higher rated players.

Thank-you for the reply. I understand you've figured out how the algorithm works, and what it gives you as opponents, but I don't think it explains the reason why, when I'mon a bad streak, I continue losing until I reach a very low rating, and then I start winning and winning and winning until I reach my top. I stay there for a while, and the story repeats.

Isn't it frustrating? Considering the hours that (in the past) I've put into chess, why am I still doing this kind of up's and down's all the times?

I am a bit afraid to ask, but still: you are aware that this isn't lichess.org, right?

I'm not sure I understand the meaning of the question, but to respond to you - of course I know this is chess.com and not lichess.org. So what?

I'm not sure, but I think there is some kind of rivalry between chess.com and lichess. But still it's chess after all.

I can understand (and I somehow feel it) that there is rivalry about the two, but I don't care, unless - of course - a chess.com rule exists that speaking about lichess.org if forbidden. If that rule exists, I will evaluate if I want to obey it and stay here, or if I prefere leaving. I don't seem to recall such written rule exists. If I'm wrong, please help me get corrected, and show me where it is. If not, then.. ;-)

Moreover, anyway, the issue I described affect my play on both lichess.org and chess.com, so it actually doesn't make much difference if I speak about one server or the other. As you said, it's chess.

Well there are no such rules.

About your problem about the rating fluctuation, I'm not sure but I think its because people tend to get overconfident when their rating increases and play better / carefully when their rating increases.

The same had happened when I was around 750 and it fell till 680 and then rose even over 820. Now I feel the rating is stabilizing around 820 maybe cause I'm playing carefully. When I lose two or three games in a row I just take a break and play variants or other time controls that I don't take too seriously. If I lose a game after a winning spree then too I'll do the same. When you lose a game your mood gets kinda ruined. That affects the next game. When you win too many games you get overconfident in the next game and lose. I remember recently when I had a clear advantage I didn't even notice a mate in 1 which I could have easily defended, and lost.

The short answer is if you feel you are getting overconfident or you are loosing too many games in a row then just take a break and maybe do puzzles or play variants or just play a different time control which you don't take too seriously.

I find it a bit bizarre to discuss the intricacies of the Lichess rating system on chess.com. Why would anyone know anything about it? Why would anyone care?

Thank-you. I believe you're heading in the right direction. What I certainly do, is playing too many games, both when I lose, and when I win. This probably explains the reason why my rating's fluctuation is so evident. Probably, my fluctuation is as evident / frequent as anybody else' but because of the many games I play in a row, it becomes so spikey. Thank-you for your opinion and the good idea, which seems the right one to me.

@SoupSailor72 that true, we all win some, and lose some. My point was that I continue gain and lose points, with what I called a "spikey", "sawtooth" waveform, recurrent. If we go back to the comment from @SriyogeshS , I think his opinion makes sense.

Part of the problem is the "RD" factor which is used in the Glicko system here at chess.com to factor in how fast or slow you play, which might also be impacted by how many games you are playing. That's why I prefer the straight Elo system which is more stable. I don't like the RD factor because I play slow and take longer to make my moves, and the RD works against me, which I think is unfair. I think that a person's chess playing ability is going to remain somewhat constant throughout their lifetime.

I play at 5 different sites and have 5 different ratings. One of them is 2155, which is ridiculous of course. My own estimated playing level, based on all the time and sites I've been doing this, is around 1750 and that's good enough for me.

I just play for fun.

Glicko RD does not consider how fast you play. It considers you many games you have played (recently)

Your welcome

wait what

glicko factors in how much you play games

not how fast you make your moves

i dont know how anyone could get such an idea

or does " i play slow" mean "i play less often"

I believe you are correct. I forgot. I remember now having had this discussion with King Eric. But how many games you play is going to be relative to how fast you play and either way it's unfair, because it favors the person for a characteristic other than chess playing ability. Two years ago my rating was impacted by the "H" factor (Hospital) During my stay in the hospital my chess playing ability did not change, but my rating did. If I fell in Love (the L factor) I might concentrate less on chess and my rating would go down, but my chess ability (potential) would remain the same. The more you try to make the rating system accurate, the more inaccurate it will become, because it is intended in the first place to be an "estimate" of your playing strength. Estimates, by their very nature, are not accurate.