Why do I get paired against so many much lower rated opponents?

I have won 18 of my last 20 games.  The whole time my rating has been in the 1300's.  The only player rated above 1400 that I played, I beat.  Why are so many of my opponents much lower in rating than I, and so few significantly higher? 

You can choose the rating range of your opponents. I like to set mine to -50 to +500. This pretty much ensures you get people equal to or higher than your rating.

I do not seem to know how to do that.  Could some one please explain?

For Live Chess games, right above the orange button that says Start Game, there are some settings. By default, the fields for entering this info are hidden. But there is a link or something that you can click to make them appear. Then you can enter the ratings range.

For Online Games, the fields are prefilled with -200 to +200 or so. But you can change those as well.

But, be careful what you wish for. If you do something like -50 to +500, you are going to suffer a higher rate of losses. But, if you are serious about getting better, it will be worth it.

Hope this helps.

lee

kleelof thank you very much.  I set my minimum rating for 1500 and won three straight games.

I'm not sure if that is sarcasm. If not, you're welcome. If not, you're a {insert dirty name here}.

Interesting you were able set the minimum to 1500 since your ratingis only 1405. I thought the system required you to include your own rating.

I was serious, not sarcastic.  Thank you.

i have set my rating at -50, I have a meagre 450 rating. the computer matched me with a 240-rated player?! Why is this?

At the lower rating levels, the ranges aren't used.