Being stuck on 200 elo is making me depressed (serious)

Hello, I began playing chess about 3 months because I wanted to play on my school’s esports team and get better at thinking logically. I have been stuck at 150-200 ELO since I began, 3 months ago.

This game will genuinely ruin days of mine. When I play more, I do nothing but lose then sometimes just break down and cry. I hate myself when I lose in a deep and bordering on “dangerous” way, if you know what I mean.

When I look for advice, all I see is ‘read this book/ watch this YouTube channel’ or just… ‘get better.’ Yeah, real helpful.

I can’t quit since I’m playing on esports, so I don’t know what to do.

This post is not ironic, I have autism, so I say and do and think stupid things. I’ll probably delete this later. Please be gentle in comments.

What openings do you play?

You're a fan of Fallout?

Learn and play....(rinse and repeat)....

That is, you must do both.....play & study....when studying, focus on the fundamentals...then apply the fundamentals when you play....the following resources are concerned with the fundamentals.....

Improving Your Chess - Resources for Beginners and Beyond.....

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/improving-your-chess-resources-for-beginners-and-beyond

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell

Don't let these resources overwhelm you. Pick and choose to deal with any of them (or not) if and when you are interested and motivated.

Chess is a process, like climbing a mountain. The way to climb a mountain is to start at the beginning, put one foot in front of the other, and repeat the process...until you reach your goal.

Another way to view it is that learning (and playing) chess is a journey....not an epiphany. For many of us, it's a journey that never ends - thankfully. Just enjoy the journey for what it principally is - a learning process. The more you learn, and are able to apply what you've learned, the more fulfilling and enjoyable the journey becomes.

Good luck!

P.S. -

This is in response to an earlier comment. Chess success does not hinge exclusively on which opening you play. That is, the opening you choose is not a guarantor of success (or failure). It goes without saying - chess is not that simple! The essence of the journey is more about understanding fundamental chess principles and guidelines and how they apply (or not) to the specific position present on the chess board.

I don't study chess but...I don't know book moves.. I just play and try to understand my opponent

We all hit a ceiling. For whatever reason yours is near the carpet. Mine is closer to the kitchen sink

You can do it 💪🏽

I feel your pain I'm stuck at 400

There is only one thing that is important. Use your time and think. Try to play good moves. Don't play random moves.

Here is a recent game:

https://www.chess.com/game/live/119479868179?username=pistolpackingmama

In a 15 minute game your opponent threatens mate-in-1,. You should spend some time to notice the threat and then try to do something about it. Don't just play a random move in 2 seconds.

Is there someone you can can reach out to at the school, or your parents? I'm sure you can get good chess advice here, but it doesn't sound like the most important thing.

It helps to do the puzzles to get board vision and patterns over time.

Think longer time frame for improvement. You will get to 1000 and beyond eventually. So don't worry about elp, it's a journey.

You learn more from your losses than wins, so just try and review a few games. See where you went wrong , with time you'll eventually avoid mistakes more and more.

Hi there,

I think that there are two, related, issues; your chess development and how you handle results.

In terms of your chess development, I think the single most important thing is to work on reducing your blunders (as it is for me and most other beginners). Consider your game here: https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/119478581469?tab=analysis&move=33 - you got off to a great start and then blundered your bishop. Then, a few moves later, your opponent blundered (because they are also a beginner!) and you had a chance to checkmate your opponent … but you missed it. Try taking a little longer before making each move and consider (from your perspective and your opponent’s) checks, captures, and threats.

In terms of dealing with the results, try to remember that it is just an online game. The outcome has no real importance other than what you give it. Yes, we all like to win but even lost games can be enjoyable. I know it sounds like something out of a fortune cookie but try to get your enjoyment from playing the game itself rather than from the outcome.

Good luck! If you want somebody to practice with send me a game invite (I’m sure other forum posters here would be happy to help too).

Do not focus on the win, develop understanding of the basic concept. Surely watching youtube really helps but you need to watch the correct lesson. I suggest learning from GM Nakamura Youtube video for beginners. He teach you the concept on how you move things and why you need to do so with a nicely arrow animation which I really find helpful. Either way humans brain still developing until 25-30 it doesn't matter if you can't be on the spotlight on the esport team now. Do not put your focus on such Shortsighted goals. Don't rush things as chess is a lifetime journey same as a physical workout. If you just want to rack up win it will probably increase your elo rating but after certain threeshold you would lose back the rating quickly too. That's why it's important to learn the basic. I really recommended watchinv Nakamura youtube he top Grand Master with teacher material. His explanation are easy to understand unlike others GM. Cheers

I've been stuck at around 200-400 Elo for about a week now and it's getting annoying, I play the Italian game and one thing I'm confused about is how I can beat the 1000 Elo Bots and I can't seem to bring that skill into a real game, does anyone have any tips.

Did you try watching GothamChess on Youtube?? It worked for me and I am 1300

Hello

I am going to say something VERY VERY IMPORTANT.While I am an OK player at chess,I can help you with your stess.All others will tell you how increase rating and improve,which are good at their own place but since your depressed,thats the more important issue.

1)You are 200 you have no future in chess.This is not a roast.Even I being1200 or anybody under 1600 doesnt really have such a bright future in chess that they can earn a living through that.So what I am saying is as a 200,play for fun.Dont care you win you lose whatever.

2)I also used to get addicted sometimes to chess.com.So this worked for me :The three time rule.I am a daily player so I took an oath that I would come to chess.com 3 times everyday maximum.That's much better than visiting the site every 10 minutes to see whether your opponent has moved.

3)Also you say that I cant stop playing.For eg you play 10 games everyday and lose 8 of them on average.Then try to reduce slowly.You can try at first reducing the no of games to 8 then 7 then 6 then 5 etc.It is a slow process.You cant just stop it in one day.

4)Then start playing 3 games at max everyday at a time when you are completely free and have no other work completely focused on chess.

5)Dont cry on your losses.Try to see what went wrong.Obvious mistakes like queen blunders can be recognised immediately.Use the game review for finding the hidden and less obvious mistakes.If you make many blunders in a game,then you can conclude it for day that today I am not able to play well.Stay strong.I am 1200 and once I blundered the queen but then I found one brilliant and one great move eventually resulting in my win.So dont break down just bcuz blundered a piece and 200 is so low that the opponent will probably give the advantage back by blundering.

Hope this helps.

Look, i have got 450 Elo and i have beaten antonio. NEVER GIVE UP

Fellow autist at a 200-300 plateau here! I’ve been playing for FIVE YEARS. My rating goes up one moment then I have a huge losing streak because a lot of people in this range either cheat their way up (trust me it is HARD to leave the 200s.) or they play something super wild and hard to play against. It’s insane. I have a much more traditional playing style and I practice a crapton, I watch tons of videos, I know my tactics pretty well, but in actual games? I completely forget how to chess. 😂you got this dude! Oddly enough sometimes I play better with higher level players, since I don’t have that same wild, unpredictable playing style that a lot of 200s have.