You just gotta keep playing and forget about your rating. I think its pretty normal for lower rated players games to swing back and forth wildly, its just from a lack of understanding in positions. Everyone hits a wall its only natural you can just keep improving unless youve been playing since you were a kid and had people encouraging you im probably 1500 but righ now im 1100 and i just stopped caring i was so upset at first then i just stopped caring lol
I'm in the 700s, and sometimes it seems like everyone is just...better than me in general.
theres things your not noticing thats the best i can tell you, youre missing attacking chances your spidey senses arent firing like theyre supposed to to keep improving i dont think anyone can really tell you without looking at your games
I'm only winning games when my opponent makes incredibly obvious errors; if they don't, I get decimated.
I genuinely can't remember the last time I had a game that was really close, or one where I didn't win solely because my opponent messed up really badly at a critical moment. Either I utterly crush my opponent, or I get utterly crushed. There is virtually zero in-between to be had.
What's even more frustrating is that sometimes I get games where I get destroyed as usual, only for Stockfish to tell me that I played no blunders and only one or two mistakes; my opponent was just better.
I've hit a brick wall many times here, but this one feels particularly disheartening. At least when I just stopped getting better before, I was able to realize what was happening and do better. Now I can't possibly figure out what I'm doing wrong. My best guess is that I play too passively, but that's mainly because I'm not the greatest at recognizing good attacks, despite my best efforts.
I suppose it's time for me to just stop playing for another week or so. It worked the first time, after all. I'm most likely just frustrated, but it's...well, frustrating how often that occurs.
Truth.
I'm a 350 in the exact same situation- My opponent screws up- I win. If they play a solid game i'm cooked 70% of the time. I need help. I feel like the above comment describes my predicament perfectly. Two of my best friends are better than me at chess and I get steamrolled and then utterly demoralized. I need help. I think my mind has already generated my playstyle, I just need help figuring out what it is and building on it. I want to best my friends. Please help. Dive into my games if you have to, but I warn you, they're a Christmas tree.
Accounts:
ihatechessbutloveittoo
TheRookDuelist
Truth.
I'm a 350 in the exact same situation- My opponent screws up- I win. If they play a solid game i'm cooked 70% of the time. I need help. I feel like the above comment describes my predicament perfectly. Two of my best friends are better than me at chess and I get steamrolled and then utterly demoralized. I need help. I think my mind has already generated my playstyle, I just need help figuring out what it is and building on it. I want to best my friends. Please help. Dive into my games if you have to, but I warn you, they're a Christmas tree.
On the account you're posting from you've steadily gained 72 points in the last 30 days, with a K/D ratio of 1.6. Seems like reasonable progress to me dude!
When my ELO reached the mid-900s I clearly hit a plateau, with any wins coming off my opponent's blunders. I found it helpful to study the "Learn/Insights" feature on chess.com. For example, I learned that I was usually falling behind in the Opening. Another rather surprising finding was that I play much worse in the morning, compared to the afternoon.
I have backed off playing rated games for now while I work on the problem areas that turned up in Insights. For example, I clearly can no longer get by with just the main line of my openings, I have to "do the work" and learn the more common variations that I am seeing now.
Improving Your Chess - Resources for Beginners and Beyond
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/improving-your-chess-resources-for-beginners-and-beyond
I'm only winning games when my opponent makes incredibly obvious errors; if they don't, I get decimated.
I genuinely can't remember the last time I had a game that was really close, or one where I didn't win solely because my opponent messed up really badly at a critical moment. Either I utterly crush my opponent, or I get utterly crushed. There is virtually zero in-between to be had.
What's even more frustrating is that sometimes I get games where I get destroyed as usual, only for Stockfish to tell me that I played no blunders and only one or two mistakes; my opponent was just better.
I've hit a brick wall many times here, but this one feels particularly disheartening. At least when I just stopped getting better before, I was able to realize what was happening and do better. Now I can't possibly figure out what I'm doing wrong. My best guess is that I play too passively, but that's mainly because I'm not the greatest at recognizing good attacks, despite my best efforts.
I suppose it's time for me to just stop playing for another week or so. It worked the first time, after all. I'm most likely just frustrated, but it's...well, frustrating how often that occurs.