The more I play, the worse I get - Chess Forums

fellotransit

Apr 3, 2017

0

#1

It is occurring like I'm actually getting worse at this game the more I play. My rating is terrible and diminishing, my stats on daily tactics are also dropping.

Is this normal?

GM's must have very very high IQ's because I feel really stupid.

masterfowler

Apr 3, 2017

0

#2

completely normal...my tactics also range between 1600-1800...mostly cause im lazy and play the first move that seems right without actually calculating...dont practice bad habits...and dont be lazy like me haha if you want to improve work a little for it...since learning a little bit on the ruy lopez and finally siding with the sveshnikov sicilian my online blitz rating has jumped 150 points...still low...other thing that helped was playing through master games as suggested by urk☺

The_Chin_Of_Quinn

Apr 3, 2017

0

#3

Not just with chess, but lots of things, when you study at first you may get a little worse as you try to incorporate new knowledge and use different ways of thinking. After that you get better though.

Also improvement tends to happen in spurts. You don't get a little better every day. It's usually more like you're the same for months, then something clicks and you improve all at once.

Improvement in chess, like other skills, is measured in years. If you're the same now as you were 6 months ago that's normal. If you're the same now as you were 3 years ago then you need to try studying / practicing in a different way.

I see your account has been open since Feb. If that's as long as you've been playing chess then there's nothing unusual with your ratings.

masterfowler

Apr 3, 2017

0

#4

also...stop playing bullet and blitz...its the worst thing for improvement at our low level☺

lozzie4476

Apr 3, 2017

0

#5

I get worse the more tactics I learn

urk

Apr 3, 2017

0

#6

VladimirHerceg91

Apr 3, 2017

0

#7

Well this is because Chess.com starts new users off at too high of a level. I wrote about the issue here.

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/the-curious-case-of-1200-the-expert-s-rating

mgx9600

Apr 3, 2017

0

#8

fellotransit wrote:

It is occurring like I'm actually getting worse at this game the more I play. My rating is terrible and diminishing, my stats on daily tactics are also dropping.

Is this normal?

GM's must have very very high IQ's because I feel really stupid.

It is actually a good thing that your rating drops because you'll get to win a few games. I think the perfect rating would be one that makes you just barely lose every time (but since losing all the time doesn't seem right, the next perfect rating would be the one that finds equally-matches opponents so you can have 50/50 win/lose.

So, let it go down; eventually (hopefully) you'll get a few wins and it'll go back up. As they say, at the highest point, there's only down; at the lowest point, there's only up.

fellotransit

Apr 3, 2017

0

#9

HAHA! Urk, that is true!

iTroIIU

Apr 3, 2017

0

#10

Try harder!

Luitpoldt

May 17, 2018

0

#11

After 31 hours of tutorial from a grandmaster, lots of chess videos studied, plus countless practice games, I am also getting steadily worse. I used to beat the chess computer at level 5 about a third of time, now I can never win against it, and I recently had to shift down to level 3, and now occasionally I even lose at level 1. How do I improve, by not playing and not studying?

JonasD

May 17, 2018

0

#12

i'm new to chess but i found this to be true while ranking up in go. i think part of it is what The_Chin_Of_Quinn said, but also i think a big part of it is hubris. if i get a bunch of wins in a row and my rank goes up i start to feel invincible, and then start doing cocky stupid things, and thus start losing a bunch of games. its a natural pendulum in my experience.

Luitpoldt

May 17, 2018

0

#13

Well, I've been playing and studying fairly consistently since September, after having learned the game and played casually some years before. Now I just keep getting worse the more time and money I devote to it, so after having started off occasionally being able to beat the computer at level 5, I now have to go down to 3 or 4 to have a chance, and have even begun to lose to level 1, if that's even believable. My head is full of tons of theory which I find I can somehow never put into practice, because I spend all my time reacting to one emergency after the next and can never plan anything. I gave up playing humans back in December, since my rating would have dropped to zero by now if I had.

All of this is quite disconcerting since I always found everything else I ever studied relatively easy, and I've earned a good academic reputation in my field and work as a university professor. Even things that don't come easily to me, I always found that if I applied myself I could learn them, and get good return on the time I invested. But chess is something completely different, where taking on additional information just seems to stupefy the brain and making playing well impossible. This is sufficiently puzzling and disturbing that I am on the verge of giving up on chess, and I have already stopped my tutorial sessions with the grandmaster who was teaching me, I no longer do tactics, and I am playing less and less often.

Luitpoldt

May 17, 2018

0

#14

What is the matter with you that you react to another human being like that?

Crimguy

Jun 11, 2018

0

#15

I’m no expert (at all) but I’d consider the following:

1) focus on tactics, and

2) play humans. They make more mistakes and will help train your mind to better see tactical opportunities. Those opportunities are more frequent against humans.

bgjettguitar

Jun 11, 2018

0

#16

fellotransit wrote:

It is occurring like I'm actually getting worse at this game the more I play. My rating is terrible and diminishing, my stats on daily tactics are also dropping.

Is this normal?

GM's must have very very high IQ's because I feel really stupid.

What finally dawned on me was that my stupidity was more than a feeling. The Boston song, “More than A Feeling” is my anthem and I play it after each loss which is commensurate to every game I play. Focus on statistical tactics and play the computer a lot more than real people. Once you can easily beat an unreasonably strong chess engine, from I’ve heard, It’ll be hard for you to lose after that.

kindaspongey

Jun 11, 2018

0

#17

vairus007

Jun 11, 2018

0

#18

fellotransit wrote:

It is occurring like I'm actually getting worse at this game the more I play. My rating is terrible and diminishing, my stats on daily tactics are also dropping.

Is this normal?

GM's must have very very high IQ's because I feel really stupid.

you are not happy.make yourself happy first then come back and play. just have fun and stop resigning in games play it to the end even if you are loosing or winning

Taskinen

Jun 11, 2018

0

#19

At your rating, there is only one thing that you really need to do when you play: follow the opening principles and make sure none of your pieces can be captured for free.

So basically, just get your central pawns, knights and bishops playing quickly, castle and protect all of your pieces. Then just look what pieces your opponent left hanging and go grab them. People at below 1000 rating range leave pieces hanging left and right. The side that drops a piece first is usually the one to lose, because things start going downhill fast after the first piece is lost - the whole thing collapses. I believe following that simple guideline of protecting (and even overprotecting) your pieces can get you above 1000 rating. Then to 1200 you need to have some basic ideas already, be able to spot some tactics and so on.

I think the game is starting to resemble chess much more after 1200 rating. I'm just a beginner myself, as I started to play a bit less than 5 months ago, so I'm not sure what kind of things are required to get past 1400. I guess a bit more of everything.

vairus007

Jun 11, 2018

0

#20

Taskinen wrote:

At your rating, there is only one thing that you really need to do when you play: follow the opening principles and make sure none of your pieces can be captured for free.

So basically, just get your central pawns, knights and bishops playing quickly, castle and protect all of your pieces. Then just look what pieces your opponent left hanging and go grab them. People at below 1000 rating range leave pieces hanging left and right. The side that drops a piece first is usually the one to lose, because things start going downhill fast after the first piece is lost - the whole thing collapses. I believe following that simple guideline of protecting (and even overprotecting) your pieces can get you above 1000 rating. Then to 1200 you need to have some basic ideas already, be able to spot some tactics and so on.

I think the game is starting to resemble chess much more after 1200 rating. I'm just a beginner myself, as I started to play a bit less than 5 months ago, so I'm not sure what kind of things are required to get past 1400. I guess a bit more of everything.

true true...brah did you type all those?..damn!!!