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I won 200 rating points with a simple challenge

@NoelStuder said in #10:

I appreciate the feedback. My main point is that basically nobody really plays with great focus all the time, so just working on focusing will raise anyone's level 100 points. I did not specifically say it in the post, but I did not look at a single game during this period and also didn't repeat openings etc.

As I only consider playing + analyzing real training, I stand by the point that there was no training. The idea is that clearly my chess knowledge/skills haven't improved in that period, I just worked on applying them in every single game.

Hello. I would just like to take a moment to say thank you so much for writing this post! It inspired me to try to focus more during my games - yesterday, I played 5 (3+0) blitz games while focusing fully all the way through and the results were incredible: I won 4 and drew one, and my rating increased by about 40 points. I would like to sincerely thank you for taking the time to write this post (and your other ones - I have read a lot of your other posts and have also found them helpful). I really hope you continue writing posts like this, because it really helps players like me gain confidence and improve, so thank you again!

If you (or anyone else in this discussion thread) has any advice for me, I would hugely appreciate it. Again, thank you so much for writing this post and inspiring me to play my games with more focus, and also to analyze each one.

  • Avo
@NoelStuder said in #10: > I appreciate the feedback. My main point is that basically nobody really plays with great focus all the time, so just working on focusing will raise anyone's level 100 points. I did not specifically say it in the post, but I did not look at a single game during this period and also didn't repeat openings etc. > > As I only consider playing + analyzing real training, I stand by the point that there was no training. The idea is that clearly my chess knowledge/skills haven't improved in that period, I just worked on applying them in every single game. Hello. I would just like to take a moment to say thank you so much for writing this post! It inspired me to try to focus more during my games - yesterday, I played 5 (3+0) blitz games while focusing fully all the way through and the results were incredible: I won 4 and drew one, and my rating increased by about 40 points. I would like to sincerely thank you for taking the time to write this post (and your other ones - I have read a lot of your other posts and have also found them helpful). I really hope you continue writing posts like this, because it really helps players like me gain confidence and improve, so thank you again! If you (or anyone else in this discussion thread) has any advice for me, I would hugely appreciate it. Again, thank you so much for writing this post and inspiring me to play my games with more focus, and also to analyze each one. - Avo

if you played on chesscom, just say so. most chess players do, no problem. but all this "the other website" business is silly. just because chesscom censors people saying lichess, you absolutely do not have to and in fact should not self-censor around here.

if you played on chesscom, just say so. most chess players do, no problem. but all this "the other website" business is silly. just because chesscom censors people saying lichess, you absolutely do not have to and in fact should not self-censor around here.

This blog post was informative and educative!!
Thanks for this blog post!!!

This blog post was informative and educative!! Thanks for this blog post!!!

@NoelStuder

I think another great topic I am interested in hearing your opinion on is chess rating variability.

As a matter of fact, I did something similar last year where I set the goal of playing 100 30+0 games in a month. I got pretty close (like 97 games) and most of the time I played in Zen mode with peoples (and my) rating invisible not to get distracted.

Surprisingly, I increased 100 points. So, quite a bit similar to your story (but I would call it training and I did review most games at least briefly).

The issue is that I lost this gain despite being quite rigorous in focused play, playing only long games and not rapid / Blitz (I believe that you don't really learn to think / calculate / plan from playing short games...). I was in tilt here and there for sure, so that is a contributor.

What do you think leads to rating variability? Some players have very low variability and a noticeable gain over time while others have a variability of +/- 100 - 200 points. I even see GMs with significant variability.

How to improve consistency and is there anything that can be gleaned from rating variability?

Would love to hear your thoughts on this!

Sebastian

@NoelStuder I think another great topic I am interested in hearing your opinion on is chess rating variability. As a matter of fact, I did something similar last year where I set the goal of playing 100 30+0 games in a month. I got pretty close (like 97 games) and most of the time I played in Zen mode with peoples (and my) rating invisible not to get distracted. Surprisingly, I increased 100 points. So, quite a bit similar to your story (but I would call it training and I did review most games at least briefly). The issue is that I lost this gain despite being quite rigorous in focused play, playing only long games and not rapid / Blitz (I believe that you don't really learn to think / calculate / plan from playing short games...). I was in tilt here and there for sure, so that is a contributor. What do you think leads to rating variability? Some players have very low variability and a noticeable gain over time while others have a variability of +/- 100 - 200 points. I even see GMs with significant variability. How to improve consistency and is there anything that can be gleaned from rating variability? Would love to hear your thoughts on this! Sebastian

Thank You,
@GMNoelStuder
This helped a lot.
IN two days since i started following this technique i have increased 61 points.

Thank You, @GMNoelStuder This helped a lot. IN two days since i started following this technique i have increased 61 points.

This is legit why my rating on chesscom (for rapid) goes from 2000 to 2200 and back down again. Because, sometimes when I feel like it, I grind and focus so much and gain a lot of points. Then when I tend to play mindlessly and lose focus, I lose rating points

This is legit why my rating on chesscom (for rapid) goes from 2000 to 2200 and back down again. Because, sometimes when I feel like it, I grind and focus so much and gain a lot of points. Then when I tend to play mindlessly and lose focus, I lose rating points

@Pixion said in #8:

its not that you were gaining points beyond your 'natural' level [...] You got back into the game and recovered point lost and got closer to your real level again.

I would rather refer to it as "optimal level", and what Noël says is basically "unless you are fully focused, you are playing ~200 points below your optimal level". It is a good point as most people probably are playing less than optimally focused and, at the same time, looking for (other) ways to improve. You are right that the proposed challenge is, indeed, some kind of "training".

Nice to learn that even GMs can have this lack-of-focus issue.

@Pixion said in #8: > its not that you were gaining points beyond your 'natural' level [...] You got back into the game and recovered point lost and got closer to your real level again. I would rather refer to it as "optimal level", and what Noël says is basically "unless you are fully focused, you are playing ~200 points below your optimal level". It is a good point as most people probably are playing less than optimally focused and, at the same time, looking for (other) ways to improve. You are right that the proposed challenge is, indeed, some kind of "training". Nice to learn that even GMs can have this lack-of-focus issue.

This is very true, playing with focus increase my elo 100 points and getting rid of my bad habits after a short break helped alot
it may happen again but its important to keep this focus if you want a peak rating.

This is very true, playing with focus increase my elo 100 points and getting rid of my bad habits after a short break helped alot it may happen again but its important to keep this focus if you want a peak rating.

the thing is that was your actual rating while playing serious mode , 2500 is not your actual rating.

the thing is that was your actual rating while playing serious mode , 2500 is not your actual rating.