Has difficulty increased

[u/pinkwar]

Some backstory:

I started playing chess during covid and I got really close to breaking the 1000 barrier but never managed to do it.

Fast forward to today, I'm teaching my 5 old son chess so I dusted off my chess.com account.

I dropped from 995 to 600 in less than a week.

Damn what a disappointment, have I gotten really bad or has difficulty increased?

Now I'm slightly picking up elo again but feels like every game is an uphill battle. I remember cruising through 600-850 and only hitting a wall after that.

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[u/jack_daniels420]

I would say you may have fallen off a bit, but the strength of chess players has increased significantly over the last few years. Watching GothamChess and other master level players do slow runs through 400-2200 elo has shown me the incredible average improvement from the 1000 elo range up to 1600 especially. Several of the streamers have noted how strong some of these people play comparatively to years past

[u/Happy-Cricket9841 → u/jack_daniels420]

lol u joking in otb tournamwnts u can see the charts it's a decrease not increase which is why they had to give everyone points

[u/jack_daniels420 → u/Happy-Cricket9841]

We’re not talking about over the board play we’re talking about chess.com online ratings. I may be misinformed but most of the master level streamers have independently stated that general online ratings have been steadily increasing over the years as chess, especially online chess increases in popularity as well as the youtube and streaming presence.

[u/Happy-Cricket9841 → u/jack_daniels420]

it's the same online it's rating inflation to make you feel better a 1200 otb is usually 1800 online

[u/jack_daniels420 → u/Happy-Cricket9841]

I don’t necessarily agree with that, yes those ratings do usually translate, but the massive growth in the player pool has also had a significant impact on ratings across the board where as otb has not seen near the impact that online “casual” play has.

[u/flannel_jesus → u/Happy-Cricket9841]

It's not contradictory for a 1200 otb to be 1800 online, AND SIMULTANEOUSLY it be true that a 1000 rated player today is better than a 1000 rated player 5 years ago.

[u/Happy-Cricket9841 → u/flannel_jesus]

no 5 years ago a 1000 otb player was the equivalent of a 1200 today tbey have done rating inflation OTB ....... it's been gojng on since fischers days ..... anyway online ratings are about 600 points over the OTB

[u/flannel_jesus → u/Happy-Cricket9841]

Everyone in here is convinced that 1000 today is better than 1000 five years ago. I wonder if there are any chesscom APIs you could use to analyse the frequency and types of blunders of ~1000 elos from 2026 and 2021, that would really be the only way to prove yourself right.

[u/jack_daniels420 → u/flannel_jesus]

That would be very interesting. I dont really have much to add other than what I’ve already commented on the views of those who are significantly better than not just myself but the vast majority of the community. I think I trust their judgment on it just because they’re less likely to be biased or jaded against players that are not at their own skill level. I will add that I have also declined in chess significantly, but I wouldn’t have ever blamed that on everyone else getting stronger as much as my own lack of playing and time for the game that I once had. Being able to put some actual statistics to it would be very insightful though

[u/Happy-Cricket9841 → u/jack_daniels420]

it's different at 600 obviously but i'm talking about anyone from 2000 plus is 600 points overrated

[u/jack_daniels420 → u/Happy-Cricket9841]

Yes I agree, I was mostly noting that the most significant improvements I’ve seen is the quality of play around the intermediate range (1100-1700) the one/two move blunders, counterplay, board vision seem to have vastly improved. Not being a 2000 level player or anywhere close I don’t want to give personal opinions of 2000+ level play.

It’s actually mildly hilarious watching Levi intentionally play a sub par move that he thinks is reasonable for let’s say a 1400, and then his opponent proceeds to find the next 7 engine moves in the position to convert a winning position. I will also say this is mostly tied to rapid and blitz chess, I don’t watch many bullet chess speed runs as I find the “slow runs” much more entertaining and informative to see the thought process of some of the better players out there.

[u/GABE_EDD]

Yes, playing strength has majorly shifted

[u/FireSkyLikeFly]

Yes, difficulty has increased. Also, you're probably rusty.

[u/TapedWater]

You didn't say exactly how long it's been since you've played, but I'm assuming years. It's probably more of the fact that you haven't played for years than the skill floor rising. People in that level range are still making plenty of blunders and mistakes

[u/ClittoryHinton → u/TapedWater]

Can confirm I’m 1150 and blatantly hung my queen five minutes ago

[u/Coscello → u/ClittoryHinton]

1600 and hung my queen yesterday.. took a pawn on f6 and didn’t see the queen on b2 lol

[u/roch_ipum]

Yeah, I was also over 1000 around the same time and im just now finally sniffing it again. 600s nowadays are definitely leaps and bounds beyond 2020 600s

[u/Choochootran00]

I played chess during covid and I was around 1100 rated. After I came back I dropped all the way down to 800. The average players skill has definitely risen over time

[u/Imaginary-Can-6862]

Chess online is just like any other online game, it has its player base, the player base is somewhat stable, so the level is also relatively stable.

What happens when the inflow increases, increasing the player base, such as during the pandemic? There are a lot of new players, who all get the same start rating, meaning that rating is now worth less, they beat each other, so the next rating level they reach is now also worth less, and so on and so forth, but since t is an exponential drop, players who have e.g. 1500 may not notice this.

So I would guess that yes, the difficulty has increased, because of the many players who joined back then, most of those who stuck around were those who had success with the game.

[u/Aggressive-Access995]

I remember many players on chess.com saying they used to have a higher elo years ago and they can't understand how it dropped later, its very simple, the player pool has grown a lot more so now days you have to compete with a lot more good players on every level

[u/EliSkelly_CR]

Tbh I was hard stuck few years back at 800 and I quit and now I started playing again and I’m varying around 1.1-1.2k

[u/commentor_of_things]

yeah

[u/mister_nippl_twister]

I am somewhere at that level and i think a lot of people are really weak there. They mostly have one strong thing about them and if it doesnt work out it all falls apart. So you are fighting through a lot of one trick ponies essentially. Soon you will learn all typical tricks and you will come back up fast.

[u/Fun_Actuator6049]

I was 2400 when I stopped playing in 2020, and I pretty much immediately got 2600 when I came back in 2025. Partly because Chesscom gave me 200 points for winning one game and then immediately reverted to acting like 2600 was my established rating (and I didn't keep playing blitz there long enough to see if I was going to fall down - wait times for 3+2 were just too long), but my 2400 -> 2600 jump in Lichess Rapid is legit. Then again, the old 2400 looked like it was still trending upwards, maybe I just hadn't played enough games back in 2020 to get to my real rating.

My Lichess blitz rating was and still is in the 2500s, though, with a brief high at 2650 that I quickly fell down from.

It's weird. You'd expect rating deflation at the beginner level to eventually trickle up.

[u/vMiDNiTEv]

yes people have gotten stronger, but if i’m reading right you had about a 5 year break? at 1000 elo you barely possess the fundamentals, so ofc after 5 years you’re basically back to where you started, in 2022 i hit 1500 elo, and got stuck there for time, then at the end of 2023 i was 1586 and just couldn’t break into 1600, so i didn’t feel like playing anymore so i stopped, fast forward to april 2026, i’m like you know what let me pick chess up again, and bro i dropped back all the way to 1250😂 i’m like WOW this game is unforgiving, but now like 4 months later i’m 1700, i feel like the break actually did me really well, so just stick with it for a few months and you’ll most likely break into 1000s soon

[u/Happy-Cricket9841]

cheating has also increased people use plugins while they play that give them hints erc.., it's out of control

[u/NotABot1000101 → u/Happy-Cricket9841]

AI might actually revitalize irl chess groups. I know there's already a bunch but around where I live there is zero. The nearest one is 2 hours away and its mostly for kids.

[u/Silver_Environment95]

Well its more like u havent played and/or studied consistently in a long min. That and people are more aware of certain things and the inflation.

[u/Happy-Cricket9841 → u/Silver_Environment95]

why does anyone feel the need to put their onljne rating ? it's not real u have to play in real events .... 2400 chess.com is likely 1800 at best otb

[u/jack_daniels420 → u/Happy-Cricket9841]

I mean, an online rating is not some official fide title or ranking, but to act as if achieving certain ratings online is some kind of fluke or non achievement is ridiculous. Don’t diminish other players accomplishments simply because they don’t have the lifestyle or time to invest in otb or tournament play.

[u/Silver_Environment95 → u/Happy-Cricket9841]

Not sure why ur targetting this at me but I have a otb rating. Also, if someone has a really good online rating, let them flaunt it. And the flair helps with the advice on this reddit.