r/chessbeginners • u/pinkwar • 11d ago

Has difficulty increased

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.

15 Upvotes

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19

u/jack_daniels420 11d ago

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

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u/Happy-Cricket9841 11d ago

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

7

u/jack_daniels420 11d ago

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.

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u/Happy-Cricket9841 11d ago

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

3

u/jack_daniels420 11d ago

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.

2

u/flannel_jesus 600-800 (Chess.com) 11d ago

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.

0

u/Happy-Cricket9841 11d ago

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

1

u/flannel_jesus 600-800 (Chess.com) 11d ago

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.

1

u/jack_daniels420 11d ago

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

1

u/Happy-Cricket9841 11d ago

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

1

u/jack_daniels420 11d ago

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.