The Process of Recovering from Tilt: From the Tilt to the Untilt to the Success

Hello everyone! I haven't done a blog post without a video in a long time, so this may be how you like me to blog!

Many of you hate tilting, which means losing consecutive games in a row trying to recover previous losses. Say you play and you lose a game. Don't you want to get your rating back? So you play another game and you lose again. Now you want to win 2 games! Most people are able to cut the loss and win one game at this point, but you may not be in the zone and you might lose 3, 4 or more games. When this happens, all players (at some point) will stop playing for some time.

The problem is, your rating doesn't magically redeem itself. You will still find some time later and try to win it back. Some players (most) are unable to win their rating back in the short-term, which is why some players tilt for long periods of time. This is the main type of tilt I will focus on, because 1-day, 2-day tilts aren't too bad compared to 1 or 2 month tilts (or even longer!)

So here are some ideas and a whole process for getting rid of tilt! I went on tilt quite recently (see my thumbnail) but was able to recover using this strategy. Now I want to share it to you.

Part 1: The Tilt

Here are 3 tips to halt your tilt before it gets too late, and you lose 200 or 300 rating points.

Tip 1. NEVER stop playing

That is one BIG counterintuitive way of stopping tilt, but it is true. Sure, you should stop for 2 or 3 hours of playing once you start tilting, but never stop for more than 3 days. This is because not playing frequently will have the same result as playing while in a bad mood, deteriorate your chess skills.

https://www.chess.com/games/archive/chessdemon2019 is my archive. I play consistently but I also remember to take breaks from time to time.

Tip 2. Analyse Your Games

It may seem obvious at first that you should analyse your games, but some players simply don't do this. If you have a chess.com membership you can get unlimited analysis (unless I'm wrong because I have no idea I've always been diamond ). If your accuracy is lower than 20 for players rated 800-1000, lower than 30 for players rated 1000-1400, lower than 40 for players rated 1400-1600, lower than 50 for players rated 1600-2000 or lower than 60 for player 2000+ and you continue to lose, stop playing immediately.

If you don't have a chess.com membership you can still self-analyse and see where you went wrong.

Tip 3. Do something else chess-related but NOT playing more games

There are a lot of things you can do on chess.com or simply at home. You can do tactics, blog, run clubs, or simply socialize with others. Just try to focus on chess as the broad topic. You don't need to take long, but you need to do something. I blog and run clubs, but you can do something else too.

https://www.chess.com/club/harmony-chess-club (Ad time!) I've ran this club for 4 straight days, which was when my most severe tilt happened. Because in reality this is what happened:

See the difference? The curve shows your highest rating for a day, while making sure the graph of your rating is (somewhat) smooth. So I technically went on tilt twice, but only one of them was a long-term tilt. One-day tilts aren't a big deal.

Part 2: The Untilt

So now you have tilted. Here are 3 tips on how to untilt after you have tilted.

Tip 1. Play during the morning

Playing during the morning is when your mind is at its calmest. You might not feel fully awake, but you are already higher up on the strength bar, and being stronger than your opponents, and feeling calm is when you are most likely to win games. Most players don't know the science behind it, but it is true!

Tip 2. Play at least 3 games at a time

Playing consecutive games at a time is a very good strategy to recover rating from lower strength players as you need to get into form. Sometimes (usually) you lose your first game, but win the second as you start to be accustomed to whatever time control you are tilting at. So playing 3 games in a row or more against lower strength players is a good idea. But if you don't have the time, then don't play during that time and find another time.

Tip 3. Stay Calm

Might seem obvious at first, but staying calm when trying to get your rating back is really hard. Personally, I found it extremely difficult to stay calm too, but here are a few ways to calm yourself while trying to untilt.

1. Get some food. It is not healthy to snack on something while playing, but it could put some of your muscles' tension into eating instead.

2. Wear a sweater. It also helps to stay warm, or even hot! This will make your body sweat, which will actually make you concentrate more on your game. It really helps!

3. Offer/Accept draws if you feel like you are going to explode on the inside. If you feel nauseous or shake uncontrollably, try to offer a draw and see if your opponent will want to play on. Your opponent could play on, but it is still a try that can work out if your opponent feels the same way.

Hope this gives you a good understanding of how to untilt! If you are tilting right now, try any of these tips and you should be fine!

Part 3: The Success

Now you have finally, (or partly) untilted! Here are 3 tips to make sure you don't tilt again and how you should schedule your playing time

1. Stop every 50 points you gain/lose

When you untilt, but are playing 10 games every time you go into Live Chess, chances are that you are going to lose your last 3 games. This is because your brain needs to rest after a few games. 50 rating points gained/lost is a good mark to start with, so that you don't tilt or tilt AFTER you win rating.

2. Take a 1-day break after finally untilting

Your brain has been playing against lower-strength players for a certain amount of time (depending on how long you tilt). So playing against your level players immediately after you play lower-strength players is a bad idea. Take a 1-2 day break, like what I am doing when I'm writing this blog.

3. Practice, Practice, Practice!!

No matter what your skill level is, NEVER forget to practice. It improves your strength and makes sure a tilt will be extremely unlikely to take place, because you are already ABOVE that level! So, practicing improves your skills, while tilt is what happens when you can't use your skills to the maximum level. More practice = less tilt .

After all of the good stuff, here is a meme . Stay in the zone, and never tilt! (I'm serious, follow these guidelines and you shouldn't tilt and/or you untilt quickly.)

Thanks for Reading!!

The Chess Maniac

Please join my club https://www.chess.com/club/harmony-chess-league if you thought that this blog was helpful. I may have done a great service for you, so you can do one for me (if you like, this is optional) .

My youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWCdXBvn5C0dD-C8tpo8VDA?

Go check it out if you want some more chess-ed videos! And feel free to subscribe.

https://www.paypal.me/chessdemon2019 I have a donation link too. If you gained 100 rating points by untilting after reading this blog, you can maybe donate a buck or two and support me the next time I blog like this!