how to overcome the fear of losing your elo rating?

I suffer from the same fear eit 5

Except my rating is only 500

Thanks I'll try my best not to

Play in focus mode by clicking the four arrows button on the side of the board. It hides your rating and your opponents rating during the game. Also, the point is to get better at chess, not have a higher rating. Sometimes these goals seem like they are the same, but you should separate them in your mind.

Thanks for the insight,I'll for sure try the focus mode

I recommend changing your mindset to view rating more in terms of milestones. Right now, 994 is your all-time high, so NOTHING will ever change this for the worse. You might drop temporarily, but nothing changes the fact that you were once at that rating. If you improve to a new high such as 1000+ rating, then THAT new milestone becomes your new all-time high rating. If you view rating more in terms of your accomplishments which can never be taken away, then you'll be a little more inclined to keep improving and not obsess over the numbers as much. 

If you sit on your rating without playing, then you won't drop, but you'll never go up even higher either. Celebrating milestones and remembering them also helps motivate you in the future when times get tough too. Best of luck on your chess journey

Play unrated games

play games

That doesn't overcome the fear though; this just gives in to the fear of losing rating. By playing only unrated, you won't lose rating, but you'll also guarantee you'll never go up and reach new heights too...

When your elo sink too low, you stop caring about it.

Turn on Focus mode before playing
Focus mode blocks the rating as well as chat, you can turn it off at anytime.

Treat every player as if they are incredibly stronger than you.  Do not care about their rating

Focusing on your rating and the rating of others will only be a distraction

Score is good as a measure of our progress. I'm more or less at your level and can understand your fear, but if you don’t get measured you won’t know if your level has gone up or down...

If today you have 994 and tomorrow you have 980, it doesn’t mean that you got worse. So don’t worry about your new score after every game. Take note of it each month, and compare it to previous month’s.

IMO just have fun. That's supposed to be the point. It's an endlessly fascinating two-person competitive puzzle. Yes, rating equals clout, but that's just a bad habit.

You're not losing. You're just settling. Then you'll gain. Look forward to it.

Hi! It's good to acknowledge your feelings, this is an important part of your development as a chessplayer -and of course your personal development too. This little fear is like an internal alarm that tells you something about your play - it is not as good as it used to, at least this is what the numbers show. Best way to deal with this -from a Coach perspective - should be to find out the reason of your drop in performance and work on it.  For that you can read a good book, join a chess club, ask for advice to other players  and/or work with a coach.

The good thing is that once you do your homework you will always improve, if it is your goal. It is just a matter of going in the right direction, have a training program and stick to it.

Good luck!

PS: I`m a Chess.com coach. Should you be interested in training or lessons, just send me a message and I will reply you with more details.

Don't give in to a self fulfilling prophecy. I remember in middle school I was convinced everybody was picking on me. So I acted differently because of that conviction. And because I acted differently, they picked on me. The same principle can apply to this. If you're worrying about losing elo it will distract you from playing your best and because you're not playing you're best you're going to lose elo. My suggestion to you is to check your elo once a week. Put a post it note over your rating so u don't see it until that week is up. 

"There will always be a better player than you"