is a streak of losses usual?

I don't understand what's going on. A month ago I could play at 1100+ (1190) level and won easily. Playing at lunch for example. Without any theory.

Now I study openings, I have a 1500+ rating in puzzles and I play much worse (current streak of 13 losses). What the .... is going on?

More pain -> more gain is not working here. (
Any advices is welcome.

It’s a matter of learning to apply what you’ve been studying when you are actually playing.
Practicing that skill while you are playing. Say to your self, What did I learn about a situation similar to this? Have I seen this opening before? Which attack/defense strategy should I employ here?
For really good tips read Paleobotanical’s response in the posting titled “What should I learn at 360 to get to 500?”
It’s very good advice and Paleo even points out some errors in one of the OP’s own games with a link to the game; so you can really see what he is talking about.

And a down streak of several games is not uncommon; my best win streak is 11 games and my worst loss streak is 12!
Just need to think about walking away before it gets too deep.

Regarding losing streaks, there are a couple going on:

First is that chess is a game where a single bad move can straight-up lose a game.  Sitting at 900 daily, of my last five games, I lost two to serious single-move errors.  Aside from working on how not to have that happen (which is what my post was about in the other thread, thanks Captnsmiley) that means that there's going to be a lot of variance in your rating as random events push it up and down.

Second is that sometimes if you learn a new thing, while you're first starting to apply it, your play will normally get worse.  An example is learning a new opening.  I started playing a new and unfamiliar opening as black and had a long losing streak that carried me down over 100 points before I became familiar and comfortable with it; now it's my best opening by win rate and my rating has bounced up above my previous peak.

Third, of course, is that a string of losses can freak you out and make it harder to win.  For this reason, I usually try to take a break until the next day if I have two or three losses in a row.

IM Levy Rozman (Gothamchess) posted a video on his YouTube channel a couple of weeks ago about the psychology of competitive chess.  He made a great observation:  Especially if your goals are to reach a particular rating, unless your plan is to just quit, you have to accept that, once you achieve your goal, you'll likely drop below that rating again, maybe multiple times, just through normal play.

So just have a reasonable cadence for the number of games you can handle in a day, and play that many games.  Definitely don't play more because you've lost a few games and want to end on a win.  Just come back another day.

I understand. I felt invincible when I went over 1000 and now I'm back at 800. It just feels like I'm playing against a completely different set of stronger opponents. 

Yes, it is absolutely normal and happens to us all at all levels in competitive games/sports. One week you win a run of games and feel like you are playing great, the next week you just make stupid blunders. It's often a confidence thing. 

It's normal.

Hahaha, if you keep losing get good

giardo911, I know what you are talking about. When I watch a video about variations, and I try to apply that thing on the table, usually it doesn't comes out well. Sometimes the opponents also know what is going on, so they prevent you to build up the gambit properly... And then you are crushed:-).  You need to apply yourself to the skills and play of the opponents, not just push your own play at all cost. And yes, have the strength to stand up, if you are getting nervous. It can give good motivation, but you can easily be a bit hasty, and make mistakes. Today I had three losses in a row, and then made three wins, or something like that... You need to be strong to accept your mistakes and losses.

I'm not the best chess player, but in all the games I've played I have 15 losses, 3 wins, and 1 draw. So I guess you could say that it can be common.

If you won easily, that means that you increased your rating, so players with higher rating were selected by the site. If players if the same rating were still be selected, then it means your wins didn't prevail on your losses.

Hi! My name is Lauren Goodkind and I’m a chess coach based and chess book author based in California: www.ChessByLauren.com.

 Having a losing streak in chess is normal.  I believe it happens to a lot of people, including myself.   

 

This has already been covered, but totally normal. At the start of the year my daily rating was over 1600, now it's 13something. Last week I got my puzzles rating well over 1800 and felt like all my drills on Chessable were paying off, then I tilted for a week and my rating went down to mid 1600s. Sure it's frustrating, but as others have pointed out, if you are studying effectively and learning, then your rating will eventually reflect that. But rating variations by day or week? That's just noise that's best ignored.

Great

Look at my archive lol you’ll feel better

it happens

Hey, there was a draw in there!!

still lost rating from that :L

@B1ZMARK But you're playing high rated players and you're high rated yourself so one mistake and you'll probably lose. That's to be expected, when you lose against lower rated players that's when you start wondering why things are going so badly. 

It feels the same way regardless of rating. I got solidly outplayed a few days ago by a 2400 IM and I have no idea where I went wrong. As I’m sure I could beat u2000 easily they could beat players of my rating just as easily.

It is very usual to get a losing streak, just like it is for a winning streak. It probably isn't normal after like 15 games cuz if it's more than that then I feel sorry for you.