Strange mechanism that repeats itself constantly!

I reached 1321 points after which I started losing almost all the games going down 214 points in three days ...now I keep losing against 1100 point opponents, who seem to be stronger than the opponents I previously beat to get to 1321 points ...the most obvious thing is that now the opponents all play differently ...the 1100 point opponents that I am facing in the down phase, are clearly superior to the 1200 point opponents that I faced in the up phase ...I am aware that I certainly do not play with maximum concentration and that sometimes I make serious errors of distraction, but I am playing exactly as I played in the up phase of the score ...I notice that now the opponents do not put me in a position to win with the same ease as before ...I have noticed that this up-down score dynamic, occurs constantly since I have been registered on this chess platform ...it happened to me several times to participate in chess tournaments organized on twitch and easily beat opponents with 1400, 1600 and sometimes even 2000 points, so I can't understand why here on chess.com you often find yourself facing long streaks of opponents with such strong 1100 points ...so I deduce that it's a dynamic wanted by the site to induce you to a state of frustration and encourage you to sign up for a paid subscription to improve your chess ...there are no other logical explanations ...now I expect the topic to be closed because it addresses an uncomfortable subject for the site because it's part of the mechanism ...but this dirty mechanism is emerging and more and more users, the most intelligent ones, are realizing it.

the funny thing is that many opponents that I am facing, have been registered on chess.com for many years, some even since 2010 but the strange thing is that with me they demonstrate a superior playing technique, which should bring them to at least 1400, 1500 points, but they remain stagnant at 1100, 1200 points ...all very strange

...yours seems to be an interesting hypothesis ...can you explain it to me better?

Experienced players often make new accounts with lower ratings. These players then lower the ratings of those around them. So you have deflation at this range, making stronger players get "stuck" around this level, even though they could otherwise be higher rated.

I am aware that many strong users log in with other accounts, or in any case play chess even outside of online chess platforms, many years before registering here ...but I can't understand why they do this? ...to have fun beating us weaker ones? ...to make us angry? ...to gratify themselves after defeats against players of their level? but in any case I don't understand why I get real waves of these strong players who always lower my score a lot, currently I have dropped by over 200 points ...why do they always happen all together and never fragmented? ...does the chess.com software follow pre-established parameters in pairing opponents? ... perhaps you are more knowledgeable than me about these technicalities and I would like to start understanding how this platform works at least I can resign myself and I will be less frustrated after these strange episodes

I used to feel that way too... but I'm sure chess.com is not behind that.

I know many players who are excellent at positional play but fail to easy opening traps and tactics. The middlegames of them are really well played but since they don't study openings (These people are in 30 - 45 age) because they don't really get enough time to, they lose a ton of games to tactics and simple opening traps.

Also, because of their situation, these people might not play too many games... If there is very little games played then the rating might not be correct.

...ok I understand what you're saying, but I've been playing the exact same way for over a year and that's how I got to 1321 points, often easily beating all the opponents who are in the 1200 point score range ...but strangely, it seems, now my way of playing has suddenly become ineffective to the point that I continue to lose against 1100 point opponents who, from my experience and way of observing, play a type of game clearly superior to the opponents I faced exceeding the 1200 point range ...and the fact that it is a real block of strong opponents who suddenly arrived, to lower my score, makes me understand that it is an automatic mechanism wanted by the site ...also because I've been playing chess online since the pandemic period, so I have enough experience to be able to say with certainty that this mechanism is constantly repeated ...and I'll tell you more ...there is also the reverse mechanism to this, in which a rapid rise in score occurs characterized by a long series of opponents with common playing characteristics between them, exactly as happens with the group of strong opponents but in the opposite way ...they are surrendering, they retreat without reason, they leave the queen or the rook in capture, or they take a long time to move the pieces and in the end they lose because of the time running out ...I always find the same identical dynamics both in the ascending phase and in the descending phase and these dynamics repeat themselves periodically since I have been playing here, that is, for four years ...this leads me to think that they are part of a mechanism and I would like to understand more about what is behind it

Your peak rating 1321 shouldn't be taken too seriously.

Ratings fluctuate up and down, zig-zagging across dozens or even hundreds of rating points. To point to the very highest peak and say "THAT is my real playing strength" might make you feel good, but it is nonsense from a statistical point of view.

Your true playing strength is probably (almost certainly, from a statistical point of view) somewhere in the middle, in between the highs and the lows.

And the same is true of your opponents! Their ratings fluctuate. too!

When you get beaten by an 1100 player, he might actually be a 1350 player who his just recovering from a bad patch that tanked his rating. When you beat an 1100 player, he might really be an 850 player who has recently had a lucky winning streak.

And even if the rating of both players were absolutely accurate, that STILL doesn't mean that the higher-rated player should necessarily win. The rating system is constructed so that a rating difference of 200 points means 3-to-1 winning odds (75% vs 25%). It's not at all unusual for people to pull out a 3-to-1 long shot... it happens 25% of the time!

The same thing has been happening to me. I do not understand what is happening.

Yup. My rating might be 3000 if it weren't for chess.com!

Part of it is tilt part of it is the pool gets stronger if you don't improve you lose rating typically (like if you play like a 1300 for the rest of your life ) but if you improve rating goes up

But yes their is rating deflation the only way to gain elo is WIN your games if your opponents arnt cheating which most of them do not cheat then you only have yourself to blame

Like before the average was around 1000 now it is like 600

I was climbing the ladder pretty quickly, starting about 400 and in about a year, I was 1000 rated. I soon realized afterward that I was losing a lot of games that I had been winning earlier. My rating tanked and I am struggling getting it back up

Try to keep your peices on the board without getting a worse position

surprising janko hasn't posted here yet

Ratings _could_ fluctate based on mechanics of the rating system, probability inherent in chess play and pairings, and psychological and physical factors that affect quality of play. And people _could_ selectively remember parts of random variation while forgetting others to get a sense of a false pattern.

But really, isn't it _far_ more likely that chess.com targets everyone (or just some people) with an algorithm to artificially deflate (or inflate or hold stready) their ratings?

Is a crazy conspiracy theory far more likely than an obvious explanation? Hmm, difficult question.

Oh wait, it's not.

thanks interesting thesis and I also think it's reliable ...but I can't explain many anomalies for example I deliberately went down to 100 points to start from scratch and during the climb I happened to meet unbeatable opponents even in the lower bands 400, 500, 600 points and so on ...now I've been playing here for four years so I think I know how to distinguish the typical 400 point player from the more experienced one ...among other things I also happen to have the phase of the climb in which I face groups of easy to beat and surrendering opponents who retreat after a few moves for no reason or leave the queen or rook captured or who are clearly in the lead but take a long time to move their pieces so they lose because of the time running out ...well I meet this type of opponents only in the phase of the climb in score, never in the phase of the descent in which instead I only face players who all seem to play the same way with similar openings and in the middle game you understand that you won't win ...in conclusion both the climb phase and the descent phase are characterized by these dynamics that are they repeat constantly since I've been playing on this site, that is, for four years, and I've noticed that more and more people are becoming aware of these mechanisms...but you're probably right

I think that's exactly it

Skibidi toilet will be mine yeah