Studying seriously, results got much WORSE.

Hey guys, I am experiencing this phenomenon.

I am finally taking chess study seriously for a long period of time. I know more about chess theory then I ever have.

Yet, my results have COMPLETELY TANKED.

I am losing so many games and to people I should be having good results against. I am losing to people at most up to maybe 300+ points lower than me. Also, I have lost numerous numerous other games. It is really crazy. When I do win, its hard to explain, its not right a lot of the times either.

I have some ideas but I am really looking for stories, insights, ideas, and reassurance from you fellow players.

Thank you so much! Please respond!!

This isn't uncommon, I have a similar experience now. Some chalk it up to your brain learning new information and ways of thinking initially causing a dip in your playing ability followed by a spike once your brain "resets" itself using the new information and thinking ideas which makes sense to me. You also could just be having a rough spell in chess, I have those off and on too.

I recommend keep studying!

Hey, I haved the same problem. They call it the U (J would be better) curve. the idea is simply that you get worse before you get better.

One problem when one learns theory is that you can forget to use tactics, to play solidly instead. And at first, this just means missed opportunities. Study lots of tactics with your theory, because if you forget to look at what's on the board, you're in trouble (speaking from experience).

Just continue and have fun, Maybe play some games (unrated?) where you just have fun conjuring a tactical storm (even if it is unsound). The idea behind this is to gain confidence again, and to remember theory and  strategy is just a part of chess.

"Playing" is also study. You will notice that GMs can sit there for

hours and play in the most tense circumstances. Learning to integrate

your knowledge with your play is also study. Theory by definition

is not practice.

I agree with Daltivic. Many times, when I've learned something new, I go all out to work it into a game. Meanwhile, my opponent doesn't cooperate and slams me where I wasn't paying attention. My advice would be to look for opportunities to use your new knowledge but check out the entire board before using it and only then, try it out.

Good luck.

You guys are all right, I am missing really simple tactics, like you said Daltivic, despite having studied tactics. Also, I think now that I understand more, I feel like I have too much to think about when before I could win games without thinking too much (which was unfulfilling and not really helping me become a better player).

I am looking forward for my brain to get used to this information and reset like you said Kingseye and play more rated games and keep playing in general like you mentioned beardogjones.

And another piece of it I definitely think is confidence. Even though I feel like I have learned a lot, I am not confident using it I guess and also since I know more, I also know how much more I do not know, which could be affecting my confidence. I think I have some issues with nerves too at times. Although, I think it is getting better.

stop studying

You may need to change your study style like I had to. I was all into memorizing these openings and tricks and traps. But thats not what you need to do.

Try to understand the concept behing moves you make, like do you understand what is said when someone plays e4 vs d4.

I have begun studying very seriously and the same thing happend to me I got "worse". Because I was expecting my opponent to make a certain move but they did not. That is why you need to understand the concept behind the move. Not just where to move. hope this helps maybe we can study together

I do understand things better. I am not just memorizing. I am understand imbalances, tactics, planning, etc., but my results are terrible. It's almost like I have so much to thinking about that I don't think sometimes and freeze up or I don't know what to do because there is so much.

karma

Maybe there is a better balance to be struck between time spent mastering principles and theory and time spent over the board?

A whole bunch of new ideas will be hard to integrate into your play all at once.

So cut the study time to a third and double your time in actual play and I'm betting you will integrate what you have already learned and the modest amount of new learning quicker.

Unless the study time is what you really like.  In that case losing a few more games is a small price to pay.

seems that way to me and i don't know much.

Slow down your time controls to at least Game in 10/5, and stop studying openings. Very simple.

Don't worry. I've experienced the same thing. When I study hard I tend to do absolutely horrible blunders because my mind is so fixed in theoretical ideas. I think its good idea to do tactics puzzles every day even when studying theory.

I've been studying tactics and Reassess You Chess by Silman. I do feel like it is useful stuff, but I have not played many slow games and I think I should do that more. I have to turn theory into practices and that will take time.

Expect when adapting new information to your play to have some setbacks as you are applying some recently new concepts to your game. Once you practice these new ideas more, you will see your ratings improve dramatically.

I typically study tactics puzzles to sharpen my ability to see certain combinations but when I first began doing this, my play seriously suffered, actually feeling like I had decreased in my ability. The same thing happened when I focused on sacrificing techniques, pawn play, minor piece endings etc., etc. I very rarely study openings per se unless i am curious about one and then usually I am looking at the ideas behind the openings and not so much the opening moves.

In recent months, I have scored both Blitz and OTB wins against Class A and Expert rated players as well as a USCF Life Master in a 3 minute Blitz game on more than one occasion. Had I played these guys 3 months ago at  the coffee shop I play at all the time, I would have gotten my clock cleaned in short order.

Again, it is all about patience. Adhere to studying where you find you are weakest at and keep playing. Eventually, you should actually see an increase and improvement  in your play.

PortlandPatzer, thank you so much for your response. It really give me hope. I was thinking that this is probably normal, but just wanted some reassurance.  I have my Master's degree in Clinical Psychology and we often see clients get better before that get worse because they are dealing with stuff in a new way. So I guess it is sort of similar to this situation. Thanks again! It give me hope, and plus a lot of chess players of your caliber would not help me, so I appreciate it.

My caliber? Apparently you have not seen some of the bonehead games I have here even AFTER acquiring new information...

Seriously though, I felt the same way when I took to studying openings...it killed me when I would see  cool line and then have it demolished by some idea that was not in the "book." So now I work on tactics and endings mostly. Seems to work pretty well for me.

Yeah, I've been working on tactics and evaluating positions. I like the stuff, just waiting for it to come across in my games!

In order for study to make any difference you have to pkay slow games.  Either OTB or something like 45-45 online.

This is normal.  I have done the same thing...study very hard and then drop 100 rating points.  But it normalizes and then you start gaining again.