The Inevitable Drop
After Reaching a Peak Rating
It has been a short while since I have been in front of you the dear readers. How are things going for you all with your chess? For me its been a downward spiral. Since my peak back in July 2024 where I reached class A and a peak rating of 1849, I have slowly kept losing rating points since. It’s been almost a year of backward sliding. I have been struggling with the fact that OH! I am NOT going to just simply keep rising up to Expert and then Master. My quick rise was met with a slow realization it will not be smooth sailing to reach my long term goal of National Master. It has been a while to come to grips with that. Imposter Syndrome set in and now it’s no longer an issue. I peaked as a class A player but what does that even mean.
I have been told by multiple sources that after a nice big jump or peak it is inevitable there is a loss. A slap of reality indicating “Hey my guy! You are not this good yet. You only set a new high.” Key word being YET! It’s been a real challenge for me after this massive jump over two years of 500+ points only to have now, since the writing of this article, dropped over 100 points - closing in on almost 150. What does it mean though? When we hit a peak and then start sliding backwards? Does it mean we are bad at chess? Does it mean it was luck? Were we gifted some result we did not deserve? Was it timing? All quite interesting questions to tackle. I do not claim to have any answers to any of those questions, but what I can attest is, I believe is when we reach a new peak two things happen. One is not really a peak at all but, rather we have raised our floor. And Two, I think we have to learn chess all over again.
So let’s take a look at the first part. A new peak. I have concluded over the last 10 months that yeah, it certainly does not mean peak at all but, rather it means you have raised your floor. Sure we hit a new top end. When you start sliding backwards thought you also raise the floor of how far one can drop. In USCF your floor is 200 points less than your peak rounded down. So since my peak is 1849 my floor is 1600. Now does that mean I will drop all the way to that? I think not. I expect I may drop to around 1700 ish and then start the climb again. However; none of it is really about rating, rather it is really only a measure of our past performance. It says nothing about chess knowledge or skill honestly. What we as chess players have to do is identify what is not working and supplement it with new things to change the course. Head back to things that were working. For me this was an easy fix. I asked the question what was working when I was raising in rating? What was not working? This was an easy fix for me as I know exactly what happened.
However; before we jump into that what about the second thing I mentioned, we have to learn chess all over again at each rating band. Learning chess over again doesn’t really mean we have to learn how to play the game again. Well it does but not in the sense of having to learn how the pieces move but, we have to learn how to play at the level we are now dabbling in. 1200s play differently than 1600s and also differently than 1800s and so on. So when you reach a new level it’s almost all but guaranteed most will drop again after a nice peak. We have to learn what the “insert next rating band here” do to beat those players. Could be endgame. Could be better understanding of middlegames. Could be openings. Yes that is true most likely at the higher levels. For me openings are NOT my issue.
Back to what exactly happened for me. Complacency. The floor dropped out from under me. I was smooth sailing. I just hit 1849. I just won my first tournament at the club with a perfect score of 4-0 netting me a whopping 113 rating points. Oh yeah! I even beat a Master. But, did I? Was this just a handed result? Sadly the Master I beat Bill Williams later passed in early 2025. I was grateful for the time and games I had had with him. I have some really wonderful memories and stories he shared with me; one of them being when he brushed elbows with some of the top elite back in the 60s and 70s in California. He will be missed. I digress but, what about my complacency. I was riding high. I kept gaining since I returned to chess in June of 2022. So why would anyone think differently that this is going to be easy. I should keep rising until I am 2000 and then 2200 right? Oh how I was wrong. I am sure many of you are laughing or even scoffing at my comment haha. My brain told me I no longer have to put in the work. The work I had been doing for a solid two years to reach my glorious rating high. I simply stopped doing the swear work. I worked on openings or mindset. I worked on random things with no structure at all. I was high with the idea of the ambitous rise would not stop for me. This tradjectory is absolute and reaching master is on the way. Chess does not work like that. A tough pill to swallow indeed. I am sure I am not alone in this realization. I expect many of you have experienced this and I am only just now catching up desptite everyone warning me of such things.
It took me roughly six to nine months to come to this realization losing tournament after tournament. Struggling to hit 50% scoring each time. Slowly dropping lower and lower - “The Pits of Dispair” as Kevin of the Chess Journeys Podcast coined it. Was it was the Pit of Dispair though? I say NO! It was a hole of enlightenment. The epiphany for me had to occur to get myself back on track and onto the improving path again. We have to concern ourselves with what we can control. Process and Production. I can control that.
So the question is what was working? Tactics of course. Rapid Chess Improvement by de La Masa. Just plain old tactics and calculation. The hard sweat work most say they need to do but, then do not. I have been back on a new study plan which yes has changed since I posted earlier this year. I had all these ambitous ideas of what I needed for my chess improvment, when at the end of the day my tactical and calculation ability suffered from ceasing to continue following the process and production that helped me reach my peak. I dropped all work that was not related to Tactics and Calculation. At the end of the day what wins chess games is someone seeing further and deeper than the other. Tactics and Calculation are the quitessential skill that needs to be strengthened to get better at chess. Whenever I stop doing tactics and calculation my chess suffers. It is something required for me even if just for maintaining my current form. Sure acquiring more chess knowledge is always useful and fun, but unfortunately in my experience it does not always translate into becoming a better chess player. I think many adults love studying and learning chess, only to then get quite discouranged when it comes to improving chess as a skill. If there were a test on chess knowledge I would most certainly be a master I would imagine. It is easy to spout out concepts and ideas or even rifle of some historical information. It is quite another thing to put all of that into practice at the board. We have to “Lift the Chess Weights” as my good friend
Good stuff, keep up the grind!
There is a phrase in strength training that I think applies here. “It worked so well I stopped doing it.” You’re not alone. Success breeds comfort, which begins the seeds of our downfall (metaphorically). This is one reason why it’s so rare for adults to progress - doing the work, reorienting, and doing more work. Congrats on hitting 1800, no small feat.