“Rating” going up too fast [closed]

Question

I am a chess beginner. I love playing Blitz games (especially 3+0).

I play on Lichess.org. My “Lichess blitz rating” (currently between 1040 and 1060; not giving exact value for privacy) has been going up at a pretty quick rate. Like today I played 23 and won 18 (all 3+0) so my “rating” went up by +66.

Lichess basically pairs players of similar strength when “Quick Pairing” is chosen. Currently, I see that the opponents make blunders sometimes, so my “rating” is not entirely reflective of my progress, which I consider to be a problem. I am afraid that if the rating keeps going like this, I’ll have to play genius players pretty soon and I’ll then soon crash back to, say, 900, making this a futile exercise in wasting time.

Important Points to be taken into consideration:

• I do not study chess. I am currently hugely invested in other commitments so I don’t see myself seriously studying chess at ANY level for probably at least 2 years down the line.
• My style of play is what I call “reactive chess”. I pretty much react to what the opponent is doing (say, thwarting a pin or punishing their blunders), rather than making elaborate plans myself. I do make plans, only that they are like, 2-3 moves long, like an indirect attack on a knight in order to win a pawn.
• I love exchanging bishops and knights (Bishop for bishop, knight for knight, bishop for knight and knight for bishop). This basically helps me to get to the endgame faster.
• I am fascinated more by endgames, though I suck at them.
• My checkmates (unless planned) usually consist of just checking the king repeatedly in successive moves before a miracle checkmate just occurs.

EDIT: I also wanted to add that a lot of the times the opponent is in a clear winning position (like, say #3) but ends up losing because their time ran out. This gives a false sense of progress. How to counter this?

Answer 1

I'd say you shouldn't worry about your rating at all and that you should welcome being paired with stronger opponents, because you'll learn more from those games - even if you don't spend more than a couple of minutes analyzing them, basically just running lichess' 'Learn from your mistakes'-function. But since you asked:

Lichess offers you to customize several aspects of your gameplay, including defining a desired range of strength for opponents.

Instead of quick pairing, click on Create a game and than choose the option to Customize the settings. You'll see a min and a max box where you input your preferred values. A min of -50 and a max of +20 should then pair you with an opponent whose rating is no less than 50 points below and no more than 20 above your current rating.

Answer 2

Currently, I see that the opponents make blunders sometimes, so my “rating” is not entirely reflective of my progress

Why do you think so? If you make fewer blunders than your opponents and/or are able to punish their blunders then you play stronger than them. That's how games are won - especially between inexperienced players.

I am afraid that if the rating keeps going like this, I’ll have to play genius players pretty soon

One thing you will learn over time is that the dreaded high rated opponents are never as genius as one may have once thought. As soon as you get a bit more experienced you'll see "Oh, those xxxx-rated players aren't that strong after all." So don't worry about it, just play and give it your best.

and I’ll then soon crash back to, say, 900, making this a futile exercise in wasting time.

Note also that if you do play some stronger players and start losing more, your rating at worst will drop a bit after which you will play weaker players again. If you currently beat your 1060 opposition, then if you e.g. make it to 1200, then drop back down to 1060 again, you will face those same old opponents who you already know you can beat.

My style of play is what I call “reactive chess”. I pretty much react to what the opponent is doing (say, thwarting a pin or punishing their blunders), rather than making elaborate plans myself. I do make plans, only that they are like, 2-3 moves long, like an indirect attack on a knight in order to win a pawn.

That's a good way to play chess. Elaborate plans are overrated. Good plans don't win games, good moves do.

In general, it's best to not overthink things, just play your games and enjoy them. Everything else, be it rating or other things, is just secondary. And even if you develop some ambition at some point, don't stress about your rating. Rating will follow your play strength, it's the play strength that matters, not the rating.