I have wide swings in my ELO on chess.com. My highest is 1425. I’m typically 1350. But I’ll nosedive into large slumps sometimes.

I have a much harder time if I slump below 1200 than if I stay in my usual 1300 range.

Has anyone else experienced this? I have some theories:

• New accounts start at 1200 so you might have people who are really good but their ELO is not cemented yet.

• Weird chess. The 1300 is playing more principled moves so there is less calculation in the opening. I’ve seen it before. The lower players are playing weird moves that require constant calculating.

• Aggressive queen moves that I can sometimes punish, but again require way more calculating early than a 1300 who keeps their Q safe for longer.