Week 62: stuck at 1200 in chess for 53 games, then back over 1300

Eighteen rapid games between March 17 and 23, 2025: 10 wins, 8 losses, and my rating went from 1283 to 1307 (+24). The number that matters is the last one. On March 21, in game 1398, I was back above 1300 for the first time since January 22. If you've ever typed "stuck at 1200 chess" into a search bar, this week is my version of that story, with the data from the weeks I spent there.

The week in numbers

The climb was slow and very close: game 1393 left me at 1299, and so did game 1397 the next day. One point short, twice. Game 1398, a win by checkmate against RobertPhu (1231), finally took me to 1307, and the next game took me to 1315, the peak of the week. Colours were perfectly balanced, 5–4 with White and 5–4 with Black, and only one of my 37 blunders came with less than a minute on the clock.

Five of my ten wins ended in checkmate. One of them, game 1397 against Milomic (1271), is a reminder that the result doesn't tell you much at this level: 52.4% accuracy, four blunders, including 22.Kd3 when I had mate in two. I still delivered mate on the next move.

How stuck was I?

Here is the plateau in numbers, from my own games:

For 53 games and 57 days my rating moved between 1227 and 1299. In that stretch my accuracy was a bit lower and I blundered a bit more often than in the games before it. Nothing dramatic, no single opening collapse. Just a slightly higher rate of the same mistakes, which at this level is enough to hold you in place. This week's key positions show what those mistakes looked like.

Game 1389: a bishop lost on move 3

With White against Camilo986 (1293) (game on Chess.com), the game started 1.d4 e6 2.Bf4 Qf6, an early queen that attacks my bishop.

r n b . k b n r
p p p p . p p p
. . . . p q . .
. . . . . . . .
. . . P . B . .
. . . . . . . .
P P P . P P P P
R N . Q K B N R

I played my normal developing move, Nf3, as if 2...Qf6 hadn't happened. The engine's reply is Qxf4: the queen takes the bishop, and the evaluation goes from +1.01 to −6.82. The engine's best move was Bxc7, taking a pawn and attacking the knight on b8, and even simple defensive moves like e3 or Qd2 kept me slightly better. In the game Black took the bishop straight away, 3...Qxf4, and I lost the game later; it was marked abandoned.

This is what a plateau looks like from the inside. I had played this Bf4 setup hundreds of times, and I played its standard developing move, not the move this position needed.

Game 1387: a knight that could be taken

The first game of the week, with Black against ArnavAnand0 (1318) in a Pirc Main Line (game link). White had castled long, put the queen on d2 and the bishop on h6, and was already better, +2.24.

r . b q . r k .
p p p . p p b p
. . . p . n p B
n . . . . . . .
. . . P P . . .
. . N . . P . .
P P P Q . . P P
. . K R . B N R

Nc4 attacks the queen, so it feels active. But White's bishop on f1 covers c4, and the engine's reply is Bxc4: the bishop takes the knight for free. +2.24 became +7.21. My opponent took it (9.Bxc4), traded on g7 with 10.Bxg7 and pushed the h-pawn, 11.h4 and 12.h5. The game was over after 16 moves.

(The third key moment came from a win: in game 1388 against Dobbydoos (1267), 20.dxe5 instead of 20.Rxe5 reduced my advantage from +4.88 to +2.31. I won anyway.)

The lesson of the week

The plateau wasn't a mystery once I counted. Over those 53 games I made 2.55 blunders per game; in the first seven games back over 1300, 1.71. The blunders themselves were the familiar ones: a piece left where the opponent's queen already attacked it, and a piece moved to a square the opponent's bishop covered. So the lesson I'd give to anyone stuck at 1200, or 1250, or wherever: stop watching the rating and watch your blunders per game. Pick a stretch of 20 or 30 games, count them, and look at the three most common types. This week both of mine were about squares my opponent already controlled. Fixing that one habit is worth more than any new opening.

All games this week

Before this, week 61; after it, week 63, where 1300 slipped away again. The full diary is on the journey hub. Counting blunders by type is exactly what Chess Coach's game review does for your games.