# Week 101: how to stop a losing streak in chess (I didn't)

> Week 101: 23 games, 11–11–1, 1295 → 1296. I climbed to 1351, then lost six in a row, five of them on one day. What a losing streak looks like in data.

- URL: https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/week-2026-w01/
- Updated: 2026-10-22
- Author: Ignacio Soler

Twenty-three games over the New Year, from December 30 to January 4, and the final balance was almost
nothing: **11 wins, 11 losses, 1 draw**, rating **1295 → 1296** (+1). But that flat line hides two
weeks in one. On January 2 I reached **1351**. Then I lost eight of my last nine games, the last six in
a row, and gave back 55 points. So this entry is about how to stop a losing streak in chess — or
rather, about what the data says I did instead of stopping.

## The week in numbers

| | |
|---|---|
| Games | 23 |
| Wins / losses / draws | 11 / 11 / 1 |
| Rating | 1295 → 1296 (+1); high 1351 |
| Average accuracy | 79.0 % |
| Blunders | 59 |
| Most played openings | Modern Defense with 1 e4 (3), Englund Gambit (2), Accelerated London (2), Modern Defense with 1 d4 (2) |

This was the busiest week in a while, five games on several days. Wins and losses had nearly the same
accuracy (79.8 % against 77.7 %), which tells me the losses weren't about playing badly for a whole
game. They were about single moments. The engine counted 59 blunders, 17 of them already in the
opening.

## Three moments from the good days

The key positions the engine picked all come from December 30, when I won three games in a row with
mistakes I got away with. They're worth looking at because the same habits cost me later.

### Game 1925: the en passant I didn't see

With White against **yaret65 (1316)**, an Englund Gambit (1.d4 e5), I was winning by more than four
pawns (+4.35). Black had just pushed the d-pawn two squares.

> **Move 10: Black's pawn has just jumped from d7 to d5, right next to my pawn on e5**
> Position (FEN): `rnb2rk1/ppp1nppp/2q5/b2pP3/8/2P1PNB1/PPQN1PPP/R3KB1R w KQ d6 0 10`
> Played: Ng5 — Ng5 — knight jumps forward and threatens mate on h7
> Better: exd6 — exd6 — my pawn captures en passant and attacks the knight on e7

*En passant* is the rule that lets a pawn capture an enemy pawn that has just moved two squares past
it, as if it had moved only one — and only on the very next move. Here exd6 attacks the knight on e7
and keeps me winning (+4.51). I played 10.Ng5 instead, which threatens mate on h7 but allows 10...Qg6,
a queen move that attacks my queen on c2 and my knight on g5 at once (+1.77). My opponent played
10...Bf5, and I won when they abandoned on move 23 ([game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147363502284)).

### Game 1924: chasing a pawn on a2

That morning, as Black against **RISE_OF_THE_PHOENIX (1281)**, my bishop had taken on c3 and White's
rook was on b1.

> **Move 9: my bishop on c3 is far from home and White's rook is on b1**
> Position (FEN): `r1bqk2r/ppp1pp1p/2np2p1/3P4/8/2b2N2/P1P1BPPP/1RBQ1RK1 b kq - 1 9`
> Played: Nb4 — Nb4 — knight goes after the pawn on a2
> Better: Ne5 — Ne5 — knight to the centre, attacking the knight on f3

9...Nb4 goes after the a2 pawn, which has no defender. The engine's answer is 10.Rxb4: the rook can be
taken back, "but the line shows why it still works" — after 10...Bxb4 11.Qd4 White's queen attacks my
bishop and White is clearly better (+2.99). The centralising 9...Ne5 kept me slightly better (−0.59).
White played 10.Rb3, I took the pawn and won on move 20
([game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147363219990)).

### Game 1926: a knight that needed a better square

Against **Roger_2025 (1282)** I was clearly better as Black (−3.04) when I retreated my d7 knight to
b6 with 9...Nb6. The engine's reply, 10.f3, attacks my other knight on e4, and the game is about equal
(−0.16). 9...Ne5 was the move that kept the pressure (−2.62). I still won, by checkmate on move 49
([game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147363762046)).

## How the streak happened

After my win against **georgewilliam18 (1352)** on January 2 I was at 1351. On January 3 I lost to
**lazarantonov (1347)**. On January 4 I played five more games and lost all five: two on time (against
**RybakinaFan** and **Speedrun_malak**), one where my f4 bishop was lost to a queen check on move 5,
and the last two in 20-minute games instead of my usual 10. In the very last one I was mated on move
23 with almost eleven minutes still on my clock — more time didn't help because I wasn't using it.

## The lesson of the week

The losing streak wasn't a skill problem; my accuracy in those six games stayed between 78.7 % and
89.7 %. It was a stopping problem. Each loss came from one or two blunders, and I kept clicking "new
game" straight after them. My rule from here: two losses in a row, I stop for the day and review them
instead. And on the good days, the habit to keep is the one game 1925 taught me — look for captures,
including the strange ones like en passant, before any attacking idea.

## All games this week

| Game # | Date | Colour | Opponent (rating) | Result | Opening | Accuracy | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1924 | 2025-12-30 | Black | RISE_OF_THE_PHOENIX (1281) | Win | Modern Defense with 1 e4 | 82.8 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147363219990) |
| 1925 | 2025-12-30 | White | yaret65 (1316) | Win | Englund Gambit | 88.0 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147363502284) |
| 1926 | 2025-12-30 | Black | Roger_2025 (1282) | Win | Modern Defense | 74.5 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147363762046) |
| 1927 | 2025-12-30 | Black | Ahmedabadc (1328) | Draw | Pirc Defense | 84.7 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147372691934) |
| 1928 | 2025-12-30 | White | Aleksander_Nam (1316) | Win | Indian Game, London System | 72.5 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147376592634) |
| 1929 | 2025-12-31 | Black | JUNSELJOHN (1342) | Loss | Pirc, Geller System | 57.6 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147403233870) |
| 1930 | 2025-12-31 | White | CSW72 (1283) | Win | Accelerated London | 90.2 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147403313684) |
| 1931 | 2025-12-31 | White | Gu-Frene (1341) | Loss | English Defense | 61.1 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147405587904) |
| 1932 | 2025-12-31 | White | smt46 (1289) | Win | Modern Defense with 1 d4 | 86.1 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147419069098) |
| 1933 | 2026-01-01 | Black | PapZap (1328) | Loss | Nimzowitsch Defense, Williams | 74.4 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147458100098) |
| 1934 | 2026-01-01 | White | i002m (1322) | Win | London System | 49.3 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147464296314) |
| 1935 | 2026-01-01 | Black | BuddyDway (1395) | Win | Modern Defense with 1 d4 | 73.7 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147467695400) |
| 1936 | 2026-01-02 | White | Aryan-Gupta333333 (1296) | Win | Dutch Defense | 96.0 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147485572198) |
| 1937 | 2026-01-02 | Black | georgewilliam18 (1352) | Win | Pirc, Kholmov System | 86.9 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147487376794) |
| 1938 | 2026-01-02 | Black | agusyulianto (1377) | Loss | Modern Defense with 1 e4 | 85.1 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147488264432) |
| 1939 | 2026-01-02 | Black | JamesRill (1359) | Loss | Indian Game, East Indian London | 80.6 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147499122338) |
| 1940 | 2026-01-02 | White | fumare (1350) | Win | Accelerated London, Steinitz Countergambit | 78.0 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147502588292) |
| 1941 | 2026-01-03 | Black | lazarantonov (1347) | Loss | Pirc, Main Line | 78.7 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147539674298) |
| 1942 | 2026-01-04 | White | RybakinaFan (1355) | Loss | Englund Gambit | 81.8 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147573453490) |
| 1943 | 2026-01-04 | White | Speedrun_malak (1341) | Loss | Accelerated London | 89.7 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147574351226) |
| 1944 | 2026-01-04 | White | makiny83 (1308) | Loss | Indian Game | 84.7 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147584662472) |
| 1945 | 2026-01-04 | Black | congrexx (1341) | Loss | Modern Defense with 1 e4 | 80.2 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147596841296) |
| 1946 | 2026-01-04 | White | uscamucu (1302) | Loss | Queen's Pawn, Zukertort Chigorin | 80.5 | [game](https://www.chess.com/game/live/147597887802) |

← [Week 100](/journey/week-2025-w52/) · [Week 102](/journey/week-2026-w02/) → · [Back to the journey](/journey/)
· [Review your own games like this](/features/ai-chess-analysis/)

## FAQ

### How do you stop a losing streak in chess?

Stop playing for the day earlier than feels necessary. My six-game streak in week 101 included five losses on January 4 alone, and my rating fell from 1351 to 1296 in nine games.

### Does a losing streak mean you got worse?

Not necessarily. My accuracy in those six losses ranged from 78.7 % to 89.7 %; most were decided by one or two blunders, and two were lost on time.

### What is en passant and why did it matter this week?

If a pawn moves two squares and lands next to your pawn, you can capture it as if it had moved one square, but only on the very next move. In game 1925 that capture, exd6, was the best move and I missed it.

## Related

- [From 631 to 1385: my chess journey in 2,117 games](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey.md)
- [Week 100 (Dec 2025): London System vs Qb6 cost me a rook](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/week-2025-w52.md)
- [Week 102 (Jan 2026): what the Modern Defense taught me](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/journey/week-2026-w02.md)
- [Free AI chess analysis of your games, explained](https://thechesscoach.netlify.app/features/ai-chess-analysis.md)