I've seen this on the "Diplomacy" board. One player being perceived as skilled is immediately ganged up on by all the other players. It's like a plateau of skillfullness, a hurdle that you need to jump.

I've seen it overcome by deliberately throwing a few bad moves to reduce players opinion, but that puts you at inherent disadvantage. Like a genuine handicap.

I've seen it overcome more effectively by just more application of the skill which wins at "Diplomacy": alliance building.

Mostly you see it overcome by losing a few games thanks to folks ganging up on you and then you don't seem so fierce.