Is there anyone who has improved 400 points after reaching 60? If so, can you disclose his story?
I’m vying to improve to USCF ‘Expert’. I started playing tournaments again after almost 30 years. My rating was 1567. So far in two tournaments, consisting of a total of 6 games, I’ve improved my rating to 1641.
I think the traditional arguments against improving for seniors are no longer valid.
The traditional arguments are about what tends to happen for a group; the arguments do not necessarily apply to any specific random individual. However, that individual will tend to have to work to overcome the tendencies that apply to the group.
and, what are these “traditional arguments”?
…scot…
Kevin nailed it. You might experience a Hooke’s Law effect. Hooke’s Law says that the amount of force required to pull a spring open is proportional to how far it is already open. In other words, the more you pull, the harder it gets.
Your jump from 1567 to 1641 wasn’t so hard. Your next 74-point jump might be harder. The one after that, harder still. Be prepared!
Bill Smythe
Most of the studies on aging were done prior to the massive expansion of the internet and social media, electronic technology, and the explosion of information available for use. The chess information explosion started in the 1970’s with books but really ramped up post-2000 with databases, videos, and online sources. You have greater access to chess information than the pre-1970’s player had. It is easier today to book up. If the kids can do it, so can you.
The impediments to improving your rating will be the physical effects of aging and attitude. Mental stamina wanes as we get older because we just get tired of doing a task. Fortunately, you also have greater will than a younger person usually has when things get tough. Age and experience actually do trump youth and skill sometimes because an older person’s attitude and history are more consistent and mean something. Along with your chess studies you should work on your physical stamina and get good exercise, eat better, and keep a good sleep cycle.
It may be difficult to break 2000, but if you work at it hard you will feel the improvement in your game even if you do not hit your rating target. Don’t worry about your rating. Spend your time on improving the quality of your game, and your tournament scores will follow. Be patient as it takes time for all of the work you do to gel. Frustration because improvement does not come fast can cause motivation to dampen, what GM Jonathan Rowson calls a loss of “gumption.” If you can overcome that, you will enjoy your work and your games more. Good luck!
I agree. We have lots of more resources today and we know how to train more efficiently. I spend about 50% of my time on tactics. The other 50% is openings and reviewing master games.
Perhaps of interest: Subject: How many reach master after age 40?
NM Erik Karklins (now age 100) earned the title in his late 60s. I believe he peaked around 2300; he probably improved around 250 points. From his mid-80s to age 95, Erik improved to 2089. When he was floored at 2000 circa 2000, I doubt his strength was more than 1900 or so, even though his understanding of the game was immense. (It is hard to separate chess strength from physical health!)
Much of chess improvement consists of identifying the stupid things you are doing, and minimizing their recurrence, as in the old joke:
Doctor: Does it hurt when you do this?
Patient: Yes.
Doctor: Well, don’t do that.
As Bill Smythe notes, it gets harder after that.
I am 57 going on 58, and I peaked at 2172, so I have a personal interest.
Improving often comes down to coming to grips with remembering and forgetting. Remembering affects pattern recognition. Remembering is allied with all of the analysis you have done, positions you have seen, and games you have played. That is a lot of information for an older person to sift through. On top of that is remembering what we should forget. That is, to forget the slights, hurts, bad games we have played. Learning to forget the anxiety we feel when playing certain players or playing in certain places. When we remember these things we place extra burdens on ourselves. The younger player has not experienced the “death by a thousand cuts” yet that go with competition. He knows less and applies what he knows. He is blissfully ignorant of how bad his position is and plays what he can in full confidence that something will come up. The pain of defeat has not piled up yet.
Age may provide perspective, if not wisdom. As we get older we have to become more selective in our use of energy and time. We know how much we have in the tank and what our limits are. If we are particularly stubborn, we also have a backbone of steel that our younger competitors cannot see. Review of old games and new information may provide us with better ways to chunk what we know better. That could save us time during games. There is always a need to review and refine technique in order to strengthen our strong points, which is what Aron Nimzovich advised for our chess positions, but is also a good piece of advice for life.
As one ages, transferring information from short-term to longer term memory gets less efficient (why did I walk into this room anyway?), which negatively impacts analysis. Mental stamina also deteriorates – more blunders in the fourth or fifth hour. I don’t think I’ll ever play in another strong five or six round weekend Swiss, at least without taking one or two strategic half point byes. Single game a day events seem ideal these days.
The thing is I haven’t “peaked” yet. Lots of room for improvement.
That mentality is going to take you far in chess rating! Congrats on your performance at Thanksgiving Open.
OK, I’m now at 1706. A 65 point jump. In three tournaments and 12 games I’ve jumped 139 rating points. On a roll here.
1706 is only a hundred points and change above the rating of 1589 you came back with. A nice bump upwards, but when I look at the raw numbers of your last tournament, I see that you lost and drew with players who are near or lower than your rating. It may be, and it often happens, that the higher rated players you played felt forced to play for a win against a much lower rated person. In situations like that, the lower rated guy can play for equality and be satisfied with a draw, while the higher rated guy feels compelled to over press in order to win. Your peers in the Class B ranks don’t feel that pressure and know what it takes to defeat a fellow Class B player. As nice as your wins against Class A may be, you should be concerned why you are losing to your peers. Maybe you no longer take them seriously now that you have defeated a few Class A players. Lets see where you stand after your next 10 events.
I am curious. What was your highest rating before you came back to play in tournaments? Your MSA shows an established, not a provisional rating for your first event.
1578 was my highest. Just a few tournaments under USCF. I think maybe 5-6. Played in Puerto Rico a lot. Last full tournament was the team class championships in Chicago…1987ish.
By the way, I haven’t lost that many “to my peers” Class C. I’ve only lost 3 games out of 12 in 3 tournaments. I’ve won 5 games, lost 3. That’s going to improve. I’m missing some tactical shots that I shouldn’t. A few more tournaments and they will be gone, too.
I am now 75. I have been at it since 1967 and I was then told that I would not increase my rating much beyond my initial 1500. By 1984, I achieved 2005 and stopped all chess competition.
I came back in 2004 to be toppled down to 1725 due to my inactivity but after 2 years Online I have now a rating 1982 for correspondence and 1817 for LIVE chess, mostly g90.what exactly is going to stop me for reaching 2100?
Online chess is a great way to improve and there is no limitation except the one we place on ourselves.
That’s awesome, Frank!!
Last week the Washington Post ran an article about how aging affects our brains ability to make decisions, recognize patterns etal-starts to occur around our 40’s and typically gets worse with age( being in good physical shape actually helps prevent this)
I am 66 and have not played OTB in over 20 years-at that time my OTB was in the low 2000’s.I do play a lot of blitz over the net today and frankly I do not think I am anywhere near as sharp in recognizing tactics-patterns etal (and my net ratings show it) as I did 20-25 years ago
So never say never but gaining 400 rating points is huge and starting out when our brains are not functioning as well -count me a skeptic but I hope you achieve it
The good news is that, after my first 3 tournaments, I have only 300 points to go. I don’t smoke or drink. My health is improving. I’m better today at recognizing patterns than I was 30 years ago. I do need more OTB practice.
I would not bet against me.
I started a similar thread several years back about Chess After 50. I’ve been playing since the Fischer Boom years (1971), reached 2100 several times in the 80’s but then took off most of the 90’s before starting to play again. For the last 10 years, I’ve been playing about 6 - 7 multi-day tournaments/year. My rating went down to it’s 1900 floor for several years before I was able to get it back over 2000 (through lots of work!), now it bounces between the mid-1900’s and low 2000’s. Now that I’ve hit 60 (how did that happen?), I’m wondering what it will take to get back to 2100. The game has completely changed since the 80’s, kids are much more booked-up and tactically sharper. I also have problems maintaining my focus 4 hours into a game, and forcing myself to identify and evaluate all the candidate moves. Good Luck in your endeavor and be prepared to put a lot of work into it!!