Masters of the Endgame: The Senior Center’s Old Guard
Hello again dear readers! Like I said in my last blog, I was originally planning to write about my experiences volunteering and playing chess at my local senior center. But then I got sidetracked when I was watching an old Hikaru video and discovered the phenomenal player Michael Aigner. Also this has been bothering me because I forgot it, in the Hikaru speedrun video where he played against Michael Aigner, Michael went on to win that game against Hikaru! Truly an unbelievable feat against the World No. 2 and probably the greatest online blitz player of all time. But now, I’m finally continuing with the task I originally set out to do and writing about—you guessed it—my experiences playing at my local senior center.
Week 1
This all started when my mom suggested the idea. She knows how much I love chess and is always telling me to do more volunteering, something about “good for college,” yada yada yada. But she was right, this was the perfect opportunity. I’d get credit for “volunteering”—even though it didn’t really feel like volunteering at all—and on top of that I’d get to actually play in person, something I almost never do. The club met once a week and was always looking for new players, especially teenagers, at least according to the website. So I signed up and decided to give it a shot.
The club met at 3 o’clock, and I still remember the hours leading up to my very first time. I was studying openings, going over prep, and basically getting ready like it was a competitive tournament. Like I said, I don’t get much OTB practice, so this felt like a big deal. My mom dropped me off, I checked in at the front desk, and then walked into the room.
When I first got there, I instantly noticed about seven or eight older men hunched over chessboards, completely locked in.
They barely even noticed I walked in. The event was scheduled for about two hours, and for the first 20–30 minutes I just stood back and watched. Eventually, one of the older gentlemen tipped over his king and declared, “You got me.” They immediately started analyzing, talking about how the game was basically over once he traded bishops a while back. Then the winner turned to me and said, “Alright kid, you're up.”
The gentleman introduced himself as Tom. I sat down, and we began setting up the board. Once everything was ready, Tom grabbed my h-pawn and his h-pawn, put them behind his back, and had me choose. I quickly realized this was to decide color, something I had never actually seen before. I drew Black. After 1. e4, I went with the Caro-Kann—the opening I was most comfortable with at the time. (This was a few weeks ago. These days I’ve been experimenting with e4 e5 and seeing some success, but I digress.)
Here’s the game: (I recorded all of them on a piece of scrap paper).
Wow. So my very first game I got absolutely destroyed. To be honest, I was pretty crushed. I had high hopes and wanted to at least give the seniors a run for their money. To add insult to injury, this game took about an hour and a half, and by this point most of the other seniors had already finished their games and were watching me get wrecked. Tom and I discussed the game a little, and we both agreed I was basically done after e5. Then we all said our farewells and left.
When I got home, I was still feeling pretty down from my loss, but I decided to review the game and look at my mistakes. Shockingly, the more I reviewed this, quite frankly, terrible game, the better I felt. Sure, I made lots of mistakes and gave Tom plenty of opportunities, but Tom made his share of mistakes too. It wasn’t like he played perfectly and ground me down like a machine. I actually had some chances to equalize or even get a winning position, but I blew them.
There were also other reasons I could have played poorly. First off, I was in a completely new environment. I never really play chess over the board, and it felt totally different than what I was used to. Also, when I do play chess online I mainly play bullet and blitz, so I wasn’t conditioned to playing without a clock and taking long amounts of time to calculate instead of just making logical moves I could blitz out and maybe flag my opponent. I was also very nervous, which might’ve caused me to miss things I normally would’ve seen.
Now, these may sound like excuses—and they kind of are—but the important part was they gave me some of my confidence back and got me excited to be a little better prepared and hopefully get some wins, or at least hold my own, against these seniors.
With my newfound confidence, I spent the next week doing lots of puzzles, studying openings, especially with Black, and training my tactical skills. I also gained some Elo and felt good about my play. Crucially, I played a few games against bots using a 3D board format. This was very helpful for practicing how to visualize a chessboard in three dimensions, which I knew I would need to adjust to quickly if I wanted any success against these seniors. It is important to note that the games there weren’t rated or part of any tournament, and I didn't need to really prepare. But I wanted to prove myself. I wanted to show the seniors that I could compete with them, and more importantly, show myself that I was more than just an online bullet and blitz player.
This time, when I walked back into the room, I was greeted with a few nods, and a few players looked up from their boards. There were four games going on that I watched for around five minutes until another senior walked in. He introduced himself as Frank, and we began to play a game. Here’s how it went.
After this game I immediately felt a surge of confidence in my play. Winning gave me the knowledge that I could win games against these seniors. We discussed the game, and he asked me why I didn't take the rook. I almost felt bad because I thought it might seem like I was trolling him a little bit. Overall, I felt this game went well. Obviously, I had some inaccuracies, especially earlier in the game, but once I got my rook to his seventh rank I played some strong moves, won his queen, and then I was completely winning.
We asked if anyone was done or about to be done, and since no one was, we played another game. This one also didn’t take too long, only about 40 or 50 minutes, so we kept playing. Here's how the next game went.
I’m not going to lie, this game isn’t exactly entertaining. I had a teeny-tiny advantage for almost the entire game that I never really pushed or tried to capitalize on. Instead, I just traded down into a dead-even endgame. Maybe I would have tried to play for a little bit more if we had more time, but while I was playing I thought the evaluation was basically even the whole way through. In hindsight, I can see there were moments where I could have pressed a bit harder, but at the board my mindset was just to keep things solid and not take unnecessary risks. We didn’t really discuss the game afterward since we had to leave, but I doubt we would have had much to say anyways. This wasn’t the most exciting, but sometimes that’s just how these games go.
Now that I had actually scored some points, even beating one of the seniors I had thought was nearly untouchable, I realized something important. When I thought back at some of the other games I had watched in week one, it began to become more clear that not all of these players were at the same level. Some were stronger than others, but the more I reflected on my games, the more I felt that I had actually faced some of the tougher ones right out of the gate. That gave me some more confidence. At the same time, I started thinking more seriously about strategy.
One thing I noticed was how many of them played what people literally call “old man chess.” And the name fits, because, well, they’re old men. This means that they avoid sharp tactical fights and prefer slow, solid positions that are easier to understand. It makes sense—at their age, why dive into crazy complications? But it also gave me an idea: if I could drag them into sharp, tactical battles, I might be able to score some points. I had already played Vienna Gambits and f-pawn pushes against the Alekhine online, but this time I wanted to experiment with the Grand Prix Attack, or even an Austrian Attack setup against certain defenses. So I spent the week studying these lines, sharpening my tactics, and playing more with a 3D board. Some might say that exploiting their age is cruel, but I saw it as necessary if I wanted to win.
And yes, you might be wondering, “Cole, aren’t you taking this wayyyy too seriously?” Maybe I was. But this was one of the only chances I’d get to play in a real tournament-like setting. My mom had told me this would be the last week of the seniors’ summer schedule, and that things would change in the fall. That meant this could be my last chance to face them for a while, maybe even ever. So I wanted to treat it like a rated event and prepare as if it actually counted.
When I returned, a few of the seniors greeted me by name. I had arrived a little early, so most people were just filing in and nobody was playing yet. A man I hadn’t played before, named Walt, introduced himself and asked if I wanted a game. I said yes, and here it is.
It was a very satisfying first win and easily the best game I had played so far. Though it was relatively short in moves, believe it or not, the game lasted nearly the full two hours. I spent a lot of time calculating different variations in my attack, and my opponent was a slow player. Still, I was extremely happy with how it went, and I felt it truly reflected what I had set out to do. After the game, Walt and I went over it together, and he told me I had played phenomenally, which made me even happier. I then watched a few more games before leaving for the last time.
Conclusion
This was definitely a very interesting and fulfilling experience. I would recommend anyone who has the opportunity to play with local seniors to give it a try. You’ll encounter a broad range of skill levels—though I’d estimate the average senior hovers between 1500 and 2000 rapid on Chess.com. Some games may feel slow or even a bit boring, but that’s part of the charm. More importantly, it’s a chance to connect with players who have decades of experience, pick up new perspectives on the game, and challenge yourself in ways online play can’t replicate. Beyond improving your chess, it’s simply rewarding to engage with a different generation of players and enjoy the shared love of the game. I came away from the experience not just a little stronger as a player, but also with a greater appreciation for the joy of chess at any age. Thank you all for reading!
