i know that in your life as you are ageing you accumulate experience.
Chess and Ageing
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The older you become, the higher the amount of blunders you've made
What ability doesnt decline as we age ? I am not aware of any myself. Ofcourse chess ability declines as we grow older.
maybe after 65-70 years you will become blunder but until then you acquire a whole of experience...if psychological problems do not appear...
I think it depends:
Once you have reached your peak potential, sure, it will decline with age.
But I think a normal patzer (like me) can continue to improve well past middle age.
I feel I had a real 200 point improvement on this site in 18 months, and I'm 57. I also feel I can steadily gain still a little more.
I've observed that chess problem composers tend to become better and better with age. Solvers tend to become more insane with age.
Top level ability definitely declines with age. Look at Karpov, his play is definitely worse now that 10-15 years ago. Being able to process large amounts of information quickly is the skill of a younger player, using knowledge deftly so to calculate less is generally the older man's strategy. A world champ does both at a high level, and inevitably declines with age. I mean, when you die your ability definitely drops a bit, unless your opponent loses on time on the first move I guess.
:D
Reb wrote:
What ability doesnt decline as we age ? I am not aware of any myself. Ofcourse chess ability declines as we grow older.
The ability to be crotchety and cantankerous?
Chess you say....
.... who?
Reb wrote:
What ability doesnt decline as we age ? I am not aware of any myself. Ofcourse chess ability declines as we grow older.
The ability to increase one's waistline?
nimzo5 wrote:
The one thing that increases with age is humility.
I don't know that this is a universal truth.
The ability to grow hair in unsightly places seems to increase with age.
I only have 2 words for you:
Korchnoi.
Korchnoi. Hmmm...that's one word. Hmm, that's a name.
???
Ha ha ha!
Sep 18, 2010
0
#18
Not only am I getting older, I have MS. That has affected my ability to plan and organise. My understanding of the game has improved but ability to calculate has diminished. I discussed this with my neuro, she said my thinking is like shifting sand and when I see the right pattern it all becomes clear in a flash of what could be called inspiration. I call it pure luck. Anyone else using chess, like I do to combat a neurological condition.
It does at Blitz Chess, for sure.
OTB, however if you shift to a more positional style (boring) you can look to maintain your rating for a long time there are many strong 70+ players.
Long 2 game a day chess events are difficult too, as mental stamina declines with age.
Hell if you are still around at 70 playing chess what's to moan about ?
The bigger part of the picture is that chess can improve brain function now. In turn exercising the old noodle is better for more long term use. People who do cross-word puzzles daily or try tasks that make the brain work in different patterns tend to live with a brain that operates at a higher level for a longer period of time. Also as we age we tend to be better at those tasks that we did at an earlier age and for longer number of years. Our memory of things that are part of us longer tend to stay with us longer. Aging just makes it harder to remember the newer things, people and places we encounter. We may get slower and not play as well but i hope to play through out my end game.
Does chess ability decline as people age? Is there any research or data?