Improvement strategy for older adults

Good for you friend, keep playing for the enjoyment of the game. A lot of us here are “older” and face challenges that those who are younger do not. Personally i get nothing from trying to study books. I’ve spent 40+ years studying codes, listings, manuals, and simply do not have the desire to do so anymore. So, i play for fun and hopefully help the brain remain healthy. Look, we’re never going to be the best of the best but we can be better and improve. However, for now I’m good with enjoying the games, playing folks from all over the world, and winning once in a while too. Stay with it, maybe we’ll play someday. For fun and enjoyment. Peace.

So far I totally understand the winning once in a while part

Yeah we should all play for the enjoyment ! 

I always found that winning is more enjoyable....

I agree that chess can be played mostly as a mental exercise and for fun.  However there is a deeper and more intense level of pleasure that the game affords when one learns to play really well.  that's when beautiful moves, strategies and combinations arise.  I have yet to make what chess.com considers a "brilliant" move, but I hope to do so some day  (and I'm 74).

Definitely avoid playing the computer - they play unnatural moves, so will hinder your learning.

1) Play Rapid games only (10+ mins per side). If 10+0 is too fast, play 15+10. (Playing blitz games just re-enforces bad habits. It's OK to play it for fun, but you wont learn as quickly vs playing Rapid where you have time to think). Make sure you play slowly enough to scan the board for threats or loose pieces on both sides.
2) Try and learn one opening for white (and stick to it) and two openings for black (one against E4 and one against D4) and stick to them over and over. If your opponent plays another random opening you dont know, just develop naturally. 
3) Tactical Puzzles are your friend. The more you can learn, the quicker you will spot these (or similar motifs) in-game.
4) After tactics, End-games are your 2nd best bang-for-buck. Once you've learnt how to checkmate with a King+Queen vs Lone King and King+Rook vs Lone King - THEN take a look at look at King+Pawn vs King and King+Rook+Pawn vs King+Rook.
5) Analyze your games, especially your losses and try to understand what went wrong and why - and try to limit making those same mistakes over and over again.

I learnt chess last year, as a beginner rated 600-700. This year I'm in the 1700s in blitz, and 1800s in Rapid.

There's also TONS of youtube content out there: I highly recommend you search up "John Bartholomew" and review his Chess Fundamentals video series (about 4 or 5 videos) and his "Climbing the Rating Ladder" videos, starting at the "Up to 1000" video - alternatively, St Louis Chess Club videos are great, particularly those aimed at beginners by GM Ben Finegold, GM Varuzahn Akobian, etc.

Good luck!

I recommend that you read this blog. If you are U1200, you should be spending almost all of your training time on tactics.

44 here and an OTR Trucker. I'm also returning after a long hiatus as well. It's both interesting and frustrating trying to learn and relearn the game, isn't it.

I agree with the comment about learning one opening and sticking to it.  My rating improved significantly once I did that.

I am also 71(fitness guy,so I don't feel "too old"...Ha).......I learned the game at 11 years old and played some in my twenties.Did some Chess via U.S. Mail,back then...Not much.

I had a friend who I'd play with,but also not much.....Pretty much knew nothing,other than basic moves.

In my early 30's I had a business friend who'd play me once in a while...Not much again.

One day I went into a chess club/store,in Greenwich Village NYC and got destroyed!

That was it until 3 years ago,when I was close to retiring.I figured chess would be fun to get back into,since I'd have time and there are a few nice chess clubs in my area....so.....

I read "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Chess".....Loved that book!

I read a few openings books and am on my 5th book now...I do loads of Tactics here,watch the lessons here and LOVE some of the You-Tube Videos......Especially John Bartholomew's Climbing The Ratings Ladder stuff and almost everything he does...Such a nice guy is J.B.

Now,I don't worry much about my rating,because I only play 10 minute games on Chess.com.....I do quite well,in my local OTB club.....Got slaughtered at first,but as I gained experience "and confidence",I began to beat some of the halfway good players.

I now find that I can watch a chess video,or stream of GM's playing and enjoy it as though I were watching Roger Federer play a tennis match.....Chess is "Blood Lust Warfare" and so much fun.

Good luck...."young fella".

Young fella?  Ha.  I will add that I just watched a stream of GM Nakamura for the first time and was amazed that I could get insights as to how a GM thinks.  Very instructive...

Your experience somewhat resembles mine. I'm 63, learned how to play around 1970, played a lot through around 1976, and then just dabbled in the game until maybe 2017. 

My problem is also that once the game begins, I have trouble developing a plan. I tend to just react. I had a career for more than 20 years that conditioned my mind to think in a way that is not very conducive to chess. It was a great career, but it ruined me for chess.

I disagree with those who say playing against a computer is not a good route to improvement. I play against a computer more than I play against people online. I can have a game against the computer any time I want, and if the game is going badly I can just stop and start another. To me, chess is chess. At my level, the computer is no more or less logical than a person at my level. I say any opportunity to play chess can help you improve.

I do some puzzles, but not many. Most of the time I'm just not in the mood. 

My goals are similar to your goals. I'm not very concerned with increasing my rating. I want to keep my mind active. That's the most important thing. But also, I absolutely love the artistic beauty of chess. There are websites where you can download any number of games. I print them out and play through them on my chess board. Each game by one of the great players of the past is, to me, like an epic piece of cinema. It's like having a free subscription to some online streaming service. 

There's no doubt that as you continue to play,watch videos,do tactics and read(if so inclined) something meaningful starts to automatically kick in.....Call it intuitiveness or whatever,but it happens and you start to "get chess"..

Good luck...."Young Fella"!

THis is an interesting thread. Here is my expeience:

It is 2023 and I am 67 years old. I have been playing chess on and off, since I was 13 ... a late start by todays standards. In my 20's I had the ambition of gaining a master title. I studied hard between 1981 and 1985, resulting in a peak rating  at the age of 29,  around BCF 195 (equivalent to about FIDE 2150 at the time).

 But work, family and other interests intervened. I stopped studying and merely played in matches for the local club and the occasional weekend tournaments.  My rating stayed at about the same level for several years, then gradually declined.  When I finally obtained a FIDE rating it was in the mid to high 1900's, which is where it is today.  However my Dutch rating has fallen from 2000+ to 1940 in the last few years year, and after a terrible recent loss to a 1600-rated player, is about to drop by another 15 or so points.

Could I have made it to FIDE Master or IM half a lifetime ago, if I had continued to work at the game? It is something I will never know.  Perhaps  2150 equivalent was my personal limit, as determined by genetics and early experiences.

How am I weaker now?  Mainly I make gross oversights frequently ... overlooking my opponent's possibilities. 30+ years ago I rarely made gross blunders.  I also miss clear winning tactics and end up drawing, or losing, games I would formerly have won.  At my best I was not great strategically, but I was a tactical monster.  Finally. I seem to have lost the sense of danger that used to subconsciously alert me to the dangers in most positions. 

Is this decline because my brain is no longer so powerful as it once was?  It is hard to be sure.  What is certain is that lack of disciplined study and practice certainly makes a difference.  If I do as little as working at a few tactical problems a day for a week or two that stops the rot and restores me to the 1970-2020 range

There are rare exceptions, but most players my age never improve mujch beyond their younger peaks, no matter how much time they put in. Is that because of age-related mental decline, or because they are studying the wrong way?

Or is it because those of us that have been playing for several decades usually have deeply ingrained bad habits of thought to unlearn or override, before we can play better chess?

It is not at all a simple question? It is wrong to assume a-priori that "mature" people cannot make big improvements in ability, and that the reason is declining mental function.  It may be true, but it should not be an assumption.  Motivation, habits, prior experience, nutrition, state of health, method of study, standard of regular opposition ... these all play a part, and maybe there are other factors. 

Is my own  decline due to declining mental ability.  I suspect (hope?) not.  Even at my age I am still improving rapidly in my main avocation ... playing the piano.  But I care about music and playing the piano, and practice for several hours almost every day.

Could I still improve to master level at chess?   

The simple answer is NO!

Regardless of the state of my mental faculties, I shall never become any kind of master, because I no longer care enough about being strong at chess to make the necessary effort, regardless of whether or not it is even possible.  The most I am even slightly likely to do is revise my old openings, practice some endings, study a few recent GM games, and solve some tactical puzzles to stay sharp. That has always been enough to keep my OTB rating in the 1950-2050 range. It may be enough to stay ahead of the up and coming youngsters at my club for a few more years.  More than that would require a passion for the game and a love of winning that I no longer have

Thanks for the help

Thanks for posting @BeyondHypermodern.

Do you ever see a move that you imagine is good (and think that the engine will have it as its top move) but it looks too committal or "dangerous" and end up playing something "safer"? I do, and it's something I'm trying really hard to stop - i.e. I'm trying to force myself to play the "dangerous" move - even if it means losing.

I think this may be the key to improvement, at least for me - but you're a stronger player than I've ever been.

I'd be interested in hearing your (or anyone else's!) thoughts on this.

I'm "only" 50, but this thread is helpful. Regardless of age-related cognitive decline (real or imagined), I find that adult-related responsibilities are the main detractors to my progress - I simply can't devote the time or brain space to chess that I'd like to. It doesn't keep me from trying though.

(I started a YouTube channel to document my progress, but I won't spam it here. I only mention it because I can now look at my videos from a year ago and see that I've progressed quite a bit since then.)

Daily regimen: At least one 10-minute game per day (with a cursory analysis of my wins and a harder look at my losses). A 30-minute puzzle session a few times per week. A couple of times per day, I check in on my several ongoing daily/correspondence games. I also consume as much educational content as I can squeeze into my free time - YouTube videos (Naroditsky and Rozman, usually), books (Silman, mostly), lessons on these sites, etc.

dont read books or do too many puzzles. Just play and make sure to do the checklist checks captures and attacks. Before playing a move always triple check before its a blunder and before long you should get a pretty high rating