Learning chess later in life

Hoo boy -- I hear you on that one!  As a young teen (age 14 or so) I was USFC 1300 or so, then stopped for almost 50 years and just started playing again.  I was doing the 10 minute games, and my brain just isn't fast enough.  (I started my first ever daily games -- having a great time thus far!)

The "later in life" wording caught my eye, but you're on the earlier side of "later" so to speak! Some of us who are actually "later" are looking at ways to support cognitive health or whatever you want to call it.  I tried some of that brain training stuff (it's sort of embarrassing to admit) and then read an article that said the benefits were not proven in studies (I did think the little games were fun).  Then I thought, well I should pick one new brain thing and just stick with it for a while, that was chess, and I think this is more than adequate exercise.  I play, do puzzles, study or watch a chess video, total maybe an hour a day (like instead of TV or whatever), and it's really fun.  So what.  I guess so what is have fun, don't worry about "ratings".  Some days I think, I am really going to FOCUS today, but mostly I don't, but hey, it's better than nothing brain-wise.  Did I mention it's a game and it's FUN.

If only there was a club for adult chess improvers ... oh wait, there is: https://www.chess.com/club/the-vintage-patzers-adult-chess-improvers

Now if only that club was more active

I started playing chess at 24. It's been about 3 years, and I've achieved a 1765 rating in rapid on a different website. The goal I decided on is to get to 2k rating in rapid.

It's taken a lot of work, and 2k is looking like it will take twice the amount of work I've already put in. If you're wondering what my training regiment is, I mainly do puzzles, because that's what I enjoy and it's low-stress.  I've played less than 1000 actual games of chess, but solved nearly 10k puzzles. That probably isn't the optimal way to learn, but it works for me.

As you might expect for someone who does mainly puzzles, my positional understanding is weak and I've been looking to supplement by reading "How to Reassess your Chess" by Jeremy Silman, which I'm still near the beginning of, but I think it will help.

Every day I can tell that I've improved a tiny bit, I'm seeing a little bit further, and the board makes a little more sense. It's very satisfying, and it proves that even though I'm an adult, I can still gain new skills and change in profound ways.

This book is just as amazing today as it ever was:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/33870

(Chess Fundamentals by José Raúl Capablanca.)

I know it's true, but it also falls under the heading of the Han Solo quote, "Never tell me the odds." :-) It's probably best to not focus on the limitations, in other words. I remember someone telling me a story once about a professional skier he was a fan of. The guy was real nervous about a run. His coach cleaned his goggles for him in a way designed to scratch the surface. The skier was so angry about it he forgot to be nervous and did a great run, despite having something holding him back. I expect if we forget about the limitations learning becomes more direct and less fraught.

I'm here too and happily just joined the group @JugglinDan mentioned. For those inquiring about books: I do a weekly group class via zoom and our teacher recommended the book Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess which I've really been enjoying working through. While it wasn't actually written by Fischer and gets some negative feedback for that it's a clever book and is well-designed in its approach.

You can achieve what you desire if you believe in yourself and put in the time + effort with consistency.
I’m currently working my way through the tutorials here, doing the free courses on chessable, using the Dr. Wolf app, and doing puzzles on chesstempo, as well as watching YouTube and reading articles.

Thanks for all the informative comments here.

Update: I achieved my goal of going from total beginner to 800+ rating in bullet and rapid pretty easily, but Blitz took an extra whole YEAR. Finally got there yesterday.

I’m sure I could’ve improved quicker with more study but I’ve mostly just played games and review them only if they turned out interesting, if I felt I blundered a lot, or to ego trip when I felt I played well.

I suffered from very poor openings for a long time at some point recently I started to naturally play more solid moves in the opening. With white I go for Italian Game and started alternating in London System, with black I’m basically still clueless in the opening. I am starting to see more tactics much more easily, but like a chump I fall for many extremely obvious traps and also often miss taking advantage of my opponents’ 1 move blunders.

Starting over 40 doesn’t feel like a big disadvantage mentally, but the adulting responsibilities (incl 3 kids) kinda preclude me from going deeper on chess.

Next goal: Blitz is tougher so I’ll aim for 900 and shoot for 1,000 in Bullet and Rapid.

I started in Feb after my stepson offered me a game and beat me, I hadn't played since my dad thought me (I'm 42) I was surprised how frustrated I was to lose to him, we've never played again but I have played every day since..... Hundreds of hours tactics training and near 4500 games since..... It's quite addictive!

If you are truly keen on improving , I would ditch bullet and blitz immediately. You may have ingrained some poor habits from speed chess that you have to strip.

Um......40 is not "later in life".  My youngest child is now 41. 
I started playing in 2022 at age 76 and now enjoy an 1100+ rating. I play 1 hour time control and I study every move in every game in the "Game review".  I also do 25+ puzzles per day. 
Being retired, I've got time to devote to it.....although I don't want to take too much away from my hiking and woodworking. 

I don't know if I can get to 1600, but I'm sure you can....and higher. 

Thanks @mikekalish and good work!

I don’t mean that 40 is particularly old to take up chess as a hobby. It’s just that most good players probably started much much younger.

@willdfwo Good job improving so quick! I was improving fast at first too but my progress slowed a lot because i wasn’t doing as much of the studying like you’re doing. but any grinding seems to pay off eventually when you’re a beginner

@chuck639 IDK I like seeing so many situations so fast. No question I play a completely contrived and stupid game at 1 min bullet but it’s fun and doesn’t seem to contaminate my game that much 🤷‍♂️

Thanks everyone for contributing to this thread! Lots to take in!

 

I am in the boat with you, but older than both of you by over a decade, so this topic is very useful for me.

 

It is impossible for me to convey just how much encouragement I got from this single post, right here ^

Thank you for taking the time to write all of that down and share it, here.  You have helped me, immensely. 🙏