Age is a detriment?

At age 71, I have read that chess players' abilities decline with advancing age. Is this true?

Absolutely

 

Peak level abilities decline, but that is with anything. You can certainly improve substantially at any age, even if it is theoretically at a slower pace than a 6 year old whose has the mental illness to study chess to the exclusion of all else or who has parents who beat him into studying and playing chess daily.

I know a master about your age who has maintained his master level of play for decades, even managing to draw a couple GM’s in games in the past 5 years, while teaching full-time and playing no more than 4-6 tournaments a year.

My former music teacher was teaching an 83 year-old retiree who had never been formally exposed to music in his younger years ... this senior was composing his own songs within a couple years of music instruction. No, he wasn’t going to be the next Mozart, but he found an activity that he loved doing and in which he continued improving in his 9th decade.

Yes, it is true. As we age, our bodies (the brain included) no longer function at the peak of their potential, and our ability to focus for long, sustained periods of time is diminished. How much age affects your concentration, memory and stamina, is contingent on how well or poorly we have taken care of our bodies throughout our life. Things like perennial poor sleeping habits, a poor diet, a sedentary lifestyle devoid of physical exercise, alcohol abuse and smoking, can severely hasten the body and mind’s decay. Now, that is the bad news. 

The good news is that there are ways to combat these effects. It is never too late to try and reverse some of the damage, and start good habits that will enhance your focus, memory and concentration. 

Yes, our bodies age. But the chess world has embraced that idea, as some sort of mantra and excuse as to why adult players don’t get better. I’ve seen entire threads on many chess sites, telling 30 year olds that they are just “too old to aspire to ever be titled players”. That is utterly ridiculous! 

Studies into the neuroplasticity of the brain have shown that you can both create new neural pathways, and repair old ones even into your 80s. Notice that at the beginning of my first paragraph I said: “Our bodies (the brain included) no longer function at the peak of their potential”. 

Only an aspiring world champion should worry about their brain no functioning at the “peak” of its possible potential. At those levels, even a slight disadvantage is a huge factor.  Hence the reason why most super grandmasters retire some time in their early to mid 40’s.

Now, does that mean that they have then stopped performing at a grandmaster level? Of course not! It only means that they are no longer able to, or no longer willing to keep up the pace needed at the world class, very highest levels of the game.

The hectic traveling schedule, jet lag, hotel living, strain on their personal relationships, continuous mental/physical fatigue and tension, and deep pressure they subject themselves to in order to stay at the very top, is simply more of a young person’s game.

Not many are willing or capable to keep that up for life.  It is important to note that even then, some of the greats for whom Chess is simply their whole life pursuit, are able to maintain a very high level for quite long. Viktor Korchnoi notably was able to play top level chess well into his late 70’s. Vishy Anand at 49 years old, still keeps himself at the very highest levels of the game. Have you been following his performance of this month? Simply masterful. 

Am I trying to say here that the hypothetical 30 year old above is likely to become a grandmaster? No. Even if natural ability is present, a typical adult with responsibilities, a full time job and other priorities, is likely NOT going to make the needed sacrifices to get to that level. Heck, there are REALLY strong IMs out there that will never become grandmasters, because they simply cannot afford the time off from their daytime jobs, plus the tournament and travel expenses needed in order to even get chances at completing their GM norms. I know of a couple of such people and I will not mention their names out of respect. A sad affair really.

However, that same hypothetical 30 year old CAN become a REALLY strong expert level player, and even a Master level player in several years, provided the proper dedication, discipline and strong commitment/sacrifice are put in.

As for someone in their 70’s; only you can determine what your desired goal is. But I can guarantee that no matter how old you are, you can still dramatically improve your game if accompanied by serious chess study, you also take serious steps to maintain and improve your overall health.

Is it true that older people tend to write long, rambling, boring posts?  I hope that never happens to me! 😁

Yes. I understand that senility starts to set in around age 72 or 73.

Touche'!

Actually that's not true when you are 2 you are not better at chess then when you are 12. Ha Ha Ha

Magnus Carlson was not better when he was two than he is now.