USCF has a Top 100 Players list for different ages and sex
http://www.uschess.org/component/option,com_top_players/Itemid,371/
I have a grudge against those top player lists-I was number 2 and was only a couple of points away from overtaking Rufieng Li when he had some crazy string of tournaments and took off. Now I've dropped to like #8 and basically no chance of ever getting to the number 1 spot again. It's still a sore spot... :-)
Do you value your chess play less, or think of yourself as a less worthy player because of your ralative placement on a list?
The lists aren't really a big deal for me anymore, either. I used to check them all the time, but not anymore.
No. I am easily owned by children in rapid time.
Dang!...im wondering why the title of this thread gives me the wrong impression...hmmmm
for me, age doesn't really matter. I'm 14 going on 15 and my rating is still below 1000 (my goal this year) LOL! I don't have much time to study and practice chess 
My parents are even limiting my chess 
I have a tournament March 9th and those are prob the last games i'll ever play til summer in July... Which makes me so sad I'd say rating matters more to me than trophies I suppose. I get upset when I lose games in a drawn position or one I should have won, but if I lose a game i've been losing all along, I wont feel too bad, telling myself I held on for that long XD. Not a lot of people are willing to take my offered draws. Maybe if I play more 1200s my skills will go up. I normally practice on the computer
I just try to win, no matter the age of my opponent.
I agree. I've played adults and little kids. Age doesn't seem to matter.
A little more than 1100 to be 13 years and less than one month yea i think im good for my age.
You're not :)
lol not that nice :( i dont think age really matters with rating
I sometimes wonder, may be it's a mix; age, I.Q., maturity level, experience, etc..
A little more than 1100 to be 13 years and less than one month yea i think im good for my age.
You're not :)
lol not that nice :( i dont think age really matters with rating
Agree with everyone accept the one saying he's good. I have a friend who is great, and he's 11.
How great? GM level, or less?
I'm over 21 and can happily play chess for hours, I am definately better than when I started, when I dropped 150 points I got really discouraged and wondered why I was wasting my time, but then I regained 150 points, so now I think, maybe I can get to my goal of a 1201 rating. Oh well, I'm still having fun!
A little more than 1100 to be 13 years and less than one month yea i think im good for my age.
You're not :)
lol not that nice :( i dont think age really matters with rating
Agree with everyone accept the one saying he's good. I have a friend who is great, and he's 11.
How great? GM level, or less?
OK, not "GREAT" great, good. Besides, the problem is it's all relative. You know? He's about my level, sometimes better, sometimes worse. I'm great to some, good to some, bad to some and awful to some. I AM good because I have a winning record, and am above average.
Kidding. Barely anyone is "Great" at a young age. Some exceptions are Teimour Radjabov, Etienne Bacrot, and Bu Xiangzhi who all became GMs around 12 or 13
Karjakin is the only 12 year old GM.
There have only been 5 GMs who were 13. Xiangzhi is one of them, Teimour and Bacrot were 14.
I suppose that means that, 'Are you good for your age?' isn't really a realistic question. Unless you are titled in your teens, the answer has to be 'no'.
Hmm.. I read somewhere that you are supposed to reach your physical and mental peak at the age of 25. I am soon to turn 28 so I guess it's all downhill from here. And 5 of the top 10 players in the world are younger than me. So I'm not very good for my age then!
know you reach you physical peak at 35, just look at strong men contest on tv.
Hmm.. I read somewhere that you are supposed to reach your physical and mental peak at the age of 25. I am soon to turn 28 so I guess it's all downhill from here. And 5 of the top 10 players in the world are younger than me. So I'm not very good for my age then!
know you reach you physical peak at 35, just look at strong men contest on tv.
Of course you don't reach your physical peak at 35 lol. If that were the case, why would most footballers retire by then? An athlete doesn't generally retire in their peak.#
Even the ones who don't retire by then end up playing for lower league teams or they go and play in the US because they get paid big bucks for a rubbish quality of football.
The ones who do remain in the top teams (Giggs, Maldini, Scholes) are used as a player to send on in the 70th minute because they can't go all out for a whole game at that pace.
As for the Strong Man competitions, there's a simple explanation for that. Raw power is the last thing to go.
The same is true of boxing. That's why people like Foreman can come back into their 40's. If he hits you, it is still going to do damage, but he needs to work harder for it, and he'll land fewer of them at a slower pace.
By your logic, a 35 year old Mike Tyson could beat a 25 year old Mike Tyson.
Hmm.. I read somewhere that you are supposed to reach your physical and mental peak at the age of 25. I am soon to turn 28 so I guess it's all downhill from here. And 5 of the top 10 players in the world are younger than me. So I'm not very good for my age then!
know you reach you physical peak at 35, just look at strong men contest on tv.
Of course you don't reach your physical peak at 35 lol. If that were the case, why would most footballers retire by then? An athlete doesn't generally retire in their peak.#
Even the ones who don't retire by then end up playing for lower league teams or they go and play in the US because they get paid big bucks for a rubbish quality of football.
The ones who do remain in the top teams (Giggs, Maldini, Scholes) are used as a player to send on in the 70th minute because they can't go all out for a whole game at that pace.
It depends on what you mean by "physical peak", obviously. Footballers retire younger than strongmen, gymnasts probably retire still earlier. But for a chessplayer "physical peak" is a nebulous quality, given that Korchnoi is like eighty and still good enough to give many a youngster a good hiding.
Generally I believe age is not a main factor in chess,unlike many other sports...
but personally I'm 30.unfortunately I neglected some effective years about my talent in chess.now in 30,I don't think I have enough time to play and exercise. I believe if I didn't neglect it,I would had potential even to be a GM at the future! but now I just regret about that...
awwww sniff sniff lol