Can I continue to improve at 63???

I played chess casual as a kid 8-14, then lost interest in the game, pursued multiple careers, raised a son, and forgot about chess until age 50 when on a whim started to play again. I have noticed that I have continued to improve over last 13 years but at a slow pace......wonder if the improvement will stop now or keep going? I guess the odds are that I have hit my plateau.

We've played a few games together and are very similar in ability. The only difference I see between you and near-2000 rated opponents I've played is that they seem to recognize key squares, positions and what I'm trying to do a little quicker than you or I do.  It's not so much that I have to worry about them devastating me with tactics, it's that they make it harder for me to find a good attacking plan. I know that I have to be aggressive to win against them, but I end up getting bogged down and the local material advantage I base the plan on often turns out to be weaker than I thought it would be.

I think we can improve, but we need to see positions better.  There's a great page of over 50 Positional Motifs here, https://chesstempo.com/positional-motifs.html, that we should consider and recognize in games and I know that even in daily games I don't consider as many of them as I should. Since I have the capacity to do so at age 66, I don't see why I shouldn't improve, though I don't expect a sudden surge in ability!

Improving in tactics and pattern recognition is also possible. At another site, the tactics trainer's ratings algorithms are not as unstable as at chess.com and the following chart of my tactics rating there since I returned to chess at the beginning of 2017 shows a general trend up.  There's every reason to expect a gradual uptrend to continue.

I think people in their 60's or older can improve, but it takes more work than when younger and works best at daily or long time-limit games.

It's all about you mind and what program you give them.

Some monks can do mind blowing stunts, which is impossible to repeat to Norman human.

It's all about how much you want it, you can even be a GM ( I'm serious ) , spend 1 billion dollars and hire 10 best of the best Elite super GMs and give them task to make you a GM quickest time possible, I'M SURE 10 years time you will be one. Of course only if you go along with it , your lifestyle, good physic, no alcohol at ALL, no smoking, drugs, plenty of sleep , only Organic food , some supplements vitamins, minerals, oxygens , etc.....

You have to sacrifice a lot, discipline, have LOTS of $$$ and you CAN be a GM no doubt.

But hey this is a GM and we talk about being a CM it's very very achievable.

at age 63 or higher one can keep on improving in chess as there are thousands of chess books and a multitude of training videos on the internet [or can be purchased]

Oscar Shapiro became a national master for the first time at age 71.

As a 62 y.o. with substantial childhood and adolescent chess experience before I was distracted by other things, I can tell you that if you keep at it every day, you can improve slowly and incrementally until you die. 

UniversityofPawns, are you playing in USCF tournaments at classical time controls?  If so, what's your goals?

Certainly you are far from a beginner....nevertheless there may be some food for thought in the following which might resonate.  In particular, you might benefit from added focus on your positional chess and endgame skills...

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/introduction-to-positional-chess-planning-strategy

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/chess-books-on-pawn-play-and-structure

Yes you can improve, but you won't each your "natural peak", the peak you could've reached if you trained seriously at a younger age. You could make it well past 2000.

Thanks for all your wonderful comments and encouragement. We have recently started a local club in Torrington, CT about a month ago. There is one player there better than me that I meet on chess.com and now locally.....he is about 1900-2000 over the board....I can beat or tie him occasionally but he usually wins. He told me that the different between me/us and expert/master level players is that they study more and know their position thoroughly.....similar to what MickMD said. I already love the endgame and will sometimes catch myself trading pieces just to get there...it takes the higher rated players out of the book. Here is a kind of unusual example of a recent "endgame" (some will call it a midgame)

that went 96 moves with a good player, slightly above me maybe:

 Ask to play white and have a pawn advantage when playing anybody 15 years younger than yourself.

If they protest say "Hey.  Morphy would have given it."

In the meantime, have fun.  

If, by age 61, I'm anywhere near your current ranking I'll stop in to the club.  

I'm only that good because I never gave up once I started again at 50. Thebrief advice I would give you as a beginner are; 1) Play all your games out even if losing because it will teach you the endgame eventually 2) Do not play any games under 15 minutes each time control to start.....if you don't have time to think you will not learn....less games but of a higher quality you teach you more ( I noticed you play a lot of blitz...avoid this at your level).

Thanks for the great advice....and wow, Casablanca.....round up the usual suspects comes to mind....

Go for it, universityofpawns!  Carlsen better watch his back!

Thanks, but if I get to a consistent 1800 or so USCF and in my daily games that is enough of a victory for me.

Kiddo, if you are sufficiently bad, you sure can improve at 63. I am doing so at 67.

"sufficiently bad" ....lol

People can improve at any age, obviously. 5, 10, 20, 30, 50, 100, doesn't matter.  Back when I still played some OTB games, I met a guy who claimed he became Master Candidate at around 60 - can't verify that, obviously, but he did play on the level he claimed he was.

It's altogether different for us sub 2200 players or sub 2000 players to improve as compared to Grandmasters who hit 63.   

63 year-old GM have long passed their ELO peak.   They know they'll never reach their personal bests anymore.   

Whereas us patzers, we fully believe we could still could set our personal best OTB ratings.   At least I think that way.