Chess for Oldtimers --- Good Idea !

Pellik: That is very funny. You posted the same item on the previous page  lol. As Peter Sellers would say in the Pink Panther films: " I see --- it is the old repeating of the same Post ploy "  rofl. 

I'm in the midst of the US Open (OTB, in case you didn't know).  After 7 games (2 more to go), all against players rated 400-800 points higher, I find that my chess is definitely improving ... so you can teach an old dog new tricks!  BTW I've actually won 1 games so far!

Thanks for pointing out the repetition!  I thought for a second it was My mental glitch!  As for my experience with chess and my aging brain, I'm still seeing ongoing improvements in my ability to pick out the pros and cons of certain configurations more consistently (something about What the Board Will Look Like, if I move my knight there.... I can't put my finger on it, but it spells "Danger, Will Robinson!  Danger!"), and that's really fun!

The slowly declining asset is consistency.  As time goes on, I'm more and more likely to, as cabby noted, lose concentration briefly.  And in My case, that can make a big difference, since I can shift emotional investment on a Dime whenever concentrating gets even Temporarily more effortful for me.  Anybody else ever hear this in their head?  "Oh what the hell!  Might as well just Move!  It's only a Chess game, for G__'s sake!"  

(I call him "G."  We're really close.)

P.S. Just rewatching some Pink Panthers on cable --- still a joy!

You're so right about Pink Panthers!  My favorite is still "Shot in the Dark," where Maria Gambrelli 'killed him in a rit of fealous jage!'

As for chessplaying,  I share with you a greater ability to spot patterns and tactical opportunities -  as well as a better "sense of danger."  Which means my "well-calculated combinations" amount to "This looks good, let's try it!"  And when it works I can kid myself that I "saw it all the way to the end"!

Thanks for the new posts.

Javan64: I'm glad to see that you are keeping busy at the US Open, your Brain should be getting a real good workout there.

Motherinlaw: You always raise some good points. In my case I can lose the Queen or a Rook rather quickly and then things tend to go downhill from there ( at a rapid pace  lol ).

Apawndown: Ah yes, Maria Gambrelli, played by Elke Sommers who was quite the Cutie-pie in her younger days ( and a good Actress as well ).

PS: from the thread here on the 2012 US Open I can see that Javan64 is having lots of fun --- " Give em hell Buddy ! ".

Congrat, Javan!  "Steady as she goes"  :) 

I will second that Motion IronButterfly ( & keep having fun Javan64 ).

You Got me! I totally busted out laughing at the unexpected quote--- "in a rit of fealous jage!"  Actually, I fear I may have awakened the neighbors ....

In fact, I hesitate to chide you since I don't really know you, but you Really might try to be a bit more careful in the future, with your movie line quoting .......

Also, let me echo IronButterfly to Javan:  Congrats on winning one games so far!

After Round 8, I now have 2 wins -- today unfortunately I might be stuck with a Class A opponent!

Oh, I hate seeing your face so sad --- hope you defeat this "Class A opponent" soundly!

Unfortunately, I didn't have the "honor" of playing him; I played a Class E [?] who beat me up pretty badly (I helped him a lot with some of my blunders).

Thanks for the recent posts.

Javan64: When you left a post back 45 hours ago you had won one game but then after Round 8 you had won a second game, that was a 100 % improvement ( not bad ) ! Mainly tho I hope that you had fun and enjoyed yourself.

I enjoyed everything about this tourney except my final game, which undoubtedly says more about me than the US Open...

stick with it maaan, i'lllllllllllllll happen

they do not repeat themselves..they do not repeat themselves..they do not repeat------

Thanks for the recent posts ( btw I may just be repeating myself there ). On the previous page we had someone state that we were only repeating ourselves here which was the same post that he had left on the page prior to that one. Well we flushed him out ( darn sneaky kids nowadays  lol ). 

Now if only we can get them to stay off of the roof!

Thanks for the post AndyClifton., just lock em in the basement  lol.

In one of my other threads someone has mentioned that they feel that Crossword Puzzles are a waste of time but I believe that any sort of true mental stimulation is good for the Brain. Indeed one of the reasons that I continue to play Chess is for the mental exercise. Another activity reported to be useful in this regard is learning to play a musical instument. I do have a electronic musical keyboard that has been sitting around here for quite a few months, but I will get after it one of these days. The study of Languages is also claimed to stimulate the Brain. I have a rather basic understanding of German that I would like to expand on. Also since I am in Canada I wouldn't mind getting more into the French Dialect used in Quebec. Lots of stuff to do around here.