Chess for Oldtimers --- Good Idea !

I'm 51 and chess has helped me greatly as far as brain activity goes. I teach chess in 5 to 7 schools each week as well as privately. I've found that through teaching and playing chess, my mind functions much better than many of my friends in the same age group. Anything you can do that stimulates brain activity will help maintain brain function. The bottom line? If you don't exercise your brain it will turn to mush. Now what was I saying....

I'm 38 and I've been playing chess daily at the rate of about 3000 games/year for the past 15 years.  My brain approximates the consistancy of cake batter.  I guess that's better than mush, but I'm not sure.

Thanks for the recent posts. I've just been listening to Smyslov singing in the operatic style over in the Youtube clip ( I just luv Youtube ) and while he may not be an Enrico Caruso I would say that he approaches the level of Mario Lanza who had a successful singing career including some movies. Makes one wonder what the judges back at the Bolshoi were listening to ? ( by the way not many people are at the same level as Enrico Caruso  lol ).   

Not sure how you'd know this exactly...but chessplayers always seem to be saying things like this (so I guess it must be true).

It's a supposition on his part, the fact his friends sit around all day while staring blankly into space influences his opinion.

Perhaps they're his students. 

Upon Deep Reflection and much thought ( Hmmmmmm ) the statement by Hugh_T_Patterson might in the field of logic be similar to what would be called a Godel Sentence ( and I want to emphasize " Might & Similar "  lol ). 

Tautolgy, anyone? 

Good question that, however sometimes repetion brings clarity and othertimes not.

...and sometimes it brings a draw. 

 actually there was an interesting debate in Philadelphia in the late 50's or early 60's of Lanza in his prime vs. Caruso. What they did was to play, simultaneously, both recordings of "vesti la giubba". The result was that there were only miniscule differences between the tracks.

Well done guys and girls! This is the most civil and entertaining thread I have so far found here. Very refreshing.

ps: I'll be 50 next birthday... can I have a discount on my dues?

I am close to 69 and started playing Chess again about 18 months ago after a 35 year break. I enjot the challenge and I do feel it helps to keep the mind active, as they say, use it or lose it.

I have also started using a Brain Training site called Luminosity. Again I enjoy the challenges and the games and find it has definately helped with memory and peripheral vision. On the physical side I know I should do more but we go dancing twice a week and in fact teach dancing.Also take a few walks but I know I should do more, it is to easy to sit in the sun with a good book or drift around the pool reading.

Everyone Thanks for all of the recent posts and the nice comments as well. Also a Special Thanks to Quercus for the terrific complement ! The main reason this little thread has remained reasonably civil is because of the Very Nice people that have left posts here, I appreciate it when someone takes the time to add to the discussion here ( emphasizing the word ADD as in being positive lol ). It is nice to have a pleasant chat here and to avoid the noise of the outside world for a short time ( and now what was that darn Dow-Jones Average doing again ? ).    

Just wanted to add a couple of items to our Caruso vs Lanza discussion here. Enrico Caruso made most of his recording prior to 1921 back in the era of rather primitive equipment ( Hi-Fi, ie Higher Fidelity was not developed until 1925 ). Mario Lanza did most of his recording in the 1950s with the benefit of much improved equipment so I'm quite leery to compare recordings from those different eras. I'm a fan of quite a wide variety of musical styles and have listened to a fair number of pre-1925 recordings and the quality of the sound on the old discs is unfortunately rather poor. Having said that I don't want to diminish the talent of Mario Lanza. Lanza of course played the lead in the film " The Great Caruso " and Enrico Caruso Jr. ( himself a Tenor as well ) was very impressed by Mario Lanza's performance. I guess that I should have picked on a lesser known singer than Lanza  lol.

Still, Caruso was basically just a big sissy boy (getting all scared of a little earthquake)...

Thanks for the post AndyClifton. Still Caruso did have one adventure that surprised me when I first read about it. This goes back to the days when natural rubber was used fo tires and there were some big plantations in South America that were home to the actual rubber trees. A lot of money was being made with the rubber trade and a rich group of plantation owners living upstream on the Amazon River built themselves a luxurious Opera house ( this Opera house still exsits as a museum but that area became poor again when the rubber trade declined ). Then these wealthy folks paid a considerable fee to have Caruso travel all the way down there to perform in their new Opera house. To get to this location Caruso not only had to travel by ship down to Brazil but then had to go upsteam on the Amazon. Riding on a river-boat along the Jungle going up the Amazon must have been quite a trip in itself. By good luck Caruso resisted the temptation to dip his toe into the Amazon ( so the piranhas missed him  lol ) and the dangerous disease-carrying mosquitoes also avoided him so he was able to return to New York and resume his career. I've never heard what the fee was that lead Caruso way down into the Jungle but it must have been quite considerable I would imagine.    

I am older than either of you guys, and I would simply like to say that aging and thinking is not all that hard for some of us. 

The OP has made himself into a decrepit old man at 61 and would like to blame his inability to play well on his age. That's a load.

Some people...yes...they get dementia. But that doesn't seem to be the case here.

Me? I played in my youth, quit at 25 to work and raise a family and came back 40 years later. In the last few years, I have studied and practiced and am now a B player, with a goal of A. I could aim even higher but I have other things to do in life.

I see guys who are 45, 50 or 55 posting "oh, I am too old". Generally, that's a poor excuse.

I was born the same year as Bobby Fischer, since you are wondering. And there are guys around here older than me and play much better, too.

So, stop this "I am so old whining". All it does it make you sound like bad chess players who are losers, first and formost.

Out of the mouths of geezers!   I'm not quite that ancient (try 1946), but I know I'm a better player (since playing here) than the last time I tried OTB about 3 years ago.