Chess: more natural to some then others?
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In my opinion chess is like life. And those who normally place limits on their own thinking reach limits in chess. It is the way you think in every day life that makes you a better chess player. Some people cant see the the connection and you may have extremely intellegent people who suck at chess or vice versa. But there is a link. and that is why i believe chess is such an amazing game. The link shows that a man simply makes his own limits.
I believe certain aspects of chess come more natural than others. Some are masters of tactics but lack strategy and vice versa. While some can figure out the best moves without any thought process. Committment to the game decides what your final rating will be.
Some people do have natural talent for certain things. It is possible that some people may find learning chess easier than others. To answer your second question, I think it was Lasker who said that anyone can become a master. On the other hand I think that in chess, just as in any other sport or game, without any formal study or training there is a certain level of skill that most people will be unable to surpass. In fact, with the quality of competition out there, I would even say it's doubtful whether or not Lasker's words still hold true in this day and age.
May 14, 2008
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#5
i think chess comes more natural to people depending on how they developed their way of thinking not necessarily because they are born smarter. The only exception would be mentally challenged people and age.
I think people are limited but not as much you think, everyone can put in a little more effort somewhere so everyone has room for improvement, but there is no doubt that some people have to put in more effort then others.
by the way i started playing chess about 6 months ago and i got my chess.com rating to 1691 before i lost 27 games on time 
lol but i can beat alot of people over 1700
I formed the 2nd question after thinking about some of these young masters (entering there teen years till about the end of their teen years). They don't always get dramaticly better, right?
Depends what you mean. Of course not every player who shows talent at a young age is necessarily going to become World Champion, or even obtain a GM title. Think about it this way: Tiger Woods started playing golf when he was 3 years old. Wayne Gretzky claims he learned to skate before he learned to walk. To become the world's best in any sport takes a lifetime of hard work and dedication, and even with that most people will not be able to accomplish that goal. And those few who come close have usually had top level professional coaching and training from a fairly young age onwards.
As for the young masters - perhaps some simply say, 'well, I've won the US championship (or whatever), I've accomplished my goal, time to do something else with my life'. As for the rest of them (the majority, likely) - as I said before the level of competition is really, really tough these days. Most people simply have absolutely no idea how incredibly strong players like Kasparov, Ivanchuk, Anand, etc., really are. It's like me saying that my uncle Bob is a good golfer. He is, but if you look objectively at how many short putts he misses, how many drives he slices - Tiger Woods on a bad day completely blows him out of the water. Hopefully you see what I'm saying here.
A final thought - I think that in chess, as with most other things in life, with patience, practice, study, and hard work, anyone can always improve. One thing I've discovered the more I've studied chess (just like in most other areas really) is that "the more I learn, the more I realize there are lots of things I don't know."
As lanceuppercut_239 said "Of course not every player who shows talent at a young age is necessarily going to become World Champion, or even obtain a GM title" i stared playing at 5 and i taught myself but i slacked off. i stopped playing, lost my edge. i started again now. i shot up to a 1400+ rating now i am back to 1050+-. but i am still learning. the only limits are what you set.
I have been playing chess for about 4 monthes now and have reached the 1400's on chess.com fairly quickly. I have not read any books, got any coaching at school, and no one I know plays chess (recently found a chess buddy at work and we play online).
I look at alot of peoples profiles and forum posts and a good number claim to have been playing alot longer then I have and with external help (not counting the internet).
So my first question is stated in the subject; Does chess come more natural to some then others?
My secound question is do most people have a limit they can reach rating wise?
All comments are welcome