Decades Long Return - Goals?!

Hello Chess.com Community,

I've just returned to the game after being away for many decades.  I think my last USCF rated game was in the late 80's.  (If you want to know why, ask, and I will answer in a later comment.)  

Anyways, I got back into it because my 8-year old son has a chess club in his school.  And the coach gave every child a chesskid.com account earlier this year.  The Caissa siren came back with a vengeance!

So I find out that chess.com is the parent site of chesskid.com.  I click.  OMG!  Chess fever and addiction hit hard.  10/0 Blitz chess.  And I didn't know what the heck all these different time controls meant.  Back in the 70's and 80's it was 5 minute analog chess clock with teetering red flags and you could eat the King!

Anyways, went to a chess tournament to watch (couldn't play I'm asst. coach to my son's little league team) last weekend, met someone whom I just met/pm'd at chess.com, and saw digital clocks!  Then I asked the TD what that little box with a chess diagram on it was, and he said a "play counter."  What the hell is that I asked.  He explained, then I asked how much, and he said $150 and some are $399!  I was like, you gotta be kidding me!

So then I told him I used to play, but if I wanted to return, do I start out as an unrated player?  He said no, you always keep your rating.  I said really?  All these years I thought I was a Class C patzer.  I gave him my name, he looks me up, and he says that I have a 1762 rating!  I said GTFO here.  (No I didn't say that, but I thought it.)

I'm shy of 60 by several years (I'm an old dad), and I'm goal conscious which in turn means I'm rating conscious.  What are my goals?

1.  I've read of titles called "Master at any age" by Rolf Wetzell and "Rapid Chess Improvement" by Michael De La Maza.    Then I read that an Oscar Shapiro achieved master in his 70's!

But then commenter "Fields of Force" laid out his recommendation in some thread based on GM Henley and Nimsovitch and tons of hours of study and play.  I'm like, there goes the goal of master.

So 2000 is cool!, right?  An Expert is not a patzer, right?  1762 is not that far from 2000.  I'll shoot for Expert.

So then my question, (I had to provide background), should I study like mad before I sign up for my return tournament?  [Because I don't want to hemorrhage rating points from 1762].  Or should I just play right away in a tourney, no matter what my current skill level is, and go from there?

And if the answer is study like mad, then what study plan do you suggest before I return to competitive chess with the goal of hitting Expert?

Much thanks in Advance!

My first comment is this...

DO NOT get caught up in the rating.  If youre going to wait until you think youre ready for OTB play, you will never play.  I took a 25 year break from chess for the usual reasons.  College, work, marriage, kids, etc.  I got back into chess in 2007, and that summer i played in my first tournament in 25 years.  I placed first in the Under 1600 section.  

Study, dont obsess.

Play and learn, but dont beat yourself up over losses.  

Learn from your losses.

Id be glad to help any way i can.  

"... tournament play offers that rich, 'all-weekend' chess experience where you congregate with other players, eat and talk chess during meals and in-between games, and benefit from the entire ambiance. ..." - Dan Heisman (2013)

Let me add one more big reason for my reticence in getting back to tourney play:  I'm lousy at tactics!  I've been reading a lot of stuff on the forums here about how important tactics is.  Not only that, but that the 1600-2000 class is full of tactical beasts.

And because of that I'm thinking I've gotta put in at least a solid month or two or more into tactics training.  I heard or read somewhere that the 1600-2000 player of today is much stronger than the 1600-2000 player of yesteryear because of the training tools that are available today as opposed to the 70's and 80's.  

I'm scared!

Tactically im WEAK, but that didnt prevent me from making t to USCF A Class.  All i hear is an excuse not to play :-)  

We had this talk at the senior tournament.

What is a "play counter"?

Plycounter.  Its an electronic score keeping device.

"2000 is going to be a distant goal for a long time."

At least it's a glimmer of hope, lol!

 Headline:  "Old guy makes Expert after long journey, and he's delighted!"

Yay!!!

You already know how to play. You cannot go into a tournament prepared just be reading. Better to play and find out what your weaknesses are and then work on them. The more you rid yourself of your own weaknesses, the less you are prone to making a mistake over the board. So you lose, so what? The important thing is to find out why you lost and how you can avoid repeating that mistake again. 

In the end, it is your technique that will count the most.

Same boat here, SP. My last game was in the early 80s, although I stopped playing seriously in the late 70s. I've found that I can still (mostly) see tactics but I have no idea how to play openings any longer; I just don't know where to put anything. My middle game seems sort of okay, assuming I'm not hopelessly busted out of the opening. My general impression is that I've lost a few hundred points of skill. Just work with what you still retain and try to regain the parts you feel you've lost.

Old guys have made 2000 expert many times. I personally knew one who did it.

Yes!  Urk, do you know roughly how old your friend was when he made Expert?

Also, possibly dumb question, when you cross over a rating threshold, do you still get to claim your highest rating, or class title, even if you dropped back below it in subsequent play?

I mean, suppose a person crosses over the 2200 level.  And then the next tournament s/he drops below 2200.  Can that person still claim to be a Master, or too bad, so sad, you only get to say what your rating is at the moment?

You never lose 2200 = Master.  

You can lose your class title if you drop below A to B as an example.

Hi SeniorPatzer,

My story is somewhat similar to yours - I played with friends at school, was probably around 1400-1500, then didn't touch it for 20 years, started teaching my kids 10 years ago, discovered all the internet resources, got addicted, played online for few years then joined local chess club.

My first OTB rating was 1700. I was training and dreaming of going up to 1800 and may be 2000 one day... and then my rating went down - all the way to below 1600. I've even started a thread No progress – what should I do?

Today I am 51 years old, my rating is back to 1700. Here is what I've learned about myself:

• at 50 my brain can't learn new things and work with same intensity like at 20
• I lack stamina and after 3 hours of OTB play I can't think clearly
• chess for me is 3-hobbies-in-1 - playing, studying and collecting chess items are 3 distinct activities, but all 3 are fun
• chess is more enjoyable if I stop worrying about results (rating, how many books or exercises I've finished etc.)
• chess remains very important part of my life but my family and work come first

If you are more talented than me or are ready to work harder you will see better results.

Regarding tactics - I use 3 ways to train:

1. software and training databases - that's my favourite
2. web resources - chesstempo.com is the best
3. tactics puzzle books

I also work on my endgames and strategy - mostly with books and software. Just let me know if you need more info.

GM Nigel Davies in one of his books about an opening: "The way I suggest you study this book is to play through the main games once, relatively quickly, and then start playing the variation in actual games. Playing an opening in real games is of vital importance - without this kind of live practice it is impossible to get a 'feel' for the kind of game it leads to. There is time enough later for involvement with the details, after playing your games it is good to look up the line."