FACT: You can't improve at chess

Hard to measure the effectiveness of a book. People bought it and read it. Occasionally, someone will deploy it in an argument. It occasionally comes up in forums here.

Because it deals with IQ, it seems as though it might be what the poster was thinking about when they mentioned The Bell Jar. Sylvia Plath’s semi-autobiographical novel doesn’t seem to fit what was put forth.

Its that amatuers don't know how to train corrctly

Yes difficult to improve consistently over time, once you hit the dreaded "barrier". But I say it is possible to make significant jumps over the short term, with some kind of lifestyle change such as giving up smoking and getting lots of fresh air, engage in other physical activities instead of sitting in front of your TV or computer. Sports psychology for chess is an idea that I have considered.

I could use myself as an example, but my OTB tournament days and my internet days are separate. I have a return after 20 years to a major open tournament later this year. My OTB ELO is barely over 1800, but I predict 200-300 improvement based on casual results. Plus I feel stronger. I'll bookmark this discussion then

I don't agree with the post entirely, I believe you CAN improve at Chess. The question is are you doing what it takes to improve at Chess, and that's not a simple answer because that means different things for different people.