My USCF floor is based on my peak rating, but the most l’ve ever won is $250, and that was not in a restricted rating section. The most I’ve won in a restricted rating section is $166 when I was in a four-way tie for second in the Reserve section of the Washington Open.
I played in the World Open last summer. Online. Got clobbered. Most of my opponents were children.
someone has talent or not, someone with talent is always better. Its in every part of our life like that. Idk why are u wondering
My intention was never to tank a game. I'm too competitive for that. I figured if my threshold was around 1600-1800, I would just remain in that area and compete on a regular basis. Bowling doesnt have a floor. as the years go by your average gets lower. Ah, well. Guess, I'll just have to play and do the best I can, but the idea of only playing in big cash tournaments and rounding out with small club tournaments can still be a good idea. Inexpensive as well. I actually spent more on chess than I did plating ten years total at Horse racing.
My USCF floor is based on my peak rating, but the most l’ve ever won is $250, and that was not in a restricted rating section. The most I’ve won in a restricted rating section is $166 when I was in a four-way tie for second in the Reserve section of the Washington Open.
I played in the World Open last summer. Online. Got clobbered. Most of my opponents were children.
I played in the 2007 World Open. It was my first time. I was returning after several years. I reviewed my history. I played 2007-2008. I finished 87th out of 157 in the U1600 section. 3-4-1. There is an H 0. I forgot what that means. forgive me. I'm 56 and tired. I was rated 1422 and went up to 1457. I played more active in 1995, then played two tournaments in 2006. My original plan was to play in as many tournaments as I could on the East Coast, but I was exhausted after the 2008 Foxwoods Open. I got creamed. I was also suffering from bouts of sinus infections and Bronchitis. H 0 I just discovered is a bye...lol. I finished 8th in the 2007 Chess congress with a score of 4.5/6. I never played again after the Foxwoods. Too much money spent, until one day, I figured, why travel so much and play in tournaments wit only $1000 first place prizes. I can play in about two or three major ones, and balance out the year playing at the Marshall Chess Club in swiss and quads.
Now, Its been 12 years and I'd like to make a comeback. I figured, I'll go over my games, openings, play against the computer and then try a few small tournies through 2021. Then, in 2022, I'll hit Foxwoods, the World Open and the Chess Congress.
@gerard02
My rating history is presented in one of the posts above. I’m a few years older than you, and have been active since my mid-30s, having also played as a teenager. My USCF peak of 1982 was when I was 52. It’s been mostly down since. I am often more focused on helping run events than playing well, and I find it increasingly difficult to maintain a strong focus on my game for four hours. I can play good games, and am often in the game against players at or near master level, but a brief lapse happens all too often. Then, also, I sometimes play to the level of my opponents and lose or draw players hundreds of points below my rating. I’m struggling to stay above 1800. My floor is 1700.
At our age, it is harder to improve. It is possible, though. My knowledge and skills continue to grow, but my performance is a roller coaster.
I try to study every day, but I don't have 8-12 hours. My job is a killer. When I get home, I have no brain power to think. I've been doing puzzles more and more, which i find very helpful. I've got some tricks up my sleeve. I wasn't nicknamed the Fox for nothing. I'll see what happens. At the very least, perhaps I can be a decent Club tournament player.
Just like to say that Gotham Chess has a great video on youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK6rAfukA44 which teaches you how to study if your rating is stuck in one place... The truth is that many people who reach a rating ceiling don't hit it because they cannot possibly play any better due to their lack of natural talent, but because they aren't actually studying properly.
As other people have mentioned, if you put the time in then you can dramatically improve your rating. Mine isn't exactly a steady increase, but you can tell from my graphs when I spend lots of time playing. At times when I play a lot you can see a sharp increase in my rating, and then not much in between.
USCF floors are 200 below highest rating, rounded down to nearest 100. So, my 1982 rounded down to 1900 gives me a floor of 1700. The lowest floor set this way is 1400. Below that, the floor is 100. There is no upper limit, AFAIK.
FIDE does not use floors. If a GM is still playing and down to 1800 strength, the FIDE rating will be around 1800. I don’t believe anyone who ever made GM is ever gonna be that bad.
I’m still 1400 strength when I’m thoroughly intoxicated.
I think Arthur Bisguire got back down to the 2100s.
I went from 1450 to 2000 in 3 years by playing and doing lessons in this site, of course it’s possible. Watching YT videos also helps a lot to start fixing positional patterns in your mind
This article is very relevant to me; over 20 years and I cannot advance my rating. I've attempted learning openings, non-chalant puzzle works, skimming books, visiting a chess club to see what that was like, viewing agadmator youtube channel. All these and 2-3 years of consistent online play. It would be helpful to know how to locate weaknesses or bad play styles so that i can finally improve.
I think this is more philosophical than anything else. In this respect, can we really get better at anything?
I’ve read this whole thread, and OP hasn’t been proved wrong. Everyone who has attempted to answer seems to miss the point of the post.
mum struggling with this myself, slowly
coming to the realisation that practice doesn’t not improve your chess game. The only thing that improves is is boring, mundane study and memorisation.
chess simply isn’t a game of “skill”, it’s just a game of who-can-remember-what and then adapt
it to whatever similar pattern is in front of them.
I never play online, I’ve let my daughter have a couple of games against people, but I mostly play bots. My ceiling is Isabel. No matter what I do, no matter how much I try, I cannot beat her.
I did 30-50 puzzles a day for two weeks on ChessTactics, and got up to 1800. Not one bit of it transferred into a skill to beat Isabel.
I simply have a brain that sits around 1400-1600. Unless I dedicate every moment of my waking life to chess, that will never improve, and OP has proven that.
Well of course it’s easy to prove that you have a ceiling which you can’t improve on
The world is full of people who cannot learn for whatever reason, and they often project their deficiencies on others.
Most of the big money in restricted rating sections is won by underrated 12 year olds, anyway. If you play well enough to tie a couple of these kids at the top, your haul will likely keep you below the threshhold.