FACT: You can't improve at chess

Chess involves many long hours of study. Children do well, because they have lots of time to commit to the game. We as adults have less time. But, you can improve, if you manage your time and enter tournaments timely. It’s about proper study techniques, time and how much you play. Balance will improve your game.

Look at Christopher Yoo's (USA) and Bai Adelard's (TAI) graph they keep on improving as they train harder and harder. If one stop or if one train it wrong improvement stagnates.

I think you are exactly right in your theory. Any of us could practice to be a major league pitcher from childhood for 25 years and never come close. There HAS to be a natural knack. 

it's about study,you can't learn chess by yourself you need go to school if you want to improve 

the learning is not real learning it's just really relax entertaining did you wirite something on a paper?or check the ai what mistake you make ,and make your playing  like a system? most people don't learn chess seriouly but chess itself is very serious

and if anyone really want to improve chess then at least don't play speed chess ,speed chess really make no sense ,you don't know what you are doing ,the pro play fast chess just to emtertaiing people 

My national highscore was two years ago after 30 years in business. It was 2188 DWZ, which is usually a bit lower than the corresponding Elo. I have become CM after 23 years btw. 

High-rated players know, from experience, that chess improvement comes from study, practice, and persistence.

On the other end of scale, you have the players who think that one's chess rating is a magical number that's somehow predetermined at one's birth . . .

here's my lichess rating over the last 3 years. I'm not sure why it's completely linear

psy  Sorry but I started chess at age 8 and my ability gradually improved over time from losing the first 100 games I ever played to over 2500.  It only came to a stop in May 2020 when I also most died from pneumonia.  I am age 80.  

One can improve and learn over time.

How one improves at chess depends entirely upon how you study and train.

If you study and train poorly, or not at all, then your results will reflect that.

If you study and train properly, though, and persistently, then your playing strength will steadily rise.

What an original concept from the OP!

Everybody’s rating plateaus … some sooner some later. 
It’s rather all to simple it seems- the obvious

some people continue to play for a lifetime, having achieved a maximum rating years ago / when perhaps time and energy were more abundant.

In other words - some prefer to play than study.

Such players may possess enough chess skills on a given day to win or lose vs players +/- 400. Ain’t chess grand?

Seems quite the prevalent attitude. I don’t know if it’s all entirely good - the pervasive atmosphere that constant improvement of rating is of top priority. That something is wrong when ratings aren’t climbing uphill. That after all … isn’t that what chess is all about - the winning at any cost?

     I learned the moves as a child but didn't start playing until I was 20. For 3 or 4 years I played once in a while with a couple of friends and an occasional afternoon of speed chess at the UC Berkeley student union along with reading a few books. Then (mid-1970s) I discovered the Berkeley Chess Club, the USCF, and rated games. I played every Friday and an occasional local tournament. First rating was around 1400, but I slowly and steadily improved my game, getting to about 2100 by the late 1980s. No long stretches stuck at a certain level, no sudden jumps to a higher class. Naturally, sometimes I had a bad tournament and lost a few (or quite a few) rating points and sometimes I played very well and had a nice gain, but overall a gradual rise.

     When my new job involved working many nights and weekends (when chess clubs and tournaments occur) I slowly got a bit rusty and fell to about 2000, when I quit because I almost never had a chance to play (early 1990s). I returned to chess five years ago--retirement--but as you might expect a 25-year layoff had taken its toll and now have fallen to near my rating floor. (I also play less and don't take chess as seriously.)

     The point is that as long as I played regularly and learned more about the game, the stronger my game became. At my peak I felt I could play fairly evenly vs masters (senior masters and IMs, GMs not so well) and felt I should eventually become a master. So yes, continued improvement is possible. Having your weak pointed out painfully otb and learning a bit more in those areas is what did it for me.

     I do agree that there are some inborn talents that determine the maximum which a person can achieve in chess, but some players make rapid progress to that level, some take a lot longer, and some don't have the study and practice time it takes to get there, remaining stuck at the same level.

I like how neutral and bold your comments are. I think also chess can be more fun when it's about messing with your opponent, like Hikaru's openings or Dubov's playing style. maybe it's easy to stagnate without the connection to something, and maybe what some people've been missing is looking outside of the board to let your unconscious know if it's worth the effort. All the rapid improvers I've seen have had support.

Alekhine was the first one to say your chess plateau is decided at birth (genetics/talent etc) They actually have a recording of him saying it. His voice is weird too 🤔 Like he sucks on helium all day.

psylow   I play duplicate bridge and hearts and chess.  In all 3  games a large number of people reach a plateau as you say.

Where you are wrong is that it does not apply to all people.  [it does not apply to me and it does not apply to TCSPlayer above]

Here is something else you don't understand and to be fair most people do not understand.

Most people who reach a plateau cannot make progress because they are making the same mistakes  over and over again. This can be fixed.  They don't have to stay in  a plateau!.

Here is my pats 30 days status: +400 improvement