I am a woman at 70. From childhood I have of course learned how to move the pieces. I started to play chess a few years ago, and did surprisingly well in a norwegian tournament on chess.com.  Then I took a pause, but started again not so long ago.  It goes up and down, and my question is this: Can I even think of improving in chess at my age?

I am a 70 year old man having learned the game as a child and having played off and on throughout my life--but never seriously--much like you describe for yourself. I have take a resurgent interest because my older daughter is now playing seriously. My improvement is remarkable!! So pay no attention to bishod...apply yourself and watch your rating climb.

98 is my guess.

How old can you be, and still be able to improve in chess?

 

This is a great question!  And one that I am pondering as well.  What I'm trying to determine is the issue of relative versus absolute.  What I mean is this, what is my peak ability, and how do I know what that even is?

 

For example, Garry Kasparov.  Or Anatoly Karpov.  Or Judit Polgar.  These players are all World Champions.  And all of them are not 70 yet.  They know their peak.  Do they ask themselves, "Am I still able to improve myself in chess?"  Let me add to this question a bit.  "Am I still able to improve myself in chess in competitive rated over-the-board tournament chess?"

 

I think these three World Champions would all answer this question as "No."   They know their best competitive chess days are behind them.  This is what I mean by an "absolute" framework.

 

Now from a "relative" improvement perspective, of course I think a person can improve at any age!  I would just offer a very trivial example.  If you learn something today, then aren't you better than the day before?  Yes!  So then you *have* improved!  Relative to yesterday!

 

As for me, a mid-fifties fellow my goal is to hit 2000.  And I "retired" from OTB chess 30 years ago with a 1762 USCF rating.  I'm nowhere near that today.  But I'm studying and training for my return.  I don't know what my peak is or was.  And I don't know if I can reach 2000 given that older players' computer processing chips age out over time.  But I can't let that hinder me.

 

I want to train, study, enjoy and play chess.  Competitively.  The juices flow a little bit during online play.  But I know that it's MAGNIFIED during OTB play.  That's where it's at.  Real opponent, over the board, time's clicking on the clock.

 

Happy Chessing, Ossilov!

I believe players of all ages can push themselves to learn more about the game and gain a deeper understanding off chess. Perhaps that won't always translate into better results since chess is such a multifaceted game, but it will lead to enjoying the game more as a spectator and a player

 

One thing we do know for sure is that taking up chess at an advanced age is an excellent way to stay mentally sharp!

My experience with this is that Chess is a broad Church so there are always areas to improve.  Look at all the time controls: I think the faster ones, especially bullet and not even to mention faster than bullet favour younger players, undoubtedly. It's not only about reaction speed but also about preference and temperament.  In particular theory can improve with age however you need to keep up on the latest developments. Personally now approaching 40 I see bullet games(that also seem to be favoured by younger players) as "meaningless chess". Not one of these games will be remembered in even a few years time, yet people are still enjoying Morphy's games, Fischer's games etc at longer time controls, or in fact no time controls.

Dude. Not cool. She wants to improve and all you're telling her is that she's old and about to die and to just keep playing while she can. While there's nothing wrong with telling someone to just enjoy the game (even though the age part is still completely unnecessary and rude imho), she asked a specific question, a very good one, and you should try and answer it instead of telling her what she should and shouldn't do. If trying to improve is what makes her happy, then it makes her happy.

If that IS what you meant then I'm sorry but you sure beat around the bush. Why not just tell her that instead of mentioning all of that other irrelevant stuff about her age, health, "realistic goals", etc. stuff you don't even know about because you don't know her personally? It just seems unnecessary and rude, especially when she asked nicely and just wanted a good answer.

Of course you can improve! Chess has been shown many times to increase cognitive flexibility at any age, even past your 70s! Since chess is shown to increase overall cognitive ability, I think it goes without saying that your chess skills themselves will be improving as well in the process :) I've heard countless stories of people in their 70s and above learning new skills such as learning to play the piano and other instruments, with great proficiency. Since you already have prior experience in chess (and have even done well!), I think improvement will be a non-issue and will actually come pretty naturally; what matters most is having the drive to want to improve! Chess does beautiful things for the brain and I'm sure that as long as you're having fun, you'll find many benefits not only in your chess play, but in many other aspects of your life as well! 😊 You'll do great, good luck!

Oh my goodness lol. This is my last response to you because you clearly don't get what I'm trying to say and I don't want to flood OP's thread with pointless banter.

Please, tell me where she said she wanted to become a WGM, because all I see is a nice woman asking if her age is relevant to improvement. That is all. Wanting to improve does NOT mean you want to become a GM, it just means you want to get better. Her goal, since you clearly misunderstood it, is simply to get better at the game because she enjoys it. She isn't trying to take titles, or become a WGM, she's trying to enjoy the game and improve at it and that's why she asked this question.

If telling her to do whatever makes her happy is your bottom line, that should be all you need to say. Everything else you said was pointless and rude, and that is my point. Have a nice day.

 

It's just not possible to know how long you have left at any age.....had a perfectly healthy friend that died in the 1970s on a motorcycle. I just went to my aunt's funeral a few months ago, she was 100, and I remember her being very sick in her 50s and thought she was going to die way back when, but kept chugging along.....

I don't think there is any age limitation: you can improve at 3 y/o, and at 103 y/o, as long as you are willing to work on it.

Bishod ..dude shut up and learn some manners, Ossilove, ma'am, you will improve as long as your will is to improve 

My teacher when he was a kid had a gig teaching a guy who must have been about 90 years of age. His last wish was to learn the game. He improved rapidly under my teacher's tutelage. If you wish to learn the game, get yourself a good teacher and believe in yourself. If for no reason other than to learn chess before you die, which is a good enough reason on its own.

My two cents worth.  I'm 80 and play as well as I ever did.  I play mainly for fun and don't worry about improving.  But I also know that if I play a lot, improvement will come naturally.  So just enjoy playing, and you'll get better anyway.  I would also record the games for review and to learn from your mistakes.

I am overwhelmed! Thanks to you all for all for the responses

 

it is as easy to be respectful as it is to be rude

I play in the minor leagues here in Germany - OTB - and most of my teammates are between 60 and 80 years old. Since i joned the club over ten years ago, most have climbed 150 - 200 ponts in that same period, some even more. Playing regulary and with the ambition to become stronger, age less important for improving. Our younger players in the age between 7 and 15 generally improve faster, but doesn't reach higher ratings, though. Young people simply improve faster at everything. What rating you can achieve, depends also on your talent for the game. But you can't confuse talent with improving. So my take on the disussion is that if you continue to play dedicated and regular, Ossilov, you will improve. Like everyone, regardless of age.

I had my midlife crisis goal of getting a 2000 Elo when I learned about Dvoretski's Endgame manual.  I am 55 of age. Now I am learning by lookiing through openings at "shredder database" and trying to solve the positions in Dvoretski's book by hard. After checking every new blitz move online and working this way I think I can make progress though I just started out. By studying endgames your calculation improves as well.

Bishod you're an offensive twat. Ossilov, you can improve for sure I have seen 80 year old plus improve. It may not be dynamic learning but your pattern recognition and development through experience will certainly continue. It's part of being a mammal. I'd recommend upgrading to diamond and watching the videos. You live in Norway where everything is so expensive it wouldn't cost much more than a loaf of bread there and it's totally worth it. I have a diamond account but don't comment with it. It's totally worth it for improving though. I dont work for chess.com and complain about it all the time.