Too old to improve?
Sort:
[COMMENT DELETED]
Dec 18, 2011
0
#2
I'm in my thirties. I used to have a decent memory, but now I can't even remember if I had 3 or 4 drinks. In chess, I have moments of improvement, but more moments of complete confusion. I too, am glad I joined Chess.com
Oh that's easy, trysts--you had 10. 
Ouch...I know the feeling.
Dave, I am in the same boat. I played a bit 40 yrs. ago and am trying to keep the brain working. I have moments of clarity followed by massive blunders, but it is a great game!
trysts wrote:
I'm in my thirties. I used to have a decent memory, but now I can't even remember if I had 3 or 4 drinks. In chess, I have moments of improvement, but more moments of complete confusion. I too, am glad I joined Chess.com
Same here, in my thirties, memory like a sieve. Luckily a lot of forum posters seem to have good memories, so that helps :)
This reminds me of the Lewis Black bit about being 60, and him and his friends sitting around talking about "that guy!" in movies...none of them can remember the name of the actor, but they still all manage to know who they're talking about. lol
paulgottlieb wrote:
God! I hope you're not too old. I'm one year older, and I think I'm still improving. I'll have to ask my wife, What's-her-name
LOL Paul!I'm actually improving as I play,and the fellow that posted playing chess has been shown to help prevent the onset of Alzheimers was a bright spot for me.I actually suffer from a type of short term memory loss,caused by PTSD.My wife says I have selective memory loss!I just like playing chess,and that's what it is all about.
MrBlunderful wrote:
The nice thing is that the further I drift into senility, the more delusional I become about my own abilities. It's like all the pleasure of improvement with none of the sweat equity.
yeres30 wrote:
Victor Korchnoi is over 80 years old, approaching his 81st birthday on March 23, 2012 is still playing competitive chess. One who is over 81 years old continues to play chess in Chess.Com.
This guy here is the guy.
Dec 19, 2011
0
#12
These posts encouraged me to sign up. I just turned 69, and suffer most of the things mentioned above. Although I've played chess on and off for about 25 years, I am still very much a newbie. I've never played on-line since I've heard too many tales of woe about people being nasty, and also their using computers during their games. Maybe things will be different here.
Mike
Keeping your mind active slows most brain destructive diseases such as alzheimer's. Reading is a good tool as well, but chess would seem great due to the deep thought involved.
MangoMike wrote:
These posts encouraged me to sign up. I just turned 69, and suffer most of the things mentioned above. Although I've played chess on and off for about 25 years, I am still very much a newbie. I've never played on-line since I've heard too many tales of woe about people being nasty, and also their using computers during their games. Maybe things will be different here.
Mike
Jump in and play, forget about the computer rumours:
1. I have never had a reason to suspect it.
2. I don't even care. if someone wants to spend time watching me play their computer, then I can feel sorry for them.
3. Anyone cheating will rise up in ratings and wont be playing you anymore, just GM's.
InvisibleDuck wrote:
MangoMike wrote:
These posts encouraged me to sign up. I just turned 69, and suffer most of the things mentioned above. Although I've played chess on and off for about 25 years, I am still very much a newbie. I've never played on-line since I've heard too many tales of woe about people being nasty, and also their using computers during their games. Maybe things will be different here.
Mike
Jump in and play, forget about the computer rumours:
1. I have never had a reason to suspect it.
2. I don't even care. if someone wants to spend time watching me play their computer, then I can feel sorry for them.
3. Anyone cheating will rise up in ratings and wont be playing you anymore, just GM's.
+1 Duck is entirely correct.
I have encountered only 2 or 3 nasty people in all my and zero cheaters.
Dec 19, 2011
0
#17
Yes there seems to be a lot of nice people here at this site. I like to play live games and I've only had to use the disable chat feature a couple of times. I'm over 60 myself and playing Chess seems to give the old brain a good workout.
I'm 72 and I haven't played much in the last 37 years (since I got married). Getting back into the game I find that I may not be as good as I was then -- but that is compensated for when I talk about my chess game-- I find that the older I get the better I was.
Dec 19, 2011
0
#19
BorgQueen wrote:
Yup, the older you get, the harder it is to absorb new material.
Says the Borg Queen :p
More seriously, this common belief does go against how learning actually works, though. Until the point of dementia, at least (the onset of which can be staved off by keeping the mind stimulated, in any case, which would include as by chess), learning becomes easier as one goes along. We learn by making connections in our mind between new experiences and old ones. The older we get, the more experiences we have with which to compare and contrast our new ones.
In chess, this is most clearly illustrated in the matter of pattern recognition.
Usually when I have this rant, it's on the topic of language (that's my academic background), and the popular myth of language learning being easier the younger you are, when in fact the inverse is true.
The real reason that children may more rapidly excel at chess is because they are concentrating their primary efforts on studying chess, rather than on being able to pay the mortgage.
But age itself is certainly an excuse and not a reason.
DavidStyles wrote:
BorgQueen wrote:
Yup, the older you get, the harder it is to absorb new material.
Says the Borg Queen :p
More seriously, this common belief does go against how learning actually works, though. Until the point of dementia, at least (the onset of which can be staved off by keeping the mind stimulated, in any case, which would include as by chess), learning becomes easier as one goes along. We learn by making connections in our mind between new experiences and old ones. The older we get, the more experiences we have with which to compare and contrast our new ones.
In chess, this is most clearly illustrated in the matter of pattern recognition.
Usually when I have this rant, it's on the topic of language (that's my academic background), and the popular myth of language learning being easier the younger you are, when in fact the inverse is true.
The real reason that children may more rapidly excel at chess is because they are concentrating their primary efforts on studying chess, rather than on being able to pay the mortgage.
But age itself is certainly an excuse and not a reason.
As much as my 49 year old self wants to believe this, do we actually have much in the way of evidence of people taking up the game at a late age and becoming IM's or GM's? People who actually do have time on their hands?
I am semi-retired and can now devote quite a bit of time to chess. I did learn it at a young age but never progressed beyond USCF class 'B'.
So I could be a good test subject. I will let you know when I hit IM.