..... moments of clarity followed by massive blunders, but it is a great game!
We can all relate to that! It seems that no matter how high one's rating is, this sort of nonsense happens.
Even the best people suck at chess =p. It is really all relative.
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.
Depends whether you mean taking it up, or taking it up seriously.
I've played chess for about 20 years, but taken it seriously only very recently.
A search on here revealed a thread that didn't yield a lot: http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/late-bloomer-grandmasters
But:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Simagin
Became a GM aged 43, which is rather late for a world-class player. Don't know when he started playing, but became an IM at 31. So rather a head-start on you, but still, not exactly a child prodigy either.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semyon_Furman
Became a GM aged 46 (IM at age 34), and went on to train Botvinnik, Korchnoi, and Karpov. So rather a head-start on you, but still, not exactly a child prodigy either.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Anderssen
Started aged 9, but only casually and couldn't invest full energies into it until he was into his mid-30s. Went on to be considered by many to be the greatest tactical player ever. (Note I say "by many"; not really an invitation for the thread to descend into "Tal was better", "He's not a patch on Alekhine", "Lasker beat Steinitz who beat Anderssen" etc. We know there are and have been other great players, just pointing out that he's been the idol of many.)
So, while not exactly *starting* that late in life, decidedly a sign that being in one's 40s is hardly "too old to improve".
Good finds!
I also read http://www.amazon.com/Chess-Master-at-Any-Rolf-Wetzell/dp/0938650580
someone who was able to break into master post 50, documented in the USCF. His book had some practical suggestions (and a couple of silly ones).
I would be happy with just some improvement for once, although I think there has been some rating deflation in the US since the 80's so even maintaining a rating means improving.
I think the toughest part for anyone who has played for a long time is breaking old bad thinking habits, of which I have plenty.
There is a book "Chess Master...at any age" written by a guy who obtained his Master title at age 50. I have a copy of it, but it has been years since I looked at it, and being buried in box with hundreds of others I can't put my finger on it. I'd recommend it, especially if you can get a used copy for five bucks. However, I'd be happy to dig mine out and sell it as a collectible!
http://www.amazon.com/Chess-Master-at-Any-Rolf-Wetzell/dp/0938650580
Wow, that is weird. While I was typing my post InvisibleDuck was stealing my thunder!
Wow, that is weird. While I was typing my post InvisibleDuck was stealing my thunder!
Thats what you get for being a catnapper!
Mine dissapeared anyway. I still remember the flash card advice and I am starting to make some again. However, the tearing up dollar bill advice...not so much. I need those to pay for tournaments!
Well there has been some great info posted here. Also so far the negative comments have been avoided as well ( and I hope for continued good luck in that area too lol ).
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.
1) nice people, yes
2) live games, yes it's fun
3) disable chat feature, uhmmm I could
?
4) give the old brain a workout? My 20 something brain gets a headache
So does this mean, the older you get....................
A very nice post AnnaZafi ! I also enjoy chatting with people in the forums here as well.
Great info Shadowknight, I will be interested to know if Allan is able to make more progress again and reach his 2100 goal.
A very nice post AnnaZafi ! I also enjoy chatting with people in the forums here as well.
yup, I hear you, I mean I errrr read you, but it all depends on which thread you are in, there are some threads that are just......
......well, you know what I mean
yup, I hear you, I mean I errrr read you, but it all depends on which thread you are in, there are some threads that are just......
......well, you know what I mean
Too wonderful?
too wonderful! Ahhhh yes, that was the word I was looking for......
......
One theory that I've heard is that too much of a good thing is too much of a good thing lol.
the forum (forums) in itself or the peeps that post in the forum (forums)
This is getting deep.
It is not that you can not improve it is just that it is harder. Borgqueen has it sorta right that new connections are made based on experience but this is more difficult as we get older. Infact dendrites (the connecting tissue between brain cells) often are pruned away. The younger mind has too many connections between cells and are removed by experience (use or lose it) . I do find it interested that we have seemingly found a bottom level of "GM" for humans at around 12. I think this is a developmental issue and would be an interesting study.
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
..... moments of clarity followed by massive blunders, but it is a great game!
We can all relate to that! It seems that no matter how high one's rating is, this sort of nonsense happens.