Ok look like I have ask a very stupid question afterall.
too old to learn chess?
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And mahalo nui loa to you, ManoWar1934! I'm 81 now and still learning and moving up very slowly, but moving up.
VLMJ wrote:
And mahalo nui loa to you, ManoWar1934! I'm 81 now and still learning and moving up very slowly, but moving up.
That's the spirit 
I learned to play when I was 40 and still not the best there is but really enjoy the game, guess thats the point enjoy!
I didn't learn the rules until I was 16 and never really had the time to study or play to take the game seriously until I decided to exit the rat race and enjoy the rest of my life when I was 48. I don't have any expectation of making a title but its just like learning any skill. The satisfaction of suddenly making a breakthrough where you start to see things that you used to miss in Tactics or finding yourself making a plan that actually improves your position where you had no idea what to do in similar positions previously is immense. Also, keeping your brain sharp with chess actually makes you feel more alert in general and I'm sure helps to stave off the normal degenerative aging process, I know I feel much less tired and apathetic than I did in my mid forties and this is down to chess and eating and sleeping better.
I started to play chess about a year ago otb. I was 39 years old. I went from 1300 to 1750 in one year. I am still improving daily, i expect to get much better in the next year. If you want you can look me up and ill tell you how i did it. Your not too old. But consider that your time is more important now. So do you really want to be a master? You have to learn many openings, the competition is very stiff. Ive seen their games, with very sharp lines. I am trying for 2100, and when i get to 2000 ill be happy. You could be master if you want but it would take alot of tutoring, time, time, time and reading. Be happy and shoot for 1600, then 1800, and thennnnnnnnnnnnnnnn be come a CM! a candidate master! Its a new title uscf made just for guys like me. lol.
God Bless
Sean
dude my opinion is that you can do anything you set your mind to. Whos to say maybe you won't qualify for the titles, i mean all it is imo is about 1100 tournaments, but whos to say you cant beat the champion in a game. For me i gave up caring about approval from outside source, just do your thing, I'm old too but I can beat anybody. peace
DC5 wrote:
I'm 42 and have always had an interest in playing chess, I just started to play again this month but feel that I may be to old to learn. Is there an age cut off to becoming any good?
If by "any good" you mean "world class," yes. You need to have started learning and gaining real proficiency by your teen years.
And IM's are world class players, I don't merely mean the 2700 Super-GM's by that term. However, if by "any good" you mean a competent player who is capable of competing at the expert level or possibly even NM level -- then there doesn't seem to be an age related cut-off. However, the number of people out of their mid-20s who reach that level is still very small.
Started studying, lessons, club chess, and some OTB tournaments at age 60.