chess after 40......

Hey there.  Speaking as a fellow player in his 40s, also hanging around 1000, I would say that from everything I've heard, it really depends on your goals and ability to invest time.  On the wonderful Perpetual Chess Podcast (https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/), the host often interviews "adult improvers," as well as people with extensive chess coaching experience, and the consensus view is that with regular effort over time, adults can go from basically zero to the FIDE 1400-1600 range with no problems.  Furthermore, many of their guests have expressed the view that focused effort over an extended period can get adults to about FIDE 2000-2200, but that achieving the 2400 and up ratings necessary for IM and GM titles probably is unachievable for most people who didn't seriously study chess as children.

I'm of course not able to offer much of an opinion on this from my own experience, but I can say I personally have been playing and studying daily since around mid-January and I've improved by somewhere between 100 and 200 points.  Those who have been at it a few years report that that kind of improvement can continue for a while before tapering off, if someone's sufficiently motivated. 

Im 49 and one thing I know is I can get better if I set my mind to it, I'm shooting for 1200. Now I know I'll never be fide rated, but I don't care.

Were you planning to become a Grandmaster? That's nearly impossible for a player starting at 40... but then, it's almost as difficult for a player starting at 16.

I'm 65. I reached 2350 rating two years ago. Certainly an over-40 player can break 2000 rating.

Just sayin'.

2350 boom.

This is the game that brought me up to 2350.

A Heroic Defense in the Sicilian Najdorf - Kids, don't try this at home! - Chess Forums - Chess.com

I'm 72. I haven't played anyone since joining four months ago, but have been doing the puzzles daily and am at around 1150. I find that the puzzles have become very difficult and that I miss more than I solve, and must resort to hints. This is discouraging and where chess was once fun, it's become too difficult and makes me feel stupid for struggling so much. I wonder if this is common. I will continue to put in about an hour every morning, but if this continues I may invest my time elsewhere. I guess what I'm saying is that I know we need hard puzzles to improve, but they seem much too hard for me. Not complaining, just discouraged at "hitting a wall". I'd like to add that I think chess.com is a fantastic site and am very grateful for the work and thought that has gone into this site. Maybe I'm just not smart enough to play chess.

Can I suggest playing some games against other people?  I'd say start with a 30-minute clock if you can spare 45 minutes to an hour for a game.  Expect to lose your first four or five games, but very quickly, as the site works out your accurate rating, you will find evenly-matched opponents, and I think the experience of winning some games against real people will make the experience feel a lot more worthwhile and fun.

Practicing puzzles can be excellent training, but without playing competitive games of chess, it's really easy to lose track of what it's all about in the first place.

I never play the sicilian as black.

Thanks for the reply. How do I go about setting up a match with someone? 

Hey folks,

     I am a retired school teacher, 72 years old and just took up chess as a hobby.  I have been been trying to read, watch, work puzzles, and play games but am stuck below beginner level, as I see many are.  Would group tutoring help me?  If so are they just for kids?  Your comments will be appreciated.

Richard

If you are playing games with game time rules shorter than 1 day, you can use automated matchmaking to find an opponent.  The first time you do it, it makes a guess about your rating that is based on how much of a beginner you said you were when you first signed up.  You may end up winning or losing your first few games, but very quickly the system will find a rating where you tend to win or lose half your games, and that rating will be representative of how well you're playing at that point.

To use automated matchmaking on the website, first mouse over the Play tab on the upper left:

Click the large + New Game button and you'll come to a screen that has a chess board and this in the upper right:

If you click on the drop-down menu that says "10 min" (or whatever you might have chosen in the past) you'll get a number of time options that look like this:

To use automated matchmaking, choose any of the time choices that are not in the "Daily" category (there are more available if you click "more...") and then click the large green "Play" button.  Generally, the time controls available are in minutes for all of each player's moves.  So, a 30 minute game (a great place to start btw) would require each player to play all their moves in 30 minutes, or a maximum of 60 minutes for the whole game.

The ones that read something like 5|5 use a special rule that adds a number of seconds to the timer per move.  So, 5|5 starts your timer at 5 minutes and adds 5 seconds every time you make a move.

"Daily" games are not total times, but instead require each player to make each move in a period of time that ranges from 1 to 14 days.  These are meant to be like "correspondence" chess, which historically has been played through the mail.  Note:  Daily games (those with per-move timers of 1 day or more) don't provide automated matchmaking.  Instead, you'll have to challenge individual players, or make an open challenge and wait for someone to find it on a list.

There are other choices, like "custom games," "play a friend," or "tournament," but the basic Play button above is the fastest way to find a reasonable game against another person at your level.

Definitely. I'm 30. I started chess 2 years ago as a complete beginner, after a couple of weeks of playing casually in my office, I set up a chess.com account in Feb 2019 and fluctuated around 600 rated in both Rapid and Blitz for the next month.
Fast forward 2 years, I'm now 1950 rated in Rapid and 1800 rated in Blitz.

In my opinion, the reason adults "typically" improve at a slower rate than kids is most likely because we tend to have other commitments (full time job, family, etc) that prevent us from applying the same level of focus as kids who don't have the same conflicts that get in the way of their development. If you are able to find time to commit to chess improvement as an adult, you will improve. It's just a question of how much time is reasonable for you with everything else you may have going on.

THEN, it's about being smart with your time and not getting lost in a wealth of content that's probably not even useful for you to prioritise as part of your improvement plan.

Wow! Thanks for all the info. This is a huge help.

To keep it interesting, play the BOTS at the various levels. Also, in addition to the puzzles, play other REAL people. You will pick up on the blunders that they make, and you will make your own blunders. You don't get that by focusing entirely on the puzzles.

Hi Richard!  Regarding your basic question of whether group (or for that matter 1 on 1) tutoring would help, it might, but you still have a lot you can work on improving on your own.  You're doing all the right things to learn.  I think the most important thing to keep in mind is that at your level, and even at much higher ratings, games are won and lost almost entirely based on who makes single-move blunders and how badly.  So, your goals should be (1) don't blunder pieces and (2) catch and capture your opponent's blunders.

Looking over your games, the one thing I would suggest is that you make a conscious effort to play more slowly! It looks like you're playing 30 minute games and playing all your moves (20+ moves or so) in under five minutes!  All that time you're not using is time you could be spending checking your moves to make sure your pieces are safe, to look for better ways to attack your opponent, or to compare alternate things to do.

Particularly once you get into the middle game, where many things are happening on the board, it can help to have a mental checklist of things you must always look at before making each move:

1)  What was my opponent trying to do with the last move?

2)  Does my opponent's last move put me in check?

3)  Does my opponent's last move directly threaten to capture something of mine?

4)  Does my opponent's last move look like they are lining up to threaten me on their next move, so that I could stop it early?

5) Can I put my opponent in check?  If I do so, does it help me win the game or will I just have to pull back on the next move?

6) Can I capture something of my opponent's?  If I do this, will I capture something of more value than I risk losing?  If it's an even trade, will I be in a better position after we both capture, or a worse one?

7) Can I threaten my opponent with a move that sets up a piece to capture on the next move?  If I do this, how will my opponent respond?  (Note that sometimes if your opponent is about to capture something on one side of the board, you might be able to attack something more valuable on the other side, and make them go out of their way to save it.)

If you always stop to ask these questions (shorthand: look at CHECKS, CAPTURES, and ATTACKS for both players, and always ask "What is my opponent TRYING TO DO?") you'll make better use of all that time you have in a 30 minute game.  As it becomes second nature, you will improve.

Edit:  One thing I've heard from experienced teachers is that beginners often find themselves playing the very first move they see that has any justification at all.  What you really want to do is find ALL the moves that might make any sense and consider which one puts you in the best position.  At least try to choose from three or four possibilities instead of simply playing whatever comes to mind.  Then, you'll start to build up experience with why one move is better than another one.