Are some people just naturally bad at chess?

Its all about perspective. 

This kid used to show up on Fridays where 3 of us taught chess to kids.  This kid knew how the pieces moved, and that was it.  Everything with him was "Im the worst chess player in the world"  "I never win a game"

One night i asked him.  "Do you know hoe many people their are in the world?"

He didnt know.

I said about 7.5 billion people.  I then asked him if he knew how many of them know how to play

chess?

Again, he didn't know.

I told him, roughly 700 million. 

He said so what. 

I said:  "You are already better at chess than 6.8 billion people."

That was all it took, and he started enjoying the game.

Some people are bad at all kinds of things. Most are simply stupid.

As for chess skill, there are innumerable mental errors that stifle ability.

I remember analyzing a game between two D Class players (under 1400 USCF) one night at my local chess club. I was going over the game with one of the players, looking at what should have been played. The other stopped by to note what did happen. He had no interest in what might have happened. He had no interest in the truth of the position.

Both players are past their prime. The one who cares only what did happen has been an active player since his teen years. This is his USCF rating graph. It reveals that he will never rise to the level of average.

The other player became an active tournament player in his late 40s. This is his graph. It shows promise, but the late start has been a hindrance. 

I'm not that good, but a lot of my opponents are worse. They're just absolute idiots because they always blunder rooks to my bishop (once they move their same square bishop out of the way to get a pawn) I was once a 551 rapid due to this, but now I've gone down because I've had better opponents.

Everyone is naturally bad at chess.

This.

We're ALL patzers. Every one of us.

this is great

For everyone who love to use the "but some people play 10 - 20x more games and don't improve, isn't that the gLaSs cEiLiNg?!" when talking about chess, try this exercise: shoot some hoops (you throw ball into baseball basket). But do it like most people who are standing still with their chess rating, instead of readjusting direction and strength just throw without thinking. Do you get better or not with time? Now do it like it would be natural for anyone throwing ball with adjusting your throw after each throw. Does that give you higher score after some time when you have corrected your misstakes?

Well, most people who play don't correct the misstakes they make in chess. They don't analyze their game to find what they did wrong, they don't write it down instead of hoping to remember it until next game when same situation repeat and they don't spend time on puzzles connecting to those situation to drill those weaknesses away. I know I don't even though I can lay out the whole algorithm for how to do it.

I think I have decent innate chess skills. I joined this site in 2018 having really played very little chess over the years. Like maybe a couple of games a year on average. I immediately upon joining had a rating of sligthly above 1300. Now 6 years later having played lots of games and having achieved a puzzle rating of over 3200, my blitz rating is slightly below 1300.

In other words, I have seemingly not improved at all in 6 years with lots of playing and puzzling. Granted, being close to 50 definitely has something to do with it, but it is somewhat disappointing given how little it took for me to get to 1300.

Over 3200 in puzzles is impressive. You obviously know some patterns and can calculate.

You'd think so, but somehow I still suck at actually playing the game.

Maybe you play too fast.

Have you ever played OTB?

Yeah, definitely play too fast and too many stupid gambits, LOL. Also I have no patience for endgames. I need to win in the middle game or I WILL find a way to lose the endgame. Before I joined chess.com, my limited experience with chess was OTB.

Everyone's brains are wired differently. Some have better observation skills than others. Some have extraordinary memories and are able to recall information very quickly. Although we can improve through learning and experience, genetics is going to play a huge role in our capabilities.

Celebrating small victories and finding enjoyment in the learning process can make the journey more fulfilling for players at any level.

why are you not 1500 yet