My Chess Experiment Begins at 44

Hey everyone! I decided to run a chess experiment. Can I become good at chess starting late in life?

In this post, I’ll share my chess background, current stats, goals, and my initial game plan. I’m going to be candid here—perhaps even a bit vulnerable—because I believe that to excel at anything, you need to be open to the possibility of looking a bit foolish along the way.

My Chess Background

My dad taught me the basic rules of chess when I was 10. We skipped over en passant and probably botched a few castling moves, but it was fun. I didn’t know what a fork or a skewer were, and I probably only played a dozen or so games as a kid.

It didn’t help that there were no local chess clubs where I lived and chess as an extracurricular activity wasn’t a thing in my local school.

Still, I’ve always been fascinated by the chessboard.

A First Attempt: The Pandemic Year

Fast forward 30 years to 2020, amidst the chaos of the pandemic and an unraveling marriage, I found solace in chess at 40. I wasn’t studying it as methodically as I plan to now, but I did make some strides. However, life had other plans: a divorce, a serious health scare, a new love, a new home, and an adorable French Bulldog with a penchant for chess pieces. Chess took a back seat after that year and for all intents, I didn’t play any chess for three years. However, I kept an eye on the big events like Ding Liren’s world championship or when the chess spoke for itself. 😅

December 2024: I’m Back

I rekindled my love for chess just before Christmas 2024. Three years of rust had set in and I could immediately tell I was “out of shape” chess-wise. Mind you, I only played for a year or so back in 2020 with no serious study plan, so I never became a good chess player in the first place.

This was the moment I told myself, “You know what? We only have one life. I love chess, so why not give it a real shot at becoming decent?” In the process, I had to silence that voice telling me it was a waste of time and that I should launch another side hustle instead.

Something that you enjoy and that keeps your brain sharp is anything but a waste of time!

My Current Chess Stats

I don’t think there is much point obsessing over ELO ratings and such but they are a fairly objective way to measure progress, so it makes sense to keep track of them. As a result, I’ll share my current stats as of February 14, 2025 and then update you on my progress each month. Of course, I’ll also have more interesting chess posts that are not just personal rating updates.

Or in a more detailed format:

A few notes about these numbers:

• I do suck at Rapid but the Chess.com Rapid rating is likely underrating my current skill level. Time management is a major weakness of mine, which hurts me in Rapid, but I’m likely better than 565. As I resume playing Rapid, this should go up in theory by at least 200-300 points. I hope. 🤞
• Correspondence games allow me to think deeply, perhaps showcasing my potential better. I strive to find the best move possible and consider all options, and this format works well for that.
• My Correspondence rating on Lichess is provisional and, frankly, ridiculous. I’m in no way a 2200 player even if I play better with, in practice, no time limits. I think I played well there so far and got a few lucky breaks but I fully expect a reality check and for this provisional rating to go down as I play more. Then hopefully one day it will climb back up.
• I’m somewhat happy with my Puzzle ratings.
• I have done the timed Puzzle Rush/Storm only once each to have a baseline. Realistically, this timed Puzzle Rush format will likely be helpful with my Rapid rating and I will need to incorporate it in my training plan.
• I’m not yet part of any chess association or club and haven’t played in any tournaments, so I have no CFC (I’m in Canada) or FIDE ratings yet.

My Chess Experiment Goals

My goal with this chess experiment is to become the best player I can be, recognizing the challenges of starting later in life and the fact that this remains a hobby. I will never be a grandmaster, but I strive to become a good player. As they say, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”

What Does “Good” at Chess Mean?

This is very subjective, of course, but I’m going to go with the following benchmark:

• Class A Player: An 1800 CFC OTB (over-the-board) rating.
• Online: I’d like my Chess.com Rapid, Chess.com Daily, Lichess Rapid, and Lichess Correspondence ratings to be all above 2000. I’m excluding Blitz and Bullet from my goals for now, as I have no plans for them at the moment.
• Chess.com Puzzle Rush Survival: 50 or more.

Should I ever reach these goals, I will likely set new, more ambitious ones. But for now, all things considered, this is already a tall order and many have failed before me.

What Works in My Favor

• I’m an Engineering Manager so I’m fairly left-brained. My love for math and logic might translate well to chess.
• I seem to have a liking/inclination for solving complex chess puzzles.
• During the pandemic, I went nuts and bought a ton of chess books. So I already have a fairly large library of great chess books to learn from.

What Works Against Me

• A busy life with a full-time job and side hustles limits my free time.
• A history of hyper fixation might test my commitment when this won’t be new and shiny anymore.
• Nerves in live games could be a hurdle. I’m hoping to get used to the pressure and learn to relax.
• Age, although I believe in lifelong learning and I think age as a limiting factor is a little exaggerated, there is an argument about reduced neuroplasticity. I will never be as strong of a player as if I had seriously started studying chess as a child.

Worries and Concerns

• I hate the feeling of losing a game. Emotional handling of losses will be key since this journey will inevitably put me through the process of losing a lot of games. This is part of the growth I hope this chess experiment will bring about.
• The grind of daily study might wear down my enthusiasm. So I think I need to take a sustainable, long-term approach. This is a marathon, not a sprint.
• I might discover that my ceiling is a lot lower than my aspirations which would be disappointing.

My Initial Plan

I don’t have a very structured plan in place yet, but I know I should incorporate the following:

• Daily Puzzle practice and Puzzle Rush/Storm/Streak for pattern recognition.
• Daily Correspondence and Rapid (15+10, 30+0) games.
• Daily studying of openings and endgames.
• Joining a local club in West Kelowna, affiliated with the Fraser Valley Chess Academy, and potentially the UBC Kelowna chess club as well (which accepts more than just students.)

Currently, I’m also working through Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess, which interestingly was not written by Bobby Fischer. I’m enjoying the format a lot but, 100 pages in, I find the puzzles fairly simple so I’m hoping it rumps up the difficulty in the rest of the book.

I’ll soon have and share a more specific study plan. If you have advice or just want to chat about chess, feel free to comment or reach out.

Oh, and don’t forget to subscribe for updates on my journey! As I said, I plan to share a lot of what I learn during this chess experiment; especially things that help me improve my chess skills. Plus, monthly rating updates.

Here’s to making each move count. Wish me luck!