# Has Anyone Started Chess In Their 40s? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** chess\ **Created:** [November 11, 2026, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-started-chess-in-their-40s/1034866 "2026-11-11T20:23:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 8
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2026, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-started-chess-in-their-40s/1034866/8 "2026-11-11T23:46:52Z")
Hi, I’m a retired chess teacher (best ELO 2390.) > [@MortSahlFan](#): > > Even Grandmasters seem to go downhill after 30. Korchnoi was still world-class at 60 and ranked in the top 100 at 70. > [@MortSahlFan](#): > > I won’t go as far as reading anything and would rather play games as a way to learn. As peccavi said, you’re limiting yourself - there is a lot of chess knowledge in books. > [@peccavi](#): > > The four phases of the game are 1) Opening, 2) Middle Game, 3) Endgame, and 4) Analysis. To get better, you need to spend time after each game on Phase 4, preferably with your opponent, going over the game and working through the decisions you made, why you made them, and what was good and bad about the decisions. Absolutely - you learn a lot from reviewing, especially with your opponent. I’ve posted before here on improving at chess - have a look at post 6 in this thread: [Please recommend a path to learning chess - The Game Room - Straight Dope Message Board](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-recommend-a-path-to-learning-chess/991867/6) --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-started-chess-in-their-40s/1034866)._