Thank you for this very nice article. I find it helpful to remember that a plateau does not always mean progress has stopped. Often it simply reflects that you have improved, but so have the players in your rating cohort. Because ratings are relative rather than absolute, those internal gains may not appear in your results until you begin outperforming the group around you.
As always, I appreciate the thoughtful, articulate commentary, Nate.
It seems to me, though, that the elephant in the room is this: what if there's just a level at which you don't get any better? Maybe you reach that level quickly, maybe it takes you a long time to reach that level. But doesn't it seem logical that different individuals simply have different capacities?
I confess that I say this with great reluctance because for the last 4+ years I've turned what you might call a plateau into a lifestyle. In my first year of chess I improved really rapidly (that was 2020-2021). And I've been stuck ever since DESPITE following a lot of the advice about doing puzzles at certain rating levels, playing focused games at specific time controls, studying my games afterwards. I had a coach briefly.
Maybe. But I doubt whether most people who haven't competed at a professional level have reached some sort of absolute ceiling based on their mental capacity. There's always so much more you could do.
Having just finished my morning routine - puzzles (at lower levels, based on your recommendation), some end game study, some opening study, review of my previous games, and then play, I may be feeling particularly negative. Some days, it seems that you just see the board differently, you recognize relationships, and possibilities. Today, was not one of those days.
I have found some of the commentary that you link to interesting in that it points to deeper issues of emotional triggers, personality, and predisposition. My sense is that my game suffers from the fact that I'm that I'm not, by nature, a particularly aggressive person. Chess appears to reward aggression, controlled, calculated aggression, but aggression, nonetheless. Maybe I've reached the point where I need to tweak my game in a way that pushes me outside of my comfort zone at the level of personality or emotional response.
Thank you for this very nice article. I find it helpful to remember that a plateau does not always mean progress has stopped. Often it simply reflects that you have improved, but so have the players in your rating cohort. Because ratings are relative rather than absolute, those internal gains may not appear in your results until you begin outperforming the group around you.
It can be, yes. Or gains that have not been consolidated in your own ability.
As always, I appreciate the thoughtful, articulate commentary, Nate.
It seems to me, though, that the elephant in the room is this: what if there's just a level at which you don't get any better? Maybe you reach that level quickly, maybe it takes you a long time to reach that level. But doesn't it seem logical that different individuals simply have different capacities?
I confess that I say this with great reluctance because for the last 4+ years I've turned what you might call a plateau into a lifestyle. In my first year of chess I improved really rapidly (that was 2020-2021). And I've been stuck ever since DESPITE following a lot of the advice about doing puzzles at certain rating levels, playing focused games at specific time controls, studying my games afterwards. I had a coach briefly.
Maybe this is just as good as I get.
Maybe. But I doubt whether most people who haven't competed at a professional level have reached some sort of absolute ceiling based on their mental capacity. There's always so much more you could do.
That's a lovely sentiment.
Having just finished my morning routine - puzzles (at lower levels, based on your recommendation), some end game study, some opening study, review of my previous games, and then play, I may be feeling particularly negative. Some days, it seems that you just see the board differently, you recognize relationships, and possibilities. Today, was not one of those days.
I have found some of the commentary that you link to interesting in that it points to deeper issues of emotional triggers, personality, and predisposition. My sense is that my game suffers from the fact that I'm that I'm not, by nature, a particularly aggressive person. Chess appears to reward aggression, controlled, calculated aggression, but aggression, nonetheless. Maybe I've reached the point where I need to tweak my game in a way that pushes me outside of my comfort zone at the level of personality or emotional response.
How do you know when a plateau is your final plateau?