[simbleau]

Is there really a decline with age when it comes to chess? I’m not sure he will really decline until he reaches his retirement age.

[traes]

For some concrete numbers, there are only four players over 50 years of age in the top 100 at the moment by live ratings[0]. They are ranked #13 (age 56), #89 (age 53), #95 (age 54), and #97 (age 57). In their primes these players were ranked #1, #10, #4, and #3 respectively.

[0]: https://2700chess.com/?per-page=100

[dehrmann]

Isn't he playing Chess960 because he started finding standard chess boring? And wasn't that why Fischer worked on it in the first place? Experts might get bored of it by the time they're 50.

[Taek]

This is some fascinating data, thanks for pulling it together.

[Trufa]

There's a sharp decline with age. Magnus himself says he's not as sharp as he was younger, even if he can compensate with experience.

[LanceH]

There are a lot of confounding variables. Chief among them is someone at the top just wanting to get on with their life, start a family for instance, or basically anything other than study 12 hours a day.

It's hard to say it's cognitive decline for most of the people who just aren't working as hard at 40 as they were at 25.

[bee_rider]

He just has to gain experience faster than he loses sharpness.

[jacquesm]

For most people there is a cognitive decline with age, and chess is clearly a cognitive effort. Like with everything else: experience really matters, but you will simply be a bit less sharp over time and in a game where a tiny mistake can compound to a loss it really matters.