What age is a senior defined to be for in competitive chess? I've seen it given as low as 50 years old. For this thread's purpose I have in mind 60+ (noting senior is often thought to be age 65+ in everyday usage). My own age is close to 60, and I've already lived longer than either Alekhine or Capablanca did, so somehow that may make my advice for senior chess players more relevant. Perhaps other members of this Forum have their own advice or opinions to give.

I recall Botvinnik once wrote (in his old 100 Selected Games book) that one cannot hope for a good result in a tournament if one's health is poor at the time of it. For seniors with such an issue, perhaps they can set their sights on playing an enjoyable or great game at least once a tournament. There's many other joys to chess than just these, such as post-mortem debates, or chess message boards nowadays.

It's tough all the same to be in excellent health as when younger, even for those in good shape otherwise. Ideally attention should be paid to physical conditioning and/or diet more than ever, and before and during a game it can matter significantly what one puts into one's body. In the 2013 Canadian Open in Ottawa, I played a very strong, though aging, GM, and I was a bit surprised when he brought to the board several snacks of nuts, chocolate bars and such, along with his juices of choice, though I guess it's understandable, and allowed (still, I might not ever have made such a considerable pile myself while at the board). These days, people of all ages seem to have all sorts of beverages that they bring to the board with them, at least. Each should consider his own bodily needs, at any rate.

In the following game, I was never worse against a much younger opponent of master strength, but I had to absorb the slight psychological ups and downs of a position that was hard for me to be sure at many points that I was evaluating properly:


[Event "RA Spring Frost"]
[Site "Ottawa, CAN"]
[Date "2018.3.15"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Demchenko, Svetlana"]
[Black "Pacey, Kevin"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 {Nowadays 2.Bf4 is often thought more accurate, if White wishes to play the London System.} Nf6 3.Bf4 {The London System is all the rage these days, perhaps because Magnus Carlsen plays it at times. I still don't get what makes it more special than your average sideline, other than it can be hard to beat.} c6 4.e3 Bg4 {ECO gives 4...Qb6 and Black soon gets equality after 5.Qc1. There's more than one way to skin a cat in this case, IMHO.} 5.c3 {Lots of other moves have been tried in this obscure line in my database.} Nbd7 6.Nbd2 e6 7.Bd3 Nh5 {7...Be7 looks common here, but I was already trying to mix things up.} 8.h3 {Here 8.Bg3 or 8.Bg5 have been tried. My opponent's move almost seems compliant, though it leads to more simplification than I quite liked.} Nxf4 9.exf4 Bxf3 10.Nxf3 Bd6 11.g3 {My engine prefers 11.Ne5, claiming White is equal.} Qb6 {The machine thought I'd have a slight edge if I simply castled, intending ...c5. Now The game's rated equal again.} 12.Qe2 g6 {I was hoping she'd unbalance things a bit with f4-f5 immediately here. I plainly could have castled, here or next move.} 13.O-O c5 14.dxc5 {Better was 14.Bb5. Now Black is slightly better.} Nxc5 15.Bb5+ {Forcing Black to castle by hand eventually, but now she's gone out on a bit of limb.} Kf8 16.Nd4 a6 17.Bd3 Nxd3 18.Qxd3 Kg7 19.Rae1 Rhe8 20.Re2 Be7 {Better was 20...Rac8. Now, reeling a bit from perceived pressure, real or imagined, and more relevantly also from the onset of some fatigue, I let White equalize, again. At this point I went for a beverage of choice [a bottle of Sprite] to get a little more energy.} 21.Rfe1 Bf6 22.Nf3 {Better was 22.g4 says the engine. Now I should have played ...Rad8 with a slight edge, but again ceded equality.} Rac8 23.g4 Kf8 {23...Qd6!? may have been a way to play for a win at all costs, but at this point it was hard for me to predict what would happen significantly deeper into the game continuation.} 24.f5 {The machine suggests the strange 24.g5.} exf5 25.gxf5 Rxe2 26.Rxe2 Rd8 27.Qd2 {My opponent has her eye fixed on my king's abode. Instead the engine suggests 27.fxg6.} d4 {Re-energized physically by now, I felt some urgency to act here!} 28.cxd4 Bxd4 29.Qh6+ {Now my opponent seems interested in mixing things up more, first by keeping the minor pieces on.} Bg7 30.Qxh7 Rd1+ 31.Kg2 Qb5 32.Re3 Qxf5 33.Qh4 Qc5 34.Qe4 Qc6 {Facing reality. Now White can go for a drawish endgame here or on the next two moves.} 35.Qe7+ Kg8 36.b3 Bf6 37.Qb4 {It was high time for playing Qe8+. Now Black gets a slight edge after my reply, or 37...Bd4} Kg7 38.Re4 b5 39.Re3 {Costing White material and the game. Better was 39.Re2.} Bd4 40.Qe7 Bxe3 41.Qe5+ Qf6 42.Qxe3 b4 43.Qe4 a5 44.Ne5 Qg5+ 45.Ng4 Qd5 46.Qxd5 Rxd5 47.Kf3 Rd2 48.Ke3 Rxa2 49.Kd3 f5 50.Ne5 Rxf2 51.Kc4 Rc2+ 52.Kb5 Rc3 53.Kxa5 {Allowing ...Rc5+, which during Black's slight time trouble he misses when having a senior's moment. Still, it's of no real importance.} Rxb3 0-1