alt Hacker NewsIn addition, there is a vast difference between say tennis, a sport, and chess, a purely mental activity.
A child prodigy in tennis may find that their body didn't grow in such a way to be a pro as an adult. If your opponents are taller, stronger, have better VO2Max, etc. than you as an adult, it doesn't matter how good you were as a child--they're going to beat you as an adult.
Chess, of course, now provides the stark reverse contrast. If you weren't a child prodigy in chess, you simply will not excel against the competition as an adult.
Replies
paulmooreparks • today at 5:43 AM
There's a saying about golf that probably applies to chess: The best way to improve is to go back in time and learn it at an earlier age.
➕ show 2 replies
Instead of tennis I would use basketball.
You can be the #1 rated player up to your last year of high school but if you don't hit the growth spurt required for your position your career will take a completely different turn. Conversely, it is the only sport I am aware of where you have people playing at the highest level who picked up their first basketball at 16