[HorridSludgyBits]

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Also, currently, the average age of top chess players is solidly in the 25-35 age range, as it has been for about 4 decades. There are still a fair number of young phenoms coming into the game - in fact by age 21 they are veterans, having played serious chess for over a decade in almost all cases.

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Top 5 FIDE players birth years:

1. 1969
2. 1969
3. 1975
4. 1975
5. 1979

That puts the youngest one at nearly 30. The top two at 40 each. There are some major exceptions like Karjakin (1990) ranked 24, and Radjabrov (1987 - ranked 8th) but they are the exception and not the rule.

Child 'prodigies' get alot of attention because of their novelty (which is quickly losing it's novelty!), but very few end up amounting to anything. Hello Waitzkin! Which in alot of ways is why chess is such an interesting analog to poker in the this thread.

Many many many players have chess shoved down their throat from the time they are a baby by parents looking to live vicariously through their children. Of these, a miniscule fraction go on to become 'prodigies'. And of the 'prodigies', an even smaller fraction go on to do anything besides break a random age record here or there until moving onto other things. The ones that do go on to accomplish big things, don't do so as child prodigies but as the few adults that actually manage to maintain their work ethic towards chess.

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Yes, but look at the ages at which these players became grandmasters (the highest title in chess). I'm guessing all obtained their GM title in their early teens. The main body of information is learned very early, the rest is just fine tuning, competitive toughness, handling pressure, experience, etc.

The main reason Josh Waitzkin and other prodigies fade away is because of burnout (the ridiculuous amount opening study has to be nearly all-consuming to keep up with the competition), and because there are so many easier ways (esp. in the US/EU) to make a living for an intelligent person.