Awhile back I read something about how it takes 10,000 hours, practices, or attempts to become "good" or "professional" in something.  In just the past year or two, I realized that my chess has improved drastically, and that I believe I'm still young enough to at least try to work towards becoming a titled player.  I'm going to be using the internet to find 10,000 games of the masters, and then throughout my last 3-4 years of college make my way through analyzing and trying to understand them.

This is where a potential chess.com member comes in....

I'd love to have somebody, or a group of somebodies who could help me when I need it.  People who may be looking towards the same end goal I am, or people who are already there, who can help me with those questions I may have on positions in the master's games.  Here in Nebraska, where I live, there's very limited numbers of top class players, and furthermore I don't really want to have to pay for a chess coach when I intend on studying most of this myself.

So, who's up for it?  Perhaps it could manifest itself in the form of a chess.com group?  Or maybe just a friend request?  Anyone who's willing to help me out, and me hopefully help them, I would greatly appreciate.

homosapien15

you can play me anytime. just challenge me

I'm not sure I'd be getting as much practice as you would in that situation...but thanks for the offer.

Well I do believe we have played.  And now that I know this, we should play some more for practice!  That's an impressive story, too!

I started here the 1200 provisional, and I've clawed my way up to the 1700's, but I have neglected my live chess.  Unfortunately school and work don't let me study the game as long as I'd like.  Good news is someone saw this post and invited me to a group "Achieving Masters" so I can surround myself with more likeminded people.