Am I too late to excel in chess?

I am currently a very low rate chess player (Let assume my rating is 1000). How long I need to work hard in order to improve to rating of around 2500++?

Currently I am age 22. I first learn the chess at age of around 10 -11, but I never took it seriously and recently I only start to take it seriously. Any suggestions to improve the chess game?

Please no offensive words like I am stupid, you will never become good chess player etc. I believe that if everyone take seriously in chess, he/she can at least become good on it.

Should chess be a way for self-improvement before consider to get higher rating?

To get to twenty five hundred you would need to really work obsessively on your chess for years and years. Twenty five hundred is incredibly good.  Good luck mate.

If you work really hard, then my guess would be in about 20 or 30 years

I can't name any grandmaster that started playing at the age of 22, and I doubt you will be the first one I can name.

Xeon, 2500 is a big goal. I would say you should start with smaller goals that you will meet then push yourself to the next level, this way you will see yourself grow and be proud.  example,  goal one: Reach a rating of 1200 in the next 6 months to a year. Work hard and get there, then once you reach that goal. next up 1500 in the next year or year and 6 mouths. If you reach your goal faster then awesome!!  Keep pushing yourself and love chess. Masters are masters because they love chess and give it their all just like any other pro in this world. Good Luck and an early congratulations on reaching your first Goal, because I know you will get there!

Anand: Nowdays if you're not a master when you're 14, you can just forget about it.

This question gets asked almost daily - that in itself should reveal quite a bit.

Ben Finegold (sp?)  just made Grandmaster at age 43.....and was on the cover of Chess Life.....with a story called "The 43 Year Old Grandmaster".    I'm guessing that means Ben's accomplishment is pretty darned rare.

I started playing Chess at age 45.  I hope some day to achieve a category 4 norm. 

Before I'm convinced, I would actually like to see some statistics on that, something which I'm sure somebody has.  Being an older player, of course, I might have some emotional investment in that.  Of course, I started playing when in high school, but there also was a long hiatus before I started playing again.  Still, when I started playing again, I found that I had actually not lost any ground.  Cause for hope?

Having said that, I am familiar with some research in expertise and neurobiology.  As far as research in expertise shows so far -- and it seems unlikely to change -- is that the single biggest predictor of expertise is time spent.  In such a case, the odds would favor someone who started out young -- a finding that is probably familiar no matter what discipline one is in.

Also, the nervous system, especially the brain, is noted for changing in response to environmental stimulation -- called 'plasticity.'  However, plasticity is greatest when a person is very young -- as in a child.  As one ages, not only does plasticity decrease, but the rate at which neurons die off increases.  Not promising for us older souls.

Take-home point:  It is not theoretically impossible for an older person who started learning chess late to become a good or great chess player. It is certainly possible to become better -- up until the time one dies, very likely.  I have dreams of becoming a high-quality chess player and I choose to retain them.  However, I would not bet a large amount of money on them coming true, at least as far as I would want them.   Not just because of age issues, but also masters and grandmasters are statisically rare in general.  The point that paulgottlieb makes is well-taken:  The higher one goes, the tougher one's competition gets.  Then motivation enters in.  Becoming an older 2500 player might not be impossible, but it might in most cases be prohibitively difficult.  Aim high, but your primary objective should always be personal -- to get better and to learn more about the game.

Mike.

 He had been a very strong IM in his 20s, however

 2500+ is not what people call "at least become good"

first of all, if you already believe that you can become good, why are you asking our opinions?  strange that you aski if you can improve then tell people that you don't want them to answer unless they say you can.

also:  2500 as a goal if you're only 1000 player is overtly lofty, even unrealistic, but i guess it could be done. 

and now my answer to your question--yes, you are too late to excel in chess.  sorry.  try to get to 1100 first dude.  2500 is a joke for you right now.

drmow11n - I agree that a 1400 could continue to improve at an age where they are actually decaying in potential. However, the key point is that the vast majority of players potential are far below 2500.

I think the highest title one can hope to achieve at any reasonable age is the master title. It gets exponentially more difficult after that.

Baby steps dude. Becoming an "A" player is a respectable goal. And then when you're an A player, becoming a "master" is a respectable goal, and so on till 2500.

You're also taking the rating of "2500" very very lightly. People spend their entire lives trying to achieve ratings much lower than this, and much of the time it's still a very involved process with many sub-goals along the way. Coming out and just saying "I want to become a grandmaster, I'm a beginner, what does that take?" won't exactly get you many encouraging replies compared with if you changed "2500" to "A", Which I believe is possible for anyone at any age.

I think 2500 ++ is too high for my current level. I think I need some time to 'get a feeling for chess' first before thinking of getting a higher rate.

T__T really have to change this kind of daydreaming mentality.

*The higher someone climb, the harder he/she falls.*

"Nowadays, when you're not a grandmaster at 14, you can forget about it."  -  Viswanathan Anand

from http://www.chessquotes.com/player-anand

i've decided you'll probably never get higher than 1300.