Any grandmasters who started late?

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trw0311
I played a lot in elementary school and middle school. Was the #1 in my chess club and then high school I just played here and there. Didn’t really play at all from 18 to 27 and then had a couple spurts of playing for a few months. At 31, 2 years ago, I really starting playing and studying alot. Got from 800 to 1450 in that time frame on here. I mostly play on lichess and I am much higher rated there, I’d say my true rating is intermediate uscf maybe around 1500-1600 rapid. I have beaten a few 1800’s and 2000’s. I also work full time and have a house and a kid so it is very difficult to devote alot of time to chess. I am going to start going to my local chess club and playing OTB to get experience then try a few tournaments. I think it is totally doable to get to 1800-2000 in a few years however I don’t think I can get much higher than that. I simply don’t have the desire to spend hours memorizing computer lines and such. I will try to get my kid into chess study early and if he likes it I can live vicariously through his gm title one day :). I had a lot of natural talent as a kid and I bet if I stuck with it I probably would be a titled player by now. I would be happy just getting to expert by my late 30s. Any chess improvement is satisfying to me!
chessisNOTez884
Dmfed wrote:
TheNameofNames skrev:

The chess brah aman is one too isnt he?

This one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aman_Hambleton? The one who started chess at five (5) and played in his first tournament at six (6)?

go argue over here too.. thats an fact that you MUST accept.. you dont drain your energy i will too not.

chessisNOTez884
trw0311 wrote:
I played a lot in elementary school and middle school. Was the #1 in my chess club and then high school I just played here and there. Didn’t really play at all from 18 to 27 and then had a couple spurts of playing for a few months. At 31, 2 years ago, I really starting playing and studying alot. Got from 800 to 1450 in that time frame on here. I mostly play on lichess and I am much higher rated there, I’d say my true rating is intermediate uscf maybe around 1500-1600 rapid. I have beaten a few 1800’s and 2000’s. I also work full time and have a house and a kid so it is very difficult to devote alot of time to chess. I am going to start going to my local chess club and playing OTB to get experience then try a few tournaments. I think it is totally doable to get to 1800-2000 in a few years however I don’t think I can get much higher than that. I simply don’t have the desire to spend hours memorizing computer lines and such. I will try to get my kid into chess study early and if he likes it I can live vicariously through his gm title one day :). I had a lot of natural talent as a kid and I bet if I stuck with it I probably would be a titled player by now. I would be happy just getting to expert by my late 30s. Any chess improvement is satisfying to me!

bro age does NOT matter just focus on yourself and be ready there is a chinese master lol idk his name who started in his teens too and plenty of them who started in thirties ALSO. dont care about dmfed he is only here to waste his time and debate.. does not matter to us

chessisNOTez884
Dmfed wrote:
darkunorthodox88 skrev:

Those are actually good examples, even if I personally would probably call Shaw and Hawkins late bloomers since they already played chess at at least club level as teens. Never the less, it is interesting since it sounds like something clicked for Hawkins and he started rapidly to get better while Shaw is more of a slow and steady improvement over time. So both type of improvement are possible.

Suba is most interesting for late starters since he started playing as young adult. Is there any examples of his training regime or program? Did he played it beside his studies and work or did he 100% focused on chess?

yeah he did his studies too? not like you thinking only about cons about any forum

chessisNOTez884
TheNameofNames wrote:
sachin884 wrote:
trw0311 wrote:
I played a lot in elementary school and middle school. Was the #1 in my chess club and then high school I just played here and there. Didn’t really play at all from 18 to 27 and then had a couple spurts of playing for a few months. At 31, 2 years ago, I really starting playing and studying alot. Got from 800 to 1450 in that time frame on here. I mostly play on lichess and I am much higher rated there, I’d say my true rating is intermediate uscf maybe around 1500-1600 rapid. I have beaten a few 1800’s and 2000’s. I also work full time and have a house and a kid so it is very difficult to devote alot of time to chess. I am going to start going to my local chess club and playing OTB to get experience then try a few tournaments. I think it is totally doable to get to 1800-2000 in a few years however I don’t think I can get much higher than that. I simply don’t have the desire to spend hours memorizing computer lines and such. I will try to get my kid into chess study early and if he likes it I can live vicariously through his gm title one day :). I had a lot of natural talent as a kid and I bet if I stuck with it I probably would be a titled player by now. I would be happy just getting to expert by my late 30s. Any chess improvement is satisfying to me!

bro age does NOT matter just focus on yourself and be ready there is a chinese master lol idk his name who started in his teens too and plenty of them who started in thirties ALSO. dont care about dmfed he is only here to waste his time and debate.. does not matter to us

bro age definitely DOES matter

bro ok bro but do you agree that any one who started a bit late or later can also become masters? chess

PlayByDay
sachin884 skrev:

bro ok bro but do you agree that any one who started a bit late or later can also become masters? chess

Why don't you provide any examples of people who started as adult and achieved GM. I would agree that any adult of at least average intellect, without an being obviously untalented in chess or board games, who can and want to spend at least 10 years of 4 hours a day deliberate and active training with the goal to improve, would reach at least Candidate Master rank. But Grand Master is beyond the means of most except for some very rare talents.

itay72

Akiba Rubenstein started at 14

chessisNOTez884
Dmfed wrote:
sachin884 skrev:

bro ok bro but do you agree that any one who started a bit late or later can also become masters? chess

Why don't you provide any examples of people who started as adult and achieved GM. I would agree that any adult of at least average intellect, without an being obviously untalented in chess or board games, who can and want to spend at least 10 years of 4 hours a day deliberate and active training with the goal to improve, would reach at least Candidate Master rank. But Grand Master is beyond the means of most except for some very rare talents.

I don't like to provide to haters.। I already know many of them I know whom to share those and whom to not.। You just keep on debating false trash we dont care.wdym only cm? Many of them achieved gms.you just can't accept it why? Did chess harm you or what? Just don't drain your energy I will too not. 

RJThomas
trw0311 wrote:
I played a lot in elementary school and middle school. Was the #1 in my chess club and then high school I just played here and there. Didn’t really play at all from 18 to 27 and then had a couple spurts of playing for a few months. At 31, 2 years ago, I really starting playing and studying alot. Got from 800 to 1450 in that time frame on here. I mostly play on lichess and I am much higher rated there, I’d say my true rating is intermediate uscf maybe around 1500-1600 rapid. I have beaten a few 1800’s and 2000’s. I also work full time and have a house and a kid so it is very difficult to devote alot of time to chess. I am going to start going to my local chess club and playing OTB to get experience then try a few tournaments. I think it is totally doable to get to 1800-2000 in a few years however I don’t think I can get much higher than that. I simply don’t have the desire to spend hours memorizing computer lines and such. I will try to get my kid into chess study early and if he likes it I can live vicariously through his gm title one day :). I had a lot of natural talent as a kid and I bet if I stuck with it I probably would be a titled player by now. I would be happy just getting to expert by my late 30s. Any chess improvement is satisfying to me!

This is wishful thinking lol. 1450 chess.com is like 1200 USCF lmao. Go to a tournament and find out. 

chessisNOTez884

dmfed just thinks that genius are born.. but they are MADE.. and not only that.. chess is an indoor game and can be done in any age.. even in old age.. sure talent too is needed but we dont know chess by birth itself right bruh..  many of them achieved title of chess masters in old age too.. see dmfed pls dont drain your energy.. no matter how many chess haters are along with you.. this is sa fact that we can become masters at any age..  

BlackKaweah
Rubenstein learned at 14. Blackburne didn’t learn chess until he was 18.
BouncySword
RJThomas wrote:
trw0311 wrote:
I played a lot in elementary school and middle school. Was the #1 in my chess club and then high school I just played here and there. Didn’t really play at all from 18 to 27 and then had a couple spurts of playing for a few months. At 31, 2 years ago, I really starting playing and studying alot. Got from 800 to 1450 in that time frame on here. I mostly play on lichess and I am much higher rated there, I’d say my true rating is intermediate uscf maybe around 1500-1600 rapid. I have beaten a few 1800’s and 2000’s. I also work full time and have a house and a kid so it is very difficult to devote alot of time to chess. I am going to start going to my local chess club and playing OTB to get experience then try a few tournaments. I think it is totally doable to get to 1800-2000 in a few years however I don’t think I can get much higher than that. I simply don’t have the desire to spend hours memorizing computer lines and such. I will try to get my kid into chess study early and if he likes it I can live vicariously through his gm title one day :). I had a lot of natural talent as a kid and I bet if I stuck with it I probably would be a titled player by now. I would be happy just getting to expert by my late 30s. Any chess improvement is satisfying to me!

This is wishful thinking lol. 1450 chess.com is like 1200 USCF lmao. Go to a tournament and find out. 


1450 chess.com blitz is ~ 1480 USCF according to data provided here:
https://chessgoals.com/rating-comparison/
So yeah, you're very wrong. 

Deadmanparty

It is not just age and training, it is also natural talent and high IQ in areas related to chess.

not_theface

Late to this thread, but I think we would all be remiss to not mention Alexander McDonnell, who began playing in his mid-20s and it would be difficult to dispute that he was one of the greatest players of his time. His match against Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais in 1834 is regarded as one of the greatest of all time.

mirroredragon

not really "starting late" but maurice ashley was 1800 in high school, much lower than most other future grandmasters at that age

not_theface

Ian Rogers, Pontus Carlsson, and Julio Granda Zuniga also come to mind.

PlayByDay
not_theface skrev:

Ian Rogers, Pontus Carlsson, and Julio Granda Zuniga also come to mind.

And what are they doing there, in your mind that is? Any of them a late starter in chess instead of late bloomer, plateau reachers and late achiever of GM specifically?

Zuniga started at 5 and had first tournament at 13 ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julio_Granda

Carlsson started at 4 and had first tournament at 10 (?, "His first international tournament of record was the under-10 European Championships in Rimavská Sobota") ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontus_Carlsson )

So we have Rogers left, who was IM in 1980 (when he was 20) which kinda begs the question when did he learn chess to count as a late starter? ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Rogers_(chess_player) ; https://www.chessgames.com/player/ian_rogers.html )

Roaming_Rooster

Sultan Khan

not_theface
PlayByDay wrote:
not_theface skrev:

Ian Rogers, Pontus Carlsson, and Julio Granda Zuniga also come to mind.

And what are they doing there, in your mind that is? Any of them a late starter in chess instead of late bloomer, plateau reachers and late achiever of GM specifically?

Zuniga started at 5 and had first tournament at 13 ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julio_Granda )

Carlsson started at 4 and had first tournament at 10 (?, "His first international tournament of record was the under-10 European Championships in Rimavská Sobota") ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontus_Carlsson )

So we have Rogers left, who was IM in 1980 (when he was 20) which kinda begs the question when did he learn chess to count as a late starter? ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Rogers_(chess_player) ; https://www.chessgames.com/player/ian_rogers.html )

Tad argumentative for someone who neglected to address McDonnell.

What context am I missing here? It feels like me just answering OP's question was somehow a personal attack on you that you needed to try to refute somehow.

PlayByDay
not_theface skrev:
PlayByDay wrote:
not_theface skrev:

Ian Rogers, Pontus Carlsson, and Julio Granda Zuniga also come to mind.

And what are they doing there, in your mind that is? Any of them a late starter in chess instead of late bloomer, plateau reachers and late achiever of GM specifically?

Zuniga started at 5 and had first tournament at 13 ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julio_Granda )

Carlsson started at 4 and had first tournament at 10 (?, "His first international tournament of record was the under-10 European Championships in Rimavská Sobota") ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontus_Carlsson )

So we have Rogers left, who was IM in 1980 (when he was 20) which kinda begs the question when did he learn chess to count as a late starter? ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Rogers_(chess_player) ; https://www.chessgames.com/player/ian_rogers.html )

Tad argumentative for someone who neglected to address McDonnell.

What context am I missing here? It feels like me just answering OP's question was somehow a personal attack on you that you needed to try to refute somehow.

Honestly, McDonnell was from a different time which isn't relevant in todays world full of pre-teen IMs.

Context is this whole thread, where the question is more or less if there are some GMs who learned later in life (at least teen) and a lot of answers are "sure, just look at this one who learned chess when he/she/it was five". In reality, most (90 - 99%) GMs today are people who learned and played chess as kids.

At best we either have some players who did learn as late teen - young adult or as the case above your post, with Sultan Khan. He did learn european chess at +21... but he already knew indian chess since he was nine and was a master of that variation at the time of learning. Similar to Ye Jiangchuan who did learn european chess at 17 but already played chinese variation since at least 14. And I doubt that both of them were playing chess casually as their part time entertainment.