Can Anyone Become Grandmaster?

Well, for sure I do not work to become a GM, thus ensuring I will never be one.

But that does not mean that I could be one if I did.

Billyblat, you succesfully proved that non(A) implies non(B), where A = "work to become a GM" and B = "become a GM". This does not prove at all that A implies B. This only proves that B implies A, ie all GMs have worked very hard to get there, which was pretty obvious.

RetGuvvie98 wrote:

So finally what you are saying is that you believe you won't become a GM; and that is YOUR reality, or 'a' reality, not THE reality. With the level of work, you still doubt it will ever get you where you want to go. Or maybe you have given up trying to get to the summit, and resigned yourself to be content with what you get and be happy with it.

But because you believe you are working at your utmost limit (defined by yourself), and you cannot reach the summit, this must be true for everyone else. That is, if everyone worked at their utmost, in the end it wouldn't matter.

It seems you have abandoned all hope of ever becoming a GM, or you are not even willing to entertain the hope, or just say ok maybe. What could you lose, your hopes being falsified, pain and suffering of ever thinking you could achieve it, fear of failing? Who knows....

No one is questioning your hard work and dedication. But your faithlessness. And of course REALITY is rewarding this act accordingly by not giving you any hope. Now in the end who knows what happens, maybe you'll become a gm when you are 80 or 90, or maybe you won't. But by writing the future, by ascribing yourself omnipotence, you are creating reality. Reality is not out there, we bring and add to it as well. 

Your expectations teach you what is possible, your self imposed limit is not necessary. It is one thing to climb and say I did my utmost, it is another to tie ones leg up, and then climb and say, this is my utmost.

In both cases you may never reach the top, that is no matter, but always, always I'd rather take the first case. 

@billyblatt : there's no harm dreaming

But all this 'I can do it' talk is exactly that : talking...

Kingpatzer will become a very good player with time. Maybe not a GM, but certainly a very good player.

@hicetnunc that is true. I just think he shouldn't pre-estimate himself or the future.

Yes, do the work, but let time and life reveal what is possible.

Don't demand to become a GM, or with pride say 'I can', but also don't say it is impossible. Detachment from the result or reward; gm or no gm, play good chess, learn and study and go forward. See what happens. 

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/joshua-waitzkin?lc=1#  All you clots who think that you could become a GM by just by hard work, should see post #105 in this thread.

you don't know what work is... go back to your en passant captures

Blow it out your arse Mr. Delusional.

lol yup that's how you do it...that's how improve your chess...

Good night to this thread.

Here's the thing, there are a few things I'm really, really good at. I received two research fellowships from the DOE, for example.  Not everyone gets those. You actually have to have something going on to win those awards. I went to graduate school on a named fellowship. I've been on the editing team for works published by Oxford University Press. I didn't get to the point where I could do those things because I sat down and dreamed I would get there. I got there by doing my homework, and studying hard for the test the next day. 

Keep dreaming. That is what limits real achievement, not what drives it.  

+1 to anything that Kingpatzer says for being realistic and -1 for anything that billyblatt says for being delusional and unable to understand logic

.....put a band of monkeys at typewriters, and after several million years they will eventually have written all the works of Shakespeare.

Or at a minimum, record a couple of Neil Diamond songs.

Well sure, you have to be smart enough to know how hard you need to work.

This guy must have been delusional too: apparently all the realistic logical geniuses missed this whole post. Only take in whatever fits in your worldview, then call it objective reality:

November 8, 2008

Larry Kaufman,  Photo Betsy Dynako  May 2008 American IM Larry Kaufman tied for first at the World Senior Championship ( Bad Zwischenahn, Germany, October 28-November 11) with GM Mihai Suba, and takes the official crown on tiebreak. He also earns the GM title automatically! Check out the final standings here. Larry drew his final round game against IM Alexander Zakharov which he knew in advance was enough to win on tiebreak as long as GM Wolfgang Uhlmann did not defeat GM  Miso Cebalo. Uhlmann lost, so Larry made a draw in a favorable position to clinch the GM title.

I am glad you have good self understanding, and know how to achieve success, and have a plan to improve in chess. I just don't understand why you see it necessary to convince others what is possible and impossible for them.

We all have constraints -- it doesn't matter who you are. There will be plenty of chess related things that even Magnus Carlsen won't be able to do -- such as accurately calculating 50 complicated moves ahead in 30 seconds, or not make a single mistake in the next 500 blitz games he plays. He has to be satisfied with learning/knowing as much as he does, of which will always be sub-optimal. This is a situation everyone has to face.

On this infinite spectrum of skill, it seems sensible to simply find satisfaction in getting farther than you once were, even though you will never get to the end.

Elitism is the belief or attitude that some individuals, who form an elite—a select group of people with a certain ancestry, intrinsic quality or worth, higher intellect,wealth, specialized training or experience, or other distinctive attributes—are those whose influence or authority is greater than that of others; whose views on a matter are to be taken the most seriously or carry the most weight; whose views or actions are most likely to be constructive to society as a whole; or whose extraordinary skills, abilities, or wisdom render them especially fit to govern.

 Elitism also refers to situations in which an individual assumes special privileges and responsibilities in the hope that this arrangement will benefit humanity or themselves

  The term elitism is also sometimes used to denote situations in which a group of people claiming to possess high abilities or simply an in-group or cadre grant themselves extra privileges at the expense of others.