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1. Go to a real chess club
2. Play in an OTB tournament
3. Get a coach

Then the coach will give you the next steps

Silman only says these 50 year old bastards can grow to become masters so they will buy more chess books (which is better business than the salary for playing chess moves)

Here is what I've gathered from talking to a lot of high-level players on the subject.

1) There is definitely a ceiling that some players won't be able to get past no matter how much they work.

2) That ceiling is somewhere between 2100 and 2400, so even pessimistically the lowest levels of master should be within that range.

3) The work involved is quite large, larger than most people realize. It is not a matter of just really liking to play chess in your spare time or blitzing through a bunch of games.

To the original author of this forum thread:

Just how successful you will be in achieving your goal depends on how important this goal is to you (just how much work you are willing to do to improve), and your talent for chess.  I, for one, am still shocked by how much time it takes to improve in this game--- we're talking hours and hours, day after day.  But its a pretty good time, if you're into that sort of thing, so good luck to you and all the rest who try-- myself included!  I don't have more profound advice other than play lots of rated games in the real world, like Philidor Position says above.  Good luck!

Oh, and for sure:  lowest level masters in the USCF often seem like more booked-up versions of the Class players.  They make tons of mistakes and outright blunders, tactical and positional, and can (and do) lose games to class players.  Their level certainly seems achievable with little more than hard work alone, but Christ, it sure is a lot of work!

 All that and you call me a [SECOND VILE TERM REMOVED]?  Are you 12 years old?  Giving vile abuse on the internet does not make you a man.  Grow up and get some therapy.  You are clearly insecure, nevermind the anger issues.

There are plenty of "masters", maybe you will be one of them, and maybe you won't be one of them. Either way, play some moves & enjoy the experience. "1850 online rating" compared to "2200 FIDE rating" is quite a difference in class. What is your current losing% against people rated around 2000? You will have to score the same winning% against those guys to become a 2200. And you probably know how tenacious those 2000s appear to be compared to you at the moment.

Very reasonable advice. In other words, get real. No one knows what your "German web-server 1850 rating" accounts for. Neither do we know what you mean by master strength. Getting an IM title? FM title? Some national title? A certain rating? Praise from a master who has had too much beer and patted you on the shoulder: "You are almost as good as me!"?

No matter what, you will have to work really hard if you want to become a master. And nothing is guaranteed. It's not that I am trying to frighten you, rather a warning...

I think it's a completely reasonable goal if you're determined and first of all I would recommend you just ignore people who write aggressive statements on these boards.  Statements like you need to study 5-8 hours a day are hugely exaggerated if by master you mean 2200+.

Obviously not having achieved master lever myself I'm not well qualified to comment on how best to achieve this (but I think there is plenty of advice from Silman and others on here). I would strongly suggest that you join a chess club though... I have also spent a few years playing only on the internet and have recently joined a club (my initial goal is less ambitious to reach FIDE 2000+).  I have to say that it's really much easier to be motivated to play in a "real" environment and of course you have the benefits of talking through the game afterwards, knowing that your opponent is not getting help from fritz, and the FIDE rating is much more secure and respected than any online rating.  One word of advice from my personal recent experience is to get used to using a real board before the first game.... it took me a few games to start seeing things on a board rather than a computer screen.

Good  luck with your goal. And don't forget to have some fun along the way.

1. Analyze your games by writing notes. Learn from it. compare it with GM level games and run it thru a very strong software. Take notes

2. Master 1 openning with white and another with balck, stick on it until you master it. Take notes

3. If you get bored or lost in mastering your openning, try solving puzzles. But then again you have to take notes

Taking notes is one key that we take forgranted, taking notes will save us from committing the same mistake. Imagine, if you can learn from all your mistake(never commit the same mistake in the span of 5 years) even an average person would be a master.

GM level is a different one, this will need raw talent. If you cannot see thru 6 moves deep... then you might want to consider other games

in the 80's-90's i played in otb tournaments alost every weekend and played manymasters. i've drawm tith us champ max dulgy in a simul. i've beaten masters rated as high as 2350 and ican tell you its not easy . i've also had games where i was winning against a master and just one mistakew cost me the game, one in particu8lar was against asa hoffman in the 1986 nj open; an exchange ahead after 14 moves with a much better position i blew the game and missed a winning move. after the game hoffman commented that i played much better than my rating which was 2100 uscf. its tough to improve at 38 unless you have the time and more importantly the determination to work toward your goal. i'msoon to be 64 and retired with loads of time but lack the fir in the belly. i wish you luck!

lol

How are the ratings of computer cheats reliable?

This is also my goal, last year i defeated 3 masters in long otb chess.  There are holes in their game and their openings that can be exploited if you prepare proper.  The one thing I have noticed about masters is that they are very good at defending difficult positions and never give up or give quick draws.

I applaud and agree with 'rockpeter' from Canada, be master of your domain. However there is a serious point here - if you reach your goal of being a 'master', what do you do then? Throw a party? As the ancient Zen master Yu Win No said to the monks in his charge, 'is your glass full, or have you drunk all the wine?' 

There is a book I own that I have referenced here on Chess.com before called "Chess Master ...at any age." It was written by a guy named Rolf Wetzell, who had always been a high B/low A level player. In the book he describes the method he used, as well as the obstacles he overcame, to propel himself through several rating classes, evenutally becoming a Master after turning 50 years old. His method will not necessarily work for everyone else - or anyone else for that matter; it was, after all, his method - but there is plenty of valuable advice and guidance in it.

I'm certain the book is out of print now, but it may be available through a used bookstore or maybe an Internet bookseller like Amazon. Ruy1Lopez, you might want to look into getting a copy. I do not have the desire to become a Master, but it is still an interesting read, and I have used some of the advice inside to improve my game.

Hope this helps! Good luck on your road to Master level!

Well, when I was active there my highest rating was in 1900s, so I never played with any cheaters.