you are insane thinking about becoming a gm. you need more than 50000 hours of practice (not joking)
Whoa, runaway inflation!
That's almost 6 years.
Oh, of non-stop studying.
No sleep, no time to do anything else.
If a person spent 40 hours a week on chess, it would take nearly 25 years to study for 50,000 hours. (Check my math, I may have made a mistake.)
8760 hours in a year
If that’s your dream then go for it and don’t let anyone tell you different .
The modern-day mantra...
I think it is very simple indeed. You need 2 important things in order to become GM:
1) You need to play "Over The Board Chess" (OBC). Internet chess won't suffice.
2) You need to win GM norms in chess tournaments.
In order to achive 1) and 2) join a chess club. Here you can play OBC and you can play in tournaments. Furthermore you will find out what is realistic for you. You will find out how much time you want to devote to the cause and that will be a major matter.
As a bonus you will have a lot of fun playing chess no matter how things turn out and that is a great bonus!
I have no idea why this old thread got bumped, but according to the OP's profile he now has a FIDE rating of 2883, so I guess he was right all along.
I have no idea why this old thread got bumped, but according to the OP's profile he now has a FIDE rating of 2883, so I guess he was right all along.
40 points higher then Magnus, damn this guy must be good <insert sarcasm>
please do not let these nay-Sayers derail you.
Please let the yay-sayers name a single person who started at age 25, then later made it to a level comparable to modern day FM, IM, or GM level.
I started playing when I was like 31. No chance for me! That's okay, it's a GAME. It's supposed to be fun!
I am 25 and just started playing chess. How hard was it for you guys to become Grandmasters?
I'm hoping that in a few years time I can be grandmaster if I put in about 5 hours a day of preparation. That's almost 10,000 hours. 9125 to be exact (5*365*5). From what I know, becoming a grandmaster used to be hard, but now it's easy because of computers. That's why there is so many grandmasters nowadays. So if you guys could tell me how you became grandmasters I would appreciate it. Please discuss study time, preparation, how long it took you, diet, etc.
Thanks guys
It's really easy.
This thread makes me want to try haha. Starting at 36 though instead of 25! I'm not new to chess but it's 20 years since I was playing at school and a local club. How hard can it be ;-)
This thread is ridiculous nonsense. The OP is a troll and needs a reality check. There is no way it takes THAT long to become a GM, that's a hyperbolic claim. I reckon with a year of training anybody could become a GM.
He's the OP. It's only he's changed his mind, he should have gone even further, he thinks now. :D
Possibly of interest:
"... the NM title is an honor that only one percent of USCF members attain. ..." - IM John Donaldson (2015)
http://www.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Reaching-the-Top-77p3905.htm
What It Takes to Become a Chess Master by Andrew Soltis
"... going from good at tactics to great at tactics ... doesn't translate into much greater strength. ... You need a relatively good memory to reach average strength. But a much better memory isn't going to make you a master. ... there's a powerful law of diminishing returns in chess calculation, ... Your rating may have been steadily rising when suddenly it stops. ... One explanation for the wall is that most players got to where they are by learning how to not lose. ... Mastering chess ... requires a new set of skills and traits. ... Many of these attributes are kinds of know-how, such as understanding when to change the pawn structure or what a positionally won game looks like and how to deal with it. Some are habits, like always looking for targets. Others are refined senses, like recognizing a critical middlegame moment or feeling when time is on your side and when it isn't. ..." - GM Andrew Soltis (2012)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093409/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review857.pdf
100 Chess Master Trade Secrets by Andrew Soltis
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708094523/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review916.pdf
Reaching the Top?! by Peter Kurzdorfer
"... On the one hand, your play needs to be purposeful much of the time; the ability to navigate through many different types of positions needs to be yours; your ability to calculate variations and find candidate moves needs to be present in at least an embryonic stage. On the other hand, it will be heart-warming and perhaps inspiring to realize that you do not need to give up blunders or misconceptions or a poor memory or sloppy calculating habits; that you do not need to know all the latest opening variations, or even know what they are called. You do not have to memorize hundreds of endgame positions or instantly recognize the proper procedure in a variety of pawn structures.
[To play at a master level consistently] is not an easy task, to be sure ..., but it is a possible one. ..." - NM Peter Kurzdorfer (2015)
http://www.thechessmind.net/blog/2015/11/16/book-notice-kurzdorfers-reaching-the-top.html
http://www.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Reaching-the-Top-77p3905.htm
"Yes, you can easily become a master. All you need to do is some serious, focused work on your play.
That 'chess is 99% tactics and blah-blah' thing is crap. Chess is several things (opening, endgame, middlegame strategy, positional play, tactics, psychology, time management...) which should be treated properly as a whole. getting just one element of lay and working exclusively on it is of very doubtful value, and at worst it may well turn out being a waste of time." - IM pfren (August 21, 2017)
"Every now and then someone advances the idea that one may gain success in chess by using shortcuts. 'Chess is 99% tactics' - proclaims one expert, suggesting that strategic understanding is overrated; 'Improvement in chess is all about opening knowledge' - declares another. A third self-appointed authority asserts that a thorough knowledge of endings is the key to becoming a master; while his expert-friend is puzzled by the mere thought that a player can achieve anything at all without championing pawn structures.
To me, such statements seem futile. You can't hope to gain mastery of any subject by specializing in only parts of it. ..." - FM Amatzia Avni (2008)
https://www.chess.com/article/view/can-anyone-be-an-im-or-gm
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/kids-fight-stereotypes-using-chess-in-rural-mississippi/
http://brooklyncastle.com/
https://www.chess.com/article/view/don-t-worry-about-your-rating
https://www.chess.com/article/view/am-i-too-old-for-chess
https://www.chess.com/article/view/how-can-older-players-improve
Train Like a Grandmaster by Kotov
Becoming a Grandmaster by Keene
What It Takes to Become a Grandmaster by GM Andrew Soltis
"BENJAMIN FINEGOLD (born Sep-06-1969 ...) ... Ben became a USCF Life Master at 15, USCF Senior Master at 16, an International Master in 1989, and achieved his final GM norm at the SPICE Cup B Section in September, 2009. ..."
http://www.chessgames.com/player/benjamin_finegold.html
"MARK IZRAILOVICH DVORETSKY (... died Sep-26-2016 ...) ... He was ... awarded the IM title in 1975. Dvoretsky was also a FIDE Senior Trainer and noted author. ... During the 1970s, Mark was widely regarded by the strongest IM in the world, ..."
http://www.chessgames.com/player/mark_izrailovich_dvoretsky.html
"To become a grandmaster is very difficult and can take quite a long time! ... you need to ... solve many exercises, analyse your games, study classic games, modern games, have an opening repertoire and so on. Basically, it is hard work ... It takes a lot more than just reading books to become a grandmaster I am afraid." - GM Artur Yusupov (2013)
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/QandAwithArturYusupovQualityChessAugust2013.pdf
https://www.chess.com/blog/smurfo/book-review-insanity-passion-and-addiction
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/26/books/books-of-the-times-when-the-child-chess-genius-becomes-the-pawn.html
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2017/05/05/making-a-living-in-chess-is-tough-but-the-internet-is-making-it-easier/#4284e4814850
https://www.chess.com/news/view/is-there-good-money-in-chess-1838
"... Many aspiring young chess players dream of one day becoming a grandmaster and a professional. ... But ... a profession must bring in at least a certain regular income even if one is not too demanding. ... The usual prize money in Open tournaments is meagre. ... The higher the prizes, the greater the competition. ... With a possibly not very high and irregular income for several decades the amount of money one can save for old age remains really modest. ... Anyone who wants to reach his maximum must concentrate totally on chess. That involves important compromises with or giving up on his education. ... it is a question of personal life planning and when deciding it is necessary to be fully conscious of the various possibilities, limitations and risks. ... a future professional must really love chess and ... be prepared to work very hard for it. ... It is all too frequent that a wrong evaluation is made of what a talented player can achieve. ... Most players have the potential for a certain level; once they have reached it they can only make further progress with a great effort. ... anyone who is unlikely to attain a high playing strength should on no account turn professional. ... Anyone who does not meet these top criteria can only try to earn his living with public appearances, chess publishing or activity as a trainer. But there is a lack of offers and these are not particularly well paid. For jobs which involve appearing in public, moreover, certain non-chess qualities are required. ... a relevant 'stage presence' and required sociability. ... All these jobs and existences, moreover, have hanging above them the sword of Damocles of general economic conditions. ... around [age] 40 chess players ... find that their performances are noticeably tailing off. ..." - from a 12 page chapter on becoming a chess professional in the book, Luther's Chess Reformation by GM Thomas Luther (2016)
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/LuthersChessReformation-excerpt.pdf
This thread is ridiculous nonsense. The OP is a troll and needs a reality check. There is no way it takes THAT long to become a GM, that's a hyperbolic claim. I reckon with a year of training anybody could become a GM.
He's back and he became even more pathetic. HAAAAAAAAAa
you are insane thinking about becoming a gm. you need more than 50000 hours of practice (not joking)
Whoa, runaway inflation!
That's almost 6 years.
Oh, of non-stop studying.
No sleep, no time to do anything else.
If a person spent 40 hours a week on chess, it would take nearly 25 years to study for 50,000 hours. (Check my math, I may have made a mistake.)