If you can take a chess book and go through it without a board, understanding the moves, and all the branches from the diagrams in the book, playing through them in your head, then you are probably GM material.
If not, forget it.
That seems super easy to be honest, I think there's more to being a GM than that
that's good op.
whats your answer? how you are going to earn enough to go to distant tournaments and yet still have time and energy for non-stop chess study and improvement?
have you given up already? is so wow talk about no dedication! many people here are trying to improve in chess. let the end of the road be a little vague.
anyone can enjoy chess and get better at playing it.
If you can take a chess book and go through it without a board, understanding the moves, and all the branches from the diagrams in the book, playing through them in your head, then you are probably GM material.
If not, forget it.
That seems super easy to be honest, I think there's more to being a GM than that
you can do that?
seriously??
I have most chess books I have to set up positions to understand anything about a master level game.
that's more proof I am No where near their level.
If you can take a chess book and go through it without a board, understanding the moves, and all the branches from the diagrams in the book, playing through them in your head, then you are probably GM material.
If not, forget it.
That seems super easy to be honest, I think there's more to being a GM than that
Looks like you didn't get it. But I assume you are a novice player from your ratings, so that's ok. After a couple of years of hard training (notice the keyword), you should definitely understand what it takes.
Oh, one more thing. You need excellent memory. The type where you don't forget anything. You can take a sheet of paper with a list on it, go through it for 5 minutes, and then recite everything back from memory. That kind of memory....
If you can take a chess book and go through it without a board, understanding the moves, and all the branches from the diagrams in the book, playing through them in your head, then you are probably GM material.
If not, forget it.
Untrue; I can do that and I'm barely 1900 material
If you can take a chess book and go through it without a board, understanding the moves, and all the branches from the diagrams in the book, playing through them in your head, then you are probably GM material.
If not, forget it.
Untrue; I can do that and I'm barely 1900 material
Read my post above again, I forgot to mention good memory...
obviously a 1900 player is starting to get it.
surely he can't play at Gm levels; but at least he has gone ways in understanding how.
In other places, this particular strong player has written on how hard to is to markedly improve at 1900.
If you can take a chess book and go through it without a board, understanding the moves, and all the branches from the diagrams in the book, playing through them in your head, then you are probably GM material.
If not, forget it.
Untrue; I can do that and I'm barely 1900 material
Read my post above again, I forgot to mention good memory...
I don't think at all that the thing separating me from being a GM is memory; my GM coach has repeatedly told me he thinks I have one of the best memories of all his students despite most of them being higher-rated than I am.
There are a multitude of factors which extend far beyond basic mental ability.
curious
calculation, pattern recogntion, analytical accuracy...?
I don't mean to pry, but I got beaten by a 1780 and an 1810 last saturday.
you guys seem nearly invincible to me. lol.
If you can take a chess book and go through it without a board, understanding the moves, and all the branches from the diagrams in the book, playing through them in your head, then you are probably GM material.
If not, forget it.
Untrue; I can do that and I'm barely 1900 material
Read my post above again, I forgot to mention good memory...
I don't think at all that the thing separating me from being a GM is memory; my GM coach has repeatedly told me he thinks I have one of the best memories of all his students despite most of them being higher-rated than I am.
There are a multitude of factors which extend far beyond basic mental ability.
Well, you may be an odd one out then. Being able to calculate accurately in your head without a board, and good memory are the two basic things to level up, IMO.
That's why GMs can (or are supposed to) play blindfold simuls. If they didn't have good memory, how can they "return" back to each board or go from one board to another all the while not seeing anything?
Are you sure you can do this? Play a simul blindfolded? This is an innate ability that GMs are supposed to have.
I about fell out of my chair after reading the original post and some of the very naïve posts that he posted after that, trying to set goals at 5 or 10 years? For a 25-year-old? What a joke!
I learned how to play at the age of 8, started playing in tournaments at 21, and am 41 now and still nowhere near GM! Never will be a GM! Neither will you!
Start with lower goals and work your way up. 1800 (Achieved in 1999), then 1900 (Achieved in 1999), then 2000 (Achieved in 2001), then 2100 (Achieved in 2013), then 2200 (Still trying to get there), then 2300, then FIDE Master, then IM, then GM.
If you don't get married and have a kid, you can probably achieve a tad faster than myself, but you think you'll be a GM by the time you are 35 if you are only starting at 25? Dream on bro!
The naïve author of the original post will have a rude awakening once he comes back down to earth!
If you can take a chess book and go through it without a board, understanding the moves, and all the branches from the diagrams in the book, playing through them in your head, then you are probably GM material.
If not, forget it.
Untrue; I can do that and I'm barely 1900 material
Read my post above again, I forgot to mention good memory...
I don't think at all that the thing separating me from being a GM is memory; my GM coach has repeatedly told me he thinks I have one of the best memories of all his students despite most of them being higher-rated than I am.
There are a multitude of factors which extend far beyond basic mental ability.
Well, you may be an odd one out then. Being able to calculate accurately in your head without a board, and good memory are the two basic things to level up, IMO.
That's why GMs can (or are supposed to) play blindfold simuls. If they didn't have good memory, how can they "return" back to each board or go from one board to another all the while not seeing anything?
Are you sure you can do this? Play a simul blindfolded? This is an innate ability that GMs are supposed to have.
You asked if I can analyze a position blindfold, from a book or by memory without looking at a board. I can (and I didn't use to be able to). You asked if I have a good memory, and I responded yes. I have never tried to play multiple blindfold games at once, and I'm sure I'd have issues, although it would be interesting to try.
But these are not extremely important factors in my opinion.
The OP's best bet is to build a time machine and go back to when he was five years old and tell his parents to support the other him with his chess aspirations etc
I was at a 4NCL weekend chess event a few months . A father was accompanying his young son, paying for hotel etc. It's just not about an individual but the environment they grow up in. Pick a well known actor, look them up on wiki - invariably their parents are actors etc
The idea that someone can 'just' become a GM is insulting to many of us who work hard at eventually becoming mediocre players - it implies we are idiots when the truth is you need exposure at a young age, supportive parents and talent.
amen to that ziggy.
even the tournament average of 1400- is an achievement; though compared to a GM it is nothing.
you simply can't appreciate how hard it is to master something, until you've tried and got to first steps.
OP just started playing chess, criticizes everyone else for not working hard enough
lol
@danny.
do you know about how strong a 90% tournament player.
its also something to appreciate that the population of tournament players is far better at chess than just the casual internet chess player.
as a beginner; you could just as easily vow to be the WCC as to be an expert.
even though the latter is more possible.... its still incredibly difficult to be an expert and requires an amount of dedication and work a beginner couldn't appreciate.
Beginners tend to hugely overestimate themselves and underestimate everyone else and chess in general. This is one reason why so many people play 3 games of chess in their life, lose and never come back to the game. It can be pretty humbling.
OP like most beginners simply don't understand how good a GM really is. How could he? Neither can I. You first have to understand chess to understand what people understand about chess understand?
What he imagines is GM level is probably around 2000 Elo or less.
If you can take a chess book and go through it without a board, understanding the moves, and all the branches from the diagrams in the book, playing through them in your head, then you are probably GM material.
If not, forget it.