Is 18 too late?
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Mar 30, 2018
0
#3
Beginner at 18 is not too late for master title. I know a few people.
Mostly you have to happen to enjoy doing the right kind of work, which is, in short, systematic and focused training.
But basically go to as many OTB tournaments as possible, and read as many books as possible. The basic areas are openings, endgames, strategy, and tactics. Good luck.
Mar 30, 2018
0
#4
it is not late.From 20 to 35 is best age for a chess player for his developement.
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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/
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
Mar 30, 2018
0
#6
There is an article about a man who is 105 years old and just biked 17 miles in one hour. I think you could start playing chess at 50 and still be excellent. Don’t let others tell you what you can and can’t do. You obviously cannot become a famous child actor, but if you’re willing to work hard and you have the right outlook, you can become an excellent chess player for sure.
Mar 30, 2018
0
#7
Saptarshi Roy, an Indian Grandmaster started playing chess at the age of 16.....So it's never too late to start.
I would say 19 is still too late to become an IM or FM, but I know someone who started studying chess around 16 and is a CM today. He is 30 years old now, IDK when he got his CM title.
I am just speaking from personal experience, I am sure there are FMs and IMs that started after 19. I never met one, I didn't want to give you false hopes.
Not too late, especially if you already have a mind for analysis and computation. I have known folks in their 50s who've just learned the game and made B-rank inside of a year. However, it is easier if you find a club with a good range of skill levels. Ideally you want to play as many games as possible with folks 200-400 Elo points ahead of you - you'll lose most of the time, but you'll still be able to understand why.
If the folks around you are too strong, you won't be ready to understand what they have to teach. If they aren't strong enough, you won't be forced to improve your own play.
Mar 30, 2018
0
#10
oh, no, I don't think 18 is too late to become a master. You may have to work a little harder than most, but too late? No!
I didnt start until age 20 with tourney play and study and made master ( on my own ) , so I am proof that 18 is not too late .
With the right determination and passion, you can start whenever you like, I think.
Mar 30, 2018
0
#13
Don't let other people place limitations on you. If you are willing to put in the time and effort, you can do it. Dedicate the next 200 months of your life to studying chess for 20 hours a week. Make it happen.
Do you enjoy playing chess? If the answer is yes, then why would age matter? Which brings us back to your question “do I still have a shot?” And I’ll ask again: A shot at what?
Mar 30, 2018
0
#15
Too late for what?
To become world champion, yeah. You probably should already be a strong GM if you want to be world champion.
To become GM, probably, although a lot of natural talent and a huge amount of hard work might make up for the late start.
To become NM or FM? Probably not, although you will likely have to work harder for it than someone who started age 5.
To have fun playing chess? Definitely not. You can enjoy it at any level.
yes
I'm an average person and lazy learner, and I managed to achieve 1600+ in blitz (and 1800 in daily). So I'm quite sure any person, regardless of the age, can achieve 1600+ in blitz (and 1800 in daily). Beyond that, I don't know.
Thanks for all the comments and to clarify I would like to be as good as I possibly can, I would like to be a CM at least. I know I'll never be world champion but I want to go as far as possible, I even have a dream about being an IM. To rephrase how far do you think someone of my age could go with consistent study and work
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Mar 30, 2018
0
#20
TateClaghorn wrote:
To rephrase how far do you think someone of my age could go with consistent study and work
If you're the greatest chess genius who has ever started at age 18, who knows. Probably you could be a pretty strong GM.
I'm not a sports psychologist (or any kind of psychologist lol) but the fact that you're asking this question gives me the feeling you don't have the ideal mindset.
As I said in my first post, the "secret" is you enjoy doing the right kinds of work. And if that were true for you, I don't think you'd be on a forum asking what your max potential is with a 1000 rating and 100 games played.
I knew a guy who bought about 40 chess books and read them all in 1 year. Well, that's not accurate. He read them all in 6 months, then in the next 6 months he read them all again. He went to an OTB tournament every weekend.
Are you going to remember 40 books in 6 months? Hell no. He didn't either. But he just loved to play and loved to learn. That's the sort of obsession/passion you'd need to be the absolute 100% best you can be... and no offense to people who do this, but that's not what a sane, normal, healthy person does. A normal person gives an hour or two a day or chess, at most, because they also have a family, job, other relationships, other interests, etc.
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So if you have a passion, great! I assume everyone on this forum has felt the passion for chess to one degree or another. We can relate. But if you have the sort of extreme passion necessary to be, lets say an IM or GM, you'll be out there living chess to the fullest (heh 
) and not in the forum worrying about how good you'll get.
I am currently 19 and started seriously studying chess when I was 18. I saw a similar "is it too late for me?" Post by someone who started learning at 25. He was told that master level play is most likely not possible for him due to the brain being done developing around the mid 20s. Although 18 is a later start than many master level players do I still have a shot?