Is it possible to become GM without coaching ?

Sort:
SonOfThunder2
macer75 wrote:
warmgoat wrote:

I read on chess.com

that nakamura became a GM without reading a book

Well yeah... he became a GM, not a professor of literature.

BAHAHA!

MayCaesar

I was starting to write a long post explaining the problems with your reasoning. Then I read that you left education for chess...

 

It is not too late yet, friend. Finish your education. You are seriously gambling your life. If your chess career doesn't pick up (as it happens to the vast majority of very-very talented and passionate people), then you will always struggle financially, and more, in the world. Even in the (highly unlikely) case of you becoming a super-GM eventually, you will always regret not having finished a college. Not all people have the opportunity to get a decent college degree, and just giving it up like this for a dubious endeavor is a serious mistake.

kindaspongey

Possibly of interest:
https://www.chess.com/article/view/can-anyone-be-an-im-or-gm
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
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
What It Takes to Become a Grandmaster by GM Andrew Soltis
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/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

Pashak1989
sohum3894 escribió:
I am 22 years old. I aspire to become a GM. 

 

Stopped reading right there

Pashak1989
warmgoat escribió:

I read on chess.com

that nakamura became a GM without reading a book

 

Chess.com also says that Nakamura stays sharp with the tactic trainer. 

chessmasterot538

I am in 9 class . I want to learn chess. But without any teacher . Can anyone help me. I was playing normal games without any openings and ending but I want to learn .

mockingbird998

nice one!

AryanSawant21

I’m glad to see that OP has continued to work on his Chess and has surpassed 2000. I wonder where he will be in 2-3 years?

Circumlocutions
Guess he never achieved his goal of becoming a GM in 2020, but hey 2000 rating isn’t shabby
M1m1c15
Why would you
Bump this
pfren

The O.P. is a bit short in his ambitions: It's 2021 already, and his FIDE rating is 1501.

The initial question should be: is it possible to become a CM without coaching?

If you start asking about the requirements for being a GM, it is almost certain that you will never become a CM- let alone a GM.

pawn8888

The only coach anyone needs is a computer program. If you played like a computer you would beat anyone, plus they're a lot cheaper than a coach.  

BestSell
pawn8888 wrote:

The only coach anyone needs is a computer program. If you played like a computer you would beat anyone, plus they're a lot cheaper than a coach.  

Engines in chess are like calculators in math.

They'll give you the answers, but they won't teach you how to properly find those answers on your own.

THECHESSMAN_78

no maybe fide master in a couple a years but you under estimate how hard it is to even become a cm

Higan369

i am proud of u, sohum u improved a lot in 7 years

Iansicles

First GM ever be like: