Is it possible(likely) to reach a rating of 1800 by teaching himself?

Even the Great Fischer wasn't rated at 1869 after only nine games

Congrats! Very motivating for me.

I know a guy rated about 2000, that reached that only by learning himself, mainly by reading books and solving tactics. He was tought the rules, and everything else he tought himself.

I have reached FIDE ELO over 2400, an IM title and some decent tournament results without ever having a trainer, a computer or internet access to games (that is a triple of decades ago).

So, in theory, today it should be even easier, but the secret is to rely on serious personal work and hard study of the classics, forgetting what a computer is when trying to improve your playing skill, and always taking NOTHING for granted.

   I think 1800 can be achieved by self-study. The claims that 2000 to 2200 can be achieved by anyone seems far fetched to me.

lol...well, I did it (as did pfren and countless others).

Absolute poppycock.

He's an IM. Explaining his low Live, maybe he can say.

28th November 2011, 05:35am

#56

by IM pfren
Thira Greece

Member Since: Jul 2011
Member Points: 226

Self-taught to 1800?

I hope so, since I don't have the money for a teacher. I am a music teacher, value teachers, and would very much like to have a teacher when I have the money. But then I am biased, since I am a teacher.

I tried reading chess books, and I own many, but my rating didn't improve. I tried playing lots and lots of 5, 10 and 15 minute games on the internet, but that didn't work. Recently, people have told me to play much slower to improve, i.e. 45 to 60 minutes per side.  Dan Heisman says the same thing.

The ONLY thing that improved my rating was the use of tactics training, both here and at ChessTempo. That's just me. For some reason, I needed it.

I'm sure that many can improve with no Tactics Trainer, no Chess Mentor, no Chess.com videos -  seeing steady improvement by only moving a mouse while the clock is ticking, and I know guys that have done just that.

I wish you luck getting to 1800, and like others have said, keep it fun.

@ FirebrandX: This rating is based on ~ 20 games, all played under the same time control (ten minutes per game). I am not interested playing serious chess here, just ten minutes blitz, where I play mostly offbeat.

Can you teach me how I can reach a higher rating staring from zero, and having played just 20 games, most of them with players rated ~1300 or so?

Thanks in advance.

I have not been very active lately, but I have not forgotten how the pieces move- yet.

It is easy to reach 1800 without a coach if you know how to bribe your opponents.

these discussions are silly.  Spend more time looking at chess moves instead of wondering whether u will get to a silly number and maybe u might reach that silly number and maybe u won't

I am another living proof that 1800 on this site without a coach is certainly possible

When I initially started to play chess at a club as a kid my chess really was crap, I lost almost every game. I studied quite seriously and my theoretical knowledge soon was far above average (compared to the other kids at the club), but my play didn't seem to improve. The only comparison I had were the other kids, so probably I improved a bit but the other just improved as much or more. We didn't play rated games at the time. After about two years of little fun and quite some frustration I decided to give up.

Two decades later I decided to give it another shot and surprisingly my understanding of the game appeared to have improved, although I had played barely any games and had not studied since. It took about ten to twenty OTB games before I started to win games and my rating started to increase a bit. After that it took about 3 or 4 years to get to my current level. Just by playing and studying.

I think 1900 to 2000 on this site (Turn Based) would be possible for me (an untalented player ), if I would more disciplined train tactics and analyze my games more seriously.

Yes, certainly, 1800 OTB you can reach by yourself. However, coaching helps you going faster and can also give better fundamentals to reach a higher level (making you a more well-rounded player). The main benefits you can expect from a coach are :

- advice on what to study first and how to study it efficiently

- exposition to a good chess thought process (many people don't realize the value of this part) and help to improve you own chess thought process

- help to build quickly a working repertoire suited to your level

- help on learning how to evaluate positions

- acquisition of basic strategic patterns

- motivation to reach the next level

Even if you choose to study by yourself, try by all means to discuss with strong players and see how they evaluate positions and make decisions. This is extremely useful to make progress.

I don't know if they were talking about chess.com ratings or OTB ratings. In any case, I think it's difficult to reach that level without receiving some feedback from stronger players, kind of informal coaching (can be through friendly club analysis or post-mortems).

To me the 1800 mark is when a player has a solid base of fundamentals, and has cleaned up gross blunders from their play. I would suggest a computer chess program like Fritz, or get a membership here that will allow you access to the computer analysis functions of this site. By studying every game you play, and looking at your own thinking, you will be able to improve. I am a 1560 USCF tournament player and that is without really any honest study work. I think 1800 is a very possible strength to reach if you are up to the task of honest and objective assessment of your own strengths and weaknesses. Only by identifying and working on our shortcomings will we be able to improve. I am still working on my foundation knowledge and on getting rid of my habit of 'jumping in' to lines that look 'fun', without properly calculating out the exact positions after variations.

GREETINGS

Not without a great deal of hard work discipline and dedication someone who says that they can reach 1900-2200 easily by merely playing 2.0 blitz all day no studying, no lessons at all just solve probems on the tactics server is deluding himself.

When he comes to play in the real world where players are serious well prepared and trained and he has to protect his nuts for 2-3 hours from a fast moving great white shark coming at him with everything he or she has got he'll find out it's not so easy.

Players at 1800 rating are really not that good.

Im living proof of that.

Agreed.

On the other hand, players at 1600 rating are super super super awesome, stride the world as chess gods, infallible at the board, handsome, and dangerous with the ladies.

I am living proof of that.