player attends final GM norm at age 81!?

okay, that is not true, nor possible apparently.

BUt this isn't a troll post.  I was reading just a few minutes ago about Andrew martins comments about not being world class player if you start late, etc which led me to a thought:

I know ppl aren't happy about Martin's words..but it is very true its near impossible to become a GM or even IM if you dont start studying until youre an adult.

however, there are always freaks of nature.  I did look for answer for this but perhaps my question is a bit too specific:

Does anybody know the world record for either A.) GM title attained at oldest age?

& more interestingly Is there any data or documentation on the world record of the GM who started playing at the latest age?  

I nkow this topic has been discussed, but it is an interesting topic and quite a phenomenon how children are soooo much mroe 'spongy' when it seems us ole farters are the ones who've had the most practice trying to remember things (usually where I last put my wallet, or what I had ate for lunch earlier)

Hey Rufus, Very interesting questions...Inspector Gadget (another of my guises) is ON IT! Will give me something to Net search while 'trying to best my dasterdly chess opponents'!!

This may  not answer your question but on page 12, "The Mammoth Book of Chess," Graham Burgess says, "I'm not aware of anyone who started to play chess as an adult becoming a grandmaster."

The oldest GM title earned was probably someone at the World Senior Championships; the winner is automatically awarded the title of Grandmaster.

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/who-is-the-oldest-person-ever-to-become-grandmaster

Oscar Shapiro (1910-2000) became a chess master at the age of 74.  In 1991, Bernard Friend became a chess master for the first time at the age of 71.  List of older GM reproduced in its entirety on pages 32-36 of Soltis' 1991 book "Karl Marx Plays Chess..

Sorry I lost the link to this rticle.

Question 1:

How many people have tried (and by tried I mean seriously)?

Question 2:

How many people of that age (whatever it might be)

A: Want to be a GM (and by "want" I don't mean "would like")?

B: believe that it is achievable?

When a peson believes that they can't do something they are usually right, sometimes it's merely their lack of confidence and will to succeed that are stopping them though.

If you begin chess as an adult, you have absolutely ZERO chance of becoming a GM.

please define "adult", chessmate

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/adult?s=t

Do you need an exact age? Fine. 18.

I bet you are fun at parties.

A guy who came from my neighborhood in Silver Spring Maryland probably is one of the oldest to achieve Grandmaster. But.....he did it by winning the World Senior Open. Now I don't know who else did it this way, but looking at past winners might point you in the right direction. 

His name is Larry Kaufman and he also is the talent behind Komodo, the winner of the chess engine tournament. 

And also Larry Kaufman learned the game at the age of 7 and won the American open at the age of 19.

Inspector Gadget: 'May look about some', but is absolutely impressed with how many good to excellent quality Comments this post has brought forth; I for one applaud ALL those who took the time/effort to both directly address the original points of the topic and did in way to further explain some reasonings about those points. The 'general concensus' that seems to be indicated here, seems very well backed from a number of interesting angles of those who 'shed some light'; Thank you ALL, In general I stand much better informed in 'this general area of the chess world' than I was 1 1/2 days ago. 

Chigorin didn't start playing chess properly until he was 25. Technically he learned the rules at 16, but he never played properly at that age. 

Think about it, suppose you're over 25 now, do you ever believe you're going to become an equivalent world class champion at bridge having NEVER EVER played it before? Or at Go? Or at Chinese Chess? Having never, ever played before? It's not so much ability, it's just the time and the patience, the interest. You don't just get an interest in something like this automatically, it's something that grows and that your ability grows with year in year out. Even then 99.9%+ will NEVER become a grandmaster.  

so what being said here really that if you start chess as an adult you have no chance of gaining any titles ?

I would not say that...I said GM.

Also, to address Chigorin...this is the 21st century, not the 19th.

That's correct. It's far easier to become a GM in the 21st century than in the 19th. 

It was a good comment, Razor! It actually helps illustrate the changes in chess that make it so different! Chess is so much more advanced today, with so much more COMPETITION, that although it was possible 150 years ago, it is not even remotely so today.