Time to attain a "Good Rating"

Hi all,

I am a 15 year old chess player, and I have been playing for quite a while. I wanted to know what you guys considered a good rating (referring to USCF) and what you guys think is a good rating (on chess.com). I also wanted to know how long it would take approximately to get to a National Master level from a 1344 rating. (That means that I will need to gain 856 rating points). I am interested in what you all think. By the way, my rating of 1344 is a little low, considering the fact that I usually can win the U1900 section in tournaments.

Thanks for your help in advance,

Pawnpusher3 :)

You can usually win the U1900 section and yet have a rating in the 1300s?  Need to be more explicit for that to make any sense :)

Like anything you have to put in work over time to get good.  A few years of work makes a respectable non-pro player.  Even if you're still destroyed by B, A, or expert players, about 2 years of work at it should make a non-patzer out of anyone.

Disregarding of course that very strong pros may call less strong pros patzers or even amateurs :p

1300 to master depends on the individual and your environment.  For example having access to strong tournaments, primarily for the experience of strong opposition.  Empirically it's reasonable to assume no less than 2 years in all but the most exceptional cases.  However if you're already approx. 1900 strength then in the right environment it could easily be less than a year.

In practice it's often much longer, and frankly in many cases never happens at all.  Some primary factors are aptitude to work/learn and availability of adequately strong tournaments.

What you can count on is if you're willing to continually search for and eliminate your weaknesses, then you'll get there eventually.  In the face of ever-increasing difficulty as their rating improves, most people become content with their skill long before master level and stop improving.

Master is a great goal though, lots of luck!

So how long do you think it will take approximately? 2 years? 3 years? longer? and whats a good rating for you guys?

If you focus on rating you'll never be happy.

If you focus on having fun and enjoying the competition, then you'll do a lot better.

A good rating is 100 points higher than whatever you are at the moment.

I think you could realisticly do it in like 2 years with hard work.  That is if your rating is around the 1900 you say it is and not 1300.

Thanks 2200ismygoal. I will work on it :) I just have to get my ridiculous rating up a bit. Then the mission will rlly start

I just noticed that orangehonda is back!

I consider the 1800 mark as "getting good". Of course, in the grand scheme of things, they are fishes, but 1800 is a pretty decent club player.  :)

Good luck, but I agree with daw55124 above. Enjoy the game ... don't get consumed with ratings.

Rating shadows your strength... worry about what each game can teach you (look for your mistakes) and the rating will take care of itself.  If you make rating your primary goal your progress wont be as efficient.

Hi Trysts, busy with classes, may see more of me in the summer :)  This place doesn't change too quickly, nice to see gonno gone though

I think you guys may be taking this wrong. I am not here to just gain random rating points (lol) I am here to find out how long it will take to reach 2200 (aka master strength). I don't really care about my rating, as long as it truly reflects how I am playing.

I think 1400 uscf is pretty strong personally. Im 1816 though lol, and probably really under rated.

Yea Phelon, you are really underrated.. 1400 is terrible, and I really don't think I should be around there. i would say that you should be an NM by now, and I should be a 1700+ish player. You definitely are able to dominate the competition!

So how long do you think it will take guys?

 Depends. How much do you study guy?

year to three years, depending how much you study and play