Hi, I started playing chess at the age of 16, but of all titled players I have seen almost everyone started playing chess at a very early age. I just I wondered if it is to late to become a GM before I die.
Not late, but how much time and effort are you willing to devote out of your life in an attempt to do so?
Beoming a GM is not going to happen for over 99% of life-long chess players. Enjoy simply playing chess and improving. Trying to turn progress into a chore takes the fun out of the game. Yes, it's probably too late for you to become a GM. Looks like you'll have to fullfill your narcisistic tendencies elsewhere.
There's a lot of hoops you have to jump through; a lot of bureaucracy and red tape that has to do with $$$ and right place right time. I mean what child is entitled to start a chess career that early. My point is I always felt that yes the title is unrealistic for me, but does that stop me from playing?
It was a serious question ...
Why does everybody think that with enough time and study they can become a GM?
If you haven't ascended to the top level of your field by the time you're 16 you might as well give up any fantasies of greatness you may have and resign yourself to the life of mediocrity you were born for.
Not everyone can be a fast food worker.
1. One slip up and you're done. One guy gets food poisoning, your restaurant could be closed down or sued. If its traced back you get fired
2. Its a cutthroat world. Every employee at Mcwhatever wants the coveted manager position. Some people would even resort to brown nosing and sabotage.
3. Say you rose above all that, and became a manager. Dealing with customers can be a pain from day 1, but now you have irate employees. I suppose eventually, you might see about owning a fast food place. Once that happens, your troubles are over...
4. ...or so you thought. Lawsuits, unions, irate employees, and now having to select good managers. Probably more crap from bigwigs who feel a need to check up on this so called "franchise opportunity"
In short, not everyone can make it flipping burgers, so according to typical buzz kill downer logic, trying is now pointless. I'm sorry, but someone had to tell these young high schoolers and grizzled old buzzards that they won't make it in fast food. Even though I know jack about the industry and have never actually had a job in it, I'm the expert on why you will not succeed.
If you haven't ascended to the top level of your field by the time you're 16 you might as well give up any fantasies of greatness you may have and resign yourself to the life of mediocrity you were born for.
Chess is not very similar to useful skills and applications: it's just a way of idly passing the time. It doesn't even have as good a justification of that for physical sports that it is beneficial to health, nor does it have any appeal to the majority of the population that doesn't see the point of playing it (which includes most intelligent people as well as most unintelligent people). Being extremely good at chess (say top 1000 in the world) does not even guarantee a good living: there's not much money in a passtime with fairly narrow interest.
To continue the ironic comparison of the last post, every keen chess player probably imagines themselves as world champion some time but burger flipping posts are millions of times more numerous. The size of the global fast food industry is about half a trillion dollars per year (about 40 times the GDP of Iceland, but a much larger multiple of all of the money in chess, most of which is supplied by unexceptional players from their earnings in other areas).
The best thing to realise about chess is that something else is really what you would like chess to be.
^^ Clearly the thread went beyond its sell-by date after page one. It's downhill all the way..... unless...
@darth_aldar I am 16, and I only started to play chess aged 15. And I have no intentions of becoming a GM.
sure you can if you spend enough time on it
Know why I took up chess? Because my dream of being a pro wrestler seemed beyond me.
None of you jabronis can beat crazy jae in the ring! Ooooooooooh yeahhhhhhhh!
Why does everybody think that with enough time and study they can become a GM?
I was thinking about this and becoming a GM should be EASY. I see no reason why the following should not work:
The Poor Man's GM Road Map:
1. Sleep 8 hours per day
2. Play Online Chess 8 - 16 hours per day until your ICC slow rating is 2700+
3. Enter the closest National Open in order to get a provisional rating above the minimum of any closed tournament/national or continental championship that offers an IM title to the highest placed untitled player.
4. Be that player.
5. Play three BIG international opens and get three GM Norms.
Job done.
If one can secure free rent and internet, live off of Mr Noodle with with an additional $5,000 budgeted for each tournament for expenses they should be able to lock down a title in two years for under $35,000.
Then write a book titled "Beginner to Grandmaster in 24 Months." One could literally make hundreds of dollars off a book like that.
Now, if after the first year the online rating is not hovering around 2400+ the plan is very likely to come of the rails so they may need to add another year or ten.
Looks like you'll have to fullfill your narcisistic tendencies elsewhere.
Has this user ever posted a single comment without unecessary personal remarks, from the height of his supreme perfection? Talk about narcisism, with that picture
Please do tell me where I was being narcisstic, I'm very curious to hear.
Why does everybody think that with enough time and study they can become a GM?
I was thinking about this and becoming a GM should be EASY. I see no reason why the following should not work:
The Poor Man's GM Road Map:
1. Sleep 8 hours per day
2. Play Online Chess 8 - 16 hours per day until your ICC slow rating is 2700+
3. Enter the closest National Open in order to get a provisional rating above the minimum of any closed tournament/national or continental championship that offers an IM title to the highest placed untitled player.
4. Be that player.
5. Play three BIG international opens and get three GM Norms.
Job done.
If one can secure free rent and internet, live off of Mr Noodle with with an additional $5,000 budgeted for each tournament for expenses they should be able to lock down a title in two years for under $35,000.
Then write a book titled "Beginner to Grandmaster in 24 Months." One could literally make hundreds of dollars off a book like that.
Now, if after the first year the online rating is not hovering around 2400+ the plan is very likely to come of the rails so they may need to add another year or ten.
Even with all that there's a lot of people (maybe most) that could follow that regimen all their lives and not even make 2200+ master. If you don't have it, all the study in the world won't help. The notion that a person will continue to improve onto infinity with more years of study is naive.
@Jadulla it is never too late to become a Grand master , Solomon kenny of south africa started Chess at 13 (just 3 years difference ) from your starting age and he is has achived 3 GM Norms and set to be crowned a Grand master pretty soon. Becoming a GM is all about meeting the criteria / requirements to become one. IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING!!
Jadula, without any other information, a player who reaches your standard has about 1 chance in 100,000 of becoming a GM. But with the other information available, 1 in 1,000,000 would probably be over-generous. This is close enough to certainty for me not to worry about the difference.