Too old

 With so many child prodigys, and masters who began chess at an early age. Is there any hope for a late comer to raise his game to the level requiered to challenge the masters? Is there any examples of great masters who took to the game later in life and became successfull? Or am I cursed to medocrity with my older age entry into serious chess study?

While there are no instances of a late-starter becoming a contender for the world championship, there's ample evidence that they can become masters. Oscar Schapiro achieved his master's rating at the age of 74.

Becoming the best player you can be is a suitable pursuit for any age. 

Chess is not all about when you began to play; it is all about how much often you play. You can become a master by playing a lot, best wishes.

http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lab/7378/learn.htm

Don't take all those for gospel but most are probably correct.

Blackburne @19 years

McDonnell @25

Rubinstein @19

Sultan Khan@21 

 Name: Albin

Year Born: 1893

Year Learned Chess: 1871

Chess is apparently learned when we are still at the molecular level! 

"Chess is apparently learned when we are still at the molecular level! "

 that's 21 years... I'd say he learned when his parents were still at the molecular level!

 I learned the basics early.... 3 actually from my mom. But I didn't take it seriously, didn't play but maybe once a year till now.... age 31....

Just curious on my resonable growth potential.

Thanks for the comments.

   Youth is wasted on the young. The reason there are more young masters is they have the time to devote themselves. Chess becomes part of their daily routines and as they grow older it helps provide an income. Thereby providing more time to improve. It has become a way of life.

   An individual who begins his studies later in life is changing a routine he has grown accustomed to. The intellectual capacity for learning is still there. It is the time devoted to endeavours not related to chess that impedes us. How much of our time are we willing to commit. Even GM's lose their edge when chess is no longer their way of life. We put up our own limits.

hey people, check out de la maza's book rapid chess improvement. it's for adult players who want to improve in this game of chess.(: im not sure if playing is improving, as my first thread shows ("does practice always make perfect" or soemthing), you need to analyse the games and learn from mistakes.

you can always teach an old dogs new tricks.(;

mytself wrote:

   Youth is wasted on the young. The reason there are more young masters is they have the time to devote themselves. Chess becomes part of their daily routines and as they grow older it helps provide an income. Thereby providing more time to improve. It has become a way of life.

   An individual who begins his studies later in life is changing a routine he has grown accustomed to. The intellectual capacity for learning is still there. It is the time devoted to endeavours not related to chess that impedes us. How much of our time are we willing to commit. Even GM's lose their edge when chess is no longer their way of life. We put up our own limits.

I've seen some studies that suggest that constantly learning new things may be the best way to avoid loss of mental abilities in old age. So taking up chess at any age should help in that regard. There's a limitless amount to learn, so you'll never run out. 

dear friend, from my experience, u can get better in 2 3 years of hard work and play. my humble advice is to read books, play against stronger opponents, eventhough u keep losing, and also going into puzzles.

 i bought a small chess set to play even in bed, aron nimzo's my system, one manual about openings , vladimir vukovic's art of attack in chess and a manual about nimzo indian. i kept playing on strong computer chess with elo 1800-2000, (i lost maybe 150 games in a row, still counting) but definetly i got better in 2 years. (my profile was very similar to yours, learnt at 6 y.o but prefered tennis and soccer during longtime) 

books or methods can vary, and i definetly respect all methods proposed, but the only way to get better is playing a better one.

keep working frnd and good luck

too old to get good in chess...

Bah! Humbug!

there are hobbies where this is worse...

Too old to get good at _______

1. track & field sports

2. Soccer

3. Sex

4. speaking a foreign language

5. anything with computers that uses mainstream technology

if chess ever makes it on the list, you won't have to deal with this problem for too long...

Hi, I'm new to this forum.

I started at 28 and I don't think I'll ever get this or that high grade. So what? I agree with madpawn in that "Being the best you can be is much more positive than being a grade" (quote). The main thing is just to better yourself. That's why I took up chess in the first place.

PS: I'd have more time to practice if I had a rich (and dead) relative somewhere.

Thank you soo much for the comments and the support everyone!!