Will I be able to reach Master level?

I'm not really a Christian but I find the usual scoffing about Jesus childish and ignorant.

Read the New Testament. Read the lives of saints. See what you think.

I don't know what the ultimate truth is, but something seems to happen. People truly have changed their lives though Jesus, however that works.

I read that "New Testament" - didn't help my chess at all.

What a waste of money.

maybe baby jeesis wasn't in that particular book. try asking for your money back.

Z: "Satisfation is constant along the journey. When it ends, you die."

   I agree with the sentiment. But the fact is, you will die eventually whether you have satisfaction or not. So this comment is a nice sentiment but meaningless. You could say the same thing about eating apples...when you no longer find satisfaction from eating apples, you die.

   Now, here's the thing...

   Threads like this, as you know, usually inquire: "Can I become a GM?"

   Well, this thread title is a bit more realistic...I only want to reach 2200. The thing that I am thinking is that if anyone starting out with chess had any reasonable clue about how much time consuming hard work that it takes to get to the highest levels of chess...an almost all-consuming drive, travel expense, neglecting other objectives (work and family)...perhaps they might say: "Oh, I hadn't given thought to the trade offs!"

   It is generally as idle a question as (two of my daughters as teens were in this mode) "Can I become a Super Model?"

   Those who get to the top in any field are internally driven. They have an all consuming drive to get there. Look at Bobby, for example. He dropped out of high school and said: "All I ever want to do is play chess!" I don't recall him ever asking whether or not he could be a GM. He did...did...and did. 

   That's what it takes. (Of course, one also should have an aptitutde for whatever their goal requires. That's part of the rub.)

Reb made the point that his rise to master was not his goal when he started. He set reasonable short term goals and rose steadily.

I tend to set my goals in terms of training activities rather than rating achievements. I meet some of them.

My last major goal was to pursue a particular training program through 2015. My process broke down in early summer. See http://chessskill.blogspot.com/2015/08/chigorin-davidov-1874.html for my excuses and links to discussion of my program.That post, BTW, was posted on a Saturday night in the midst of the first weekend Open Swiss in which I finished in first place. It was the second time that I won all four of my games in a five round weekend Swiss to finish with 4.5/5. The first time I finished with 4.5 in a weekend Swiss, I finished second behind IM John Donaldson. I generally take a third round bye so that I can enjoy some wine with my wife on Saturday night and get enough sleep to play well on Sunday. 

I'm rooting for you! 

I don't believe Reb. 

Short term goals are essential to success, but I believe that Reb always had making master in the back of his mind, and after that, perhaps even more. But does anyone really believe that he wasn't hoping to make master? 

Put another way, Reb's path to mastery shows it's a journey of many steps. Definitely focus on the step in front of you, but also keep in mind the milestones you want to pass. 

When I started to play in a club I thought that about 1850 (once I understood more or less what that was) was a phenomenal level - people just know so much and can do so much. I wasn't convinced that I can actually make it to that level, but it did look like a very faraway peak. 

I remember how happy I was when I actually made 1500+ a few months later - it was unbelievable, and I really understood, knew and could see so much more at that point than when I started. 

But 1850 really looked unbelievable - because talking with these people (and also with people in the high 1700s) just showed me how much they knew - about endgames, about openings, about structures...

And watching them play with one another - set up the pieces in beautiful, unassailable structures that they knew by heart (and for me were entirely new), seeing the combinations, the sacrifices, the forks - and playing so well in blitz time controls - it was simply unbelievable. I couldn't believe that one day I'll be able to do that myself...

That sense of wonderment. 

Do beginners who "want to make master" have that sense of wonderment? Can they really appreciate what they see when they interact with a substantially stronger player?

1600 or 1700 is a chess god compared to most of the players here - and for a good reason. But he's SO far away from master. Do these "beginner/overambitious" guys even UNDERSTAND how different an 1700 is to them? How differently he sees and understands the game?

Probably not. They're probably crying "master" without really knowing what one is - and if they saw an 1700 play and a master play, chances are they won't be able to tell the difference anyway. 

I read the Divine Comedy. Not one good laugh in the whole book!

This is why you see so many forums with the title:

I know the <insert opening here> 20 moves deep, but im still hanging pieces.  What do i do?

This is why you see so many forums with the title:

I know the <insert opening here> 20 moves deep, but im still hanging pieces.  What do i do?

I've never seen a single topic on chess.com so titled. Perhaps Diakonia can cite some examples I have missed.

1600 or 1700 is a chess god compared to most of the players here - and for a good reason. But he's SO far away from master. Do these "beginner/overambitious" guys even UNDERSTAND how different an 1700 is to them? How differently he sees and understands the game?

A good thought to keep in mind. A 1600-1700 player is a chess god to most humans on the planet earth.

A lot of people imagine they are hot sht because they can beat their uncle and the kids in the neighborhood. They have no idea of the trial by fire tournament play is even to reach class B.

Honestly I cant relate to that. I have gotten up from 1000 to 1700 in a year. Why does it take so long? 

The new testament? It not help your chess? Maybe you aren't applying it right, or maybe its just me. It seemed to help me anyways...

1600-1700 isn't really an achieve, all it takes is mastering the basics of endings, a bit mid game and master a specific set of openings that fullfil your tastes. Some people just have trouble achieve those ratings because they're taking the wrong approach to chess. I've seen many players stuck in their 1500 rate because all they do is looking for the opponents to fall into their traps, instead of taking a more serious approach to chess. They might be pretty good at setting traps, but that's really not enough against someone who can avoid them.

In personal experience one just notices a wide gap in experience between 2k+ players and 1800, not really below that. A 2k player will most usually have an experience and an approach to the board in a much deeper way than a 1,8k, and almost beat them everytime once out of the book.

For 1,8k OTB all it takes is mastering like caro-khan, sicilian, italian game and maybe scandinavian. When you have a solid knowledge of at least those 4 openings, pretty much 1,8k is granted. Many 1,8k players don't even have a solid mid-game knowledge or ending, but they've mastered the game of trading pieces without losing any to some point. It's just above 2k that' you'll see players going out of their way in openings trying to approach new positions and solid exploitations of opponent's weaknesses

You have never seen one of those posts?  They show up every so often.

1600-1700 isn't really an achieve, all it takes is mastering the basics of endings, a bit mid game and master a specific set of openings that fullfil your tastes.

Well, I don't think reaching 1600-1700 has much to do with endings -- at least not for anyone I knew -- but nonetheless it is an achievement.

Class B is bragging rights to beat just about anyone who has never played tournament chess before, and look pretty good at the same time.

Sure, it's a whole 'nother level to go to Class A and another level after that to Expert.

Getting better at chess is work no matter how talented you are.

And you can believe me. I was once Jacksonville Junior Champion.

You have never seen one of those posts?  They show up every so often.

Then it should be easy for you to find me one.

+1

How would you know? There are actually lots of people who know their openings 20 moves deep and are still 1400 players.