I have read the biographies of all the chess players in the history, and I havent found one who has learned chess alone.
I´d like to know some case that someone knows, at least although he was not a famous player.
I mean someone who took a long time to enroll in a chess club, for example.
Someone self-taught 100%.
I have read things of many players. And everyone I know has been taught by parents, family, coaches, clubs, government grants...
I´d like to know of some case, even if it is an acquaintance of yours, and it is not necessary names or personal details.
Nothing I find on line about this.
For example, some player could have thought: "Nobody helped / taught me and I continue alone now".
In my oppinion, it would be curious and admirable to know some case in the world of chess.
Thanks.
It is not possible IMO. You learn new ideas by being exposed to them. You are exposed to ideas by meeting and playing new players/machines/reading authors/etc. There is always a second party even if you don't call them, "teacher".
The closest you may find is Bobby Fischer at age 7-8, though even then he was being exposed to new ideas from books.
"It used to be that you read one chess book and you were the chess expert in the area." <-- Arthur Bisguier said this to me at a tournament many years ago.
By the way: An article describing Arthur as a self-taught player, in case you didn't catch it above :).
www.nytimes.com/2017/04/05/us/obituary-arthur-bisguier-dead-chess-grand-master-bobby-fischer.htmlEric Hansen says he learned by playing online blitz/bullet chess. (100,000's of games starting at a very early age.) Never read a single book. (But does say he was a big fan of magazines and read about the latest lines). He learned by playing, not by books or study till he earned his GM title. Now he has a huge library of books, some for study, but his claim is that he learns by doing, not by study.
People "learn" in various ways. By example some are "visual" learners. They can watch and imitate while for others this is of little use, they need a coach to show the way. Others have a great memory, either short or long term, that can be of great benefit.
There are several "tests" to find how each person best learns, and just as important, how they retain the learned information.
Chess prodigies, those few so gifted that come along once a generation (although the numbers are vastly increasing this last generation) do not require coaching or book knowledge to reach the highest levels. For those so inclined to pursue their gift, of course they seek out coaches and books to further their quest. Nothing beats studying the past masters. There really is nothing new under the sun. It's all been seen and done before. With enough time and energy chess can be learned by those not as gifted and also reach the top.
I learned by myself and I am now one of the top 25 racing King players in the world.
I don't think it's possible to be playing top level chess without help. Although Danny Gormally did say he got the GM title without taking any chess lessons, that's why he thinks coaches are ripping people off.
@NeverBeenTimid I agree with that guy. Did he write a blog post or something about it tho? First time hearing about him.
@shryder he had a youtube channel where he used to moan about a lot of things lol but he deleted it. He's a pretty interesting GM. He punched Aronian once. I think he also mentions it in an interview with Ben Johnson about how he taught himself. (at the 1 hour 5 minute mark)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDFDd_u27jA Thanks
@NeverBeenTimid , I will check it out.
Capablanca was a prodigy who learned by watching his father play, and obviously improved everything seen up to his moment. Capabalnca is the 4th World Master if it does not say you anything ;D
Well, I would say starting from after the 2nd WW chess became more organized, competitive overall, and there were books about it, so you had to communicate/learn from others to improve. Whereas the very first Masters (Chigorin, Capablanca, Tarrasch, Najdorf, Keres, Rubinstein,... and basically all the names you hear now if you learn a certain scheme, opening based on their thoughts) had to develop the theory I learn e.g. by their own
Timid is a joke. A clown who artificially manipulates his RK rating.
Check the history. Easy enough to see and decide. Not a single game vs a player over 1500?. They are all new players, many who resign in 2/4 moves. He only plays correspondence. Not a single live game. He is a life long <1500 player here and at
chess.com where he is more commonly known as 2Q1C.
This jumping into the thread shouting a top 25 player in the world is completely laughable.
Try trolling in your wannabe club. Nobody takes you seriously in the forums.