Hello everyone, I am a 20 year old male from Germany, and for the past year I was very engaged in chess. I knew the rules basically my whole life but never took it seriously until a couple of months ago when I decided to join a local chess club. In early 2018 I started playing a lot, but wasn't very sucessful (ELO 800
chess.com). However up until now I managed to go up to 1400 Bullet and 1300 Blitz (I do not engage in Rapid or Classical online). This is certainly an "ok" step foreward, which I achieved through some literature and online tutorials but nothing too serious. So to come to the actual question - how far am I still able to go? The question might sound awkward since only I should be able to answer it, but maybe there are some NM's, FM's, IM's or even GM's which might give their honest opinion about what they think players above 20 can still realisticly achieve.
Thank you in advance for the answers!
Sincerly,
philsers
The younger you are the more 'mallable' the mind is. This should be something you should keep in mind but it shouldn't be something that should discourage you. Discipline is the main thing that makes a great player whether they are 'talented' or not, young or old. If you put in the hours you will see results if you learn from the experiences.
I'm also 20 now , I started playing chess again like a year ago, In that time I went from 1450 blitz to 2002 blitz.
If you really want to LEARN chess you will have to play longer games like your local chess club might offer, that's a good step towards progress.
Thank you for your reply, I am glad to hear that people in a simmilar situation are around here! I actually have a club tournament today in the evening under the terms of classical chess. This will be my premier official tournament and I am up against some kind of Master (CM I believe) straight away, however I really hope to learn something from that match.
It all depends on how dedicated you are. You can probably still reach IM or even weak GM level with a lot of hard work (something like 5 hours of training a day for at least 10 years), but it´s probably not worth your time. I suggest you just do as much for chess as pleases you and accept wherever that gets you.
That's a rough opponent, you can learn a thing or two from him. Goodluck today
you should annotate and study the game later over the board!
I am 43.. When I started playing I was 12. I joined my first tournament at 16. My first rating was 826. I stopped playing tournaments till around 19. I got serious about chess around 22-25. Between 22-43 I raised my rating from 900 to 2034. I have performances in excess of 2150-2400 REGULARLY.. I think if you want it you can achieve it. I was lazy for most of my life. So for someone who was technically lazy for a chess player and maybe just recently became less lazy, and reaching national expert levels with NM performances.. I think anyone with normal aptitude and hard work can certainly make at least IM. I also met an IM who claimed he didn't start till he was 21. And merely worked super hard to obtain the title. If I remember correctly his internet name was "LazyPawn". I haven't heard from him in years though. I considered taking lessons from him at one time.
I did a lot of things wrong on my way to where I am. I think one of my best advices is simply to look at your games with your opponent and try your best to see what he sees. Do this a lot with different opposition, hopefully all stronger than you. And then try to determine what is more correct or what is repeated throughout the advices. Repeating themes and things that make sense are how you learn. Some times even those rude masters who tell you advices in rude manners are giving real advice too. So don't always snub your nose at those people either.
And just in case you are interested. A CM is a candidate master. FIDE has CM's and are recognized here. They tend to be a little stronger than National Candidate masters. The reason is FIDE CM is 2100-2300 respectively. And National CM is 2000-2200 respectively. I believe you just have to reach the rating range in FIDE to obtain the title. In the US it is somewhat similar except there is a new system where if you obtain the required norms you get an official mark on your record stating you are a candidate master. As of this writing, lichess doesn't recognize national candidate masters. Good luck on your game against your CM.
If you want to get better, then stay away from bullet and blitz, play rapid and classical only.
Take your time to think.
Activate move confirmation.
Here is an example, where your blunders can be attributed to playing too fast.
I agree with #4.
With 20 your fate is more or less sealed. You‘ll become a strong amateur - if you‘re gifted, hard working and lucky! Good luck!
Don‘t believe in fairy tales - you won’t become GM, not even close.
ben finegold was 40 when he became a gm
