To what extent does age affect your ability to become a chess master?

#9 @Sarg0n thank you for your reply, I see you in fact are a master of some sort, therefore I would like to ask you, do you mean I will just simply never become a GM, because this is something I definantly would agree with almost certainly, but isn't possible to become a master such as you (CM) or NM, IM etc. ? Of course no one should play chess for titles only, if you dont love the game you will never become a master just for the sake of wanting to become one, but I am just asking in relativity because I want to measure my success later on and say: Hey, I actually achieved something in this sport, which I spend time and energy on.

Also - I have not started from scratch at 20, I have been playing all my life (since about 6-7) but I just took it seriously as soon as I turned 20 (with books, tutorials, chess club etc.)

@philsers instead of questioning low rank masters who gave up trying to get better titles, you should start studying and improving your chess. You will never gain a single rating point by begging in this thread. Good luck!

@hangrad not sure what you mean by "begging". I can't beg him to proclaim me a master neither can I beg him to make me better at chess. I just wanted to hear straight from someone who has achieved something more than 95% of chess players. What ever you think of him and his motive to not be ranked higher, you can't change the fact that on paper he is pretty high up there in comparison to the rest, therefore I want to know more about how he managed to get there. Nothing more.

I started at 16 and I put a lot of effort in it. I think at least 20 hours a week over the last 20 years, constantly. I peak somewhat now at 46, win some tournaments every year but I am not FM and I won‘t become one.

That's lots of work! Some people become GM at 12 y/o. I guess memorizing openings is not the most effective way to become GM. Much better is to learn to think like an engine and memorize all alpha zero moves.

@philsers the "easiest" way to make title is to make it while you are young and to do it from Fide direct titles events.
www.fide.com/fide/handbook.html?id=199&view=article

World Amateur <2000 and <2300 Gold medal is worth FM title, easy peasy, just go and win it, that simple :))

To progress in chess you need a good coach. It will accelerate your chess growth. Without a coach you need to spend a lot of time on chess. If you are able to form a training program and every day to engage in 3-5 hours then you have a chance by 2020 to have a rating of 1700 lichess. You are still weak in tactics Is evident in the solution of your problems. In my opinion, the fastest growth in chess involves tactical vigilance and your rating should not be less than 2500 in the problems of lichess. If you become an expert in tactics you will raise all other chess skills and reach at least CM of the title. I wish you improvement in chess. Play for fun. GM title takes too much time and effort and it is necessary for current players, as a given.

@Sarg0n I understand where you are coming from, but actually the way you put it, it just seems you yourself are not very gifted/talented in chess if it you put in so much work and can't go further. Maybe you had put in so much effort for a CM title and others would already be IM's with such engagement. This is a very individual thing.

@voronn09 Thank you very much for the support and comment, I also kind of thought to myself by next year 1700/1800 should really be a realistic goal if I will engage in the sport. Also solving tactics is of course mandatory. Yesterday I got gifted the book "Analogy of Chess Combinations" (ISBN 86 7297 048 9), hoping to get a lot out of that!

Almost every late-starter I know didn’t manage to overtake me. You can be talented as hell, if you are an adult your fate is sealed.

You cannot extrapolate a zero point to infinite. So OP, become an average club-player, then we‘ll see. Everything else is trolling.