English Chess Forum

David Clayton wrote:My grade has been as follows:-

July 2016 - 123
Jan 2016 - 115
Jul 2015 - 109
July 2011 - 97
July 2008 - 78
July 2005 - 57

If my grade trajectory continues, how long will it be before I become a GM?

If these are your Elo numbers, I'd guess some time

soheil_hooshdaran wrote:What should I do to become a GM?

Not a guarantee, but wasting less time on internet forums and similar could be a good start.
Instead working on chess and practicing might be your best chance to improve.

How wou; you continue this position? I wwas Black
r7/p4k1p/1p3pp1/2p5/8/3N3P/PBP3P1/6K1 w - - 0 1

1...Re8 2.Kf2 Re4 looks a promising start. You probably want to harass those queenside pawns a bit.

Is the book
'What it takes to become a chess master' by GM Soltis
a good book? Does it show me the way to chess mastery?

He says your difference with a GM is in knowing of what is the favourable position, You only need to calculate 2-3 moves ahead, etc

This book will not make anyone a chess master. It's title is designed to sell copies. Rowson points out that increasing your knowledge about chess is not the same as becoming better at playing the game. Serious improvement takes discipline and lots of hard work at the edge of your comfort zone. Few people really have the drive to do it.

But it can show you the path, right?

soheil_hooshdaran wrote:He says your difference with a GM is in knowing of what is the favourable position, You only need to calculate 2-3 moves ahead, etc

Soltis was a GM, but never a top one. Titled players vary as to what they see. Some never seem that confident on their assessments but analyse to a much greater depth. You get a flavour sometimes at post game interviews. When asked why they didn't play x, they reply with a stream of moves and an assessment of a resulting position, often an ending, which is far further forward than two or three moves.

He also has a grandmaster one, but I better go step-by-step

IM Jack Rudd wrote:You're 31 or 32 with a rating of 1824. It's a tall order.

My advice would be: play in lots of tournaments of the required level. It'll probably end up improving your play significantly, even if you don't manage to make it to GM.

You nneed not be excellent to start, but you need to start to be excellent.

My grieving friend ignored me. He thought I were kidding...

IM Jack Rudd wrote:You're 31 or 32 with a rating of 1824. It's a tall order.

My advice would be: play in lots of tournaments of the required level. It'll probably end up improving your play significantly, even if you don't manage to make it to GM.

What do you meann by 'the required level'?

soheil_hooshdaran wrote: What do you meann by 'the required level'?

I expect he means tournaments where you meet and beat players with the IM or GM title. The formal requirements for a GM title are a rating of 2500 and sufficient Norms. Norms are based on sufficiently high tournament rating performances including playing against IMs and GMs.

I know the requirements.
My freind IM Donaldson wrote about it.

Is there many such events in the UK?