2200 assault

[Amit R]

OK, now that the arrogant (for me) thread title is done with, on to the details of the challenge :

Achieve 2200 FIDE by October 24th, 2030.

Starting point : Oct 24th, 2020. 41 years old. On chess.com, rapid = 998, slow = 1466, from rather infrequent play. No FIDE ID. Played an OTB tournament once as a kid, and lost pathetically.

FAQ:
Q. Why do it at all ?
A. Was inspired by Mike McDonald's challenge. Besides, I hope to continue being a sparring partner for my son for a little longer.

Q. Is this a money bet?
A. No, not in the traditional sense, atleast. But, it would be nice to have some financial incentive, since there is a significant money and , more importantly, time investment involved ; over 10 years, I'd put it at $50 * 10K hours = $500,000 . Of course, getting to 2200 is its own reward ; nevertheless, I think there is value in showing that late-stage improvement can be done.So, in the very unlikely event I pull this off, it would be nice if some folks can get together to crowdfund some incentive.

Anyway, since this all about the impossible, I'll give myself some impossible lifetime-targets and corresponding rewards :

FM : $100K
IM : $500K
GM : $4M

That's about it. If you'd like, do wish me luck and lots of hard work. It is admittedly a bit presumptuous to talk of 10 years when life is so fickle, more so in these pandemic times. Anyway, let's see where this goes.

P. S: Thank you, Egidijus, for suggesting a thread to kick off this journey.

[John Upper]

Good luck.

Here is a clip from yesterday of GM Ben Finegold talking about the chance of becoming a GM after the age of 50:

https://clips.twitch.tv/CrazyBloodyCheesePastaThat

[Amit R]

Good luck.

Here is a clip from yesterday of GM Ben Finegold talking about the chance of becoming a GM after the age of 50:

https://clips.twitch.tv/CrazyBloodyCheesePastaThat

Thanks for sharing, John ; GM Finegold sure knows the terrain. I guess the probability of me making 2200 is about the same : 0 .

While I agree with GM Finegold that the probability of anyone becoming GM after 50 is vanishing low, I'd disagree that it is exactly 0 . Simply because there is a counterexample : Viswanathan Anand. Anand, who will turn 51 in a couple of months, is rated currently at 2753. Since a GM norm is a 2600-performance, he would comfortably make the GM norms even at his age.

Of course, this isn't to say that I can do it. But, surely someone else with similar prowess as Anand could. For example, it is conceivable that if Carlsen continues to be actively playing chess at 50, he would make the GM norms.

[Neil Frarey]

Go for it! I believe you can do it!

Everything is pretty much just simple fundaments ... despite what the 'zero chance' naysayers want you to believe.

There's no 'magic tricks' in chess ... none at all.

[Amit R]

Go for it! I believe you can do it!

Everything is pretty much just simple fundaments ... despite what the 'zero chance' naysayers want you to believe.

There's no 'magic tricks' in chess ... none at all.

Thank you for your kind words, Neil ; I know it's a long, hard road, and can do with all the encouragement I can get.

[Aris Marghetis]

Good for you Amit! I think I would be very fulfilled getting to CM within the next 6 years.

I don't want to hijack your thread, but if you want to, I can contribute to your "blogging".

If you want to share tips more directly, please email to arismarghetis at rogers dot com

[Amit R]

Good for you Amit! I think I would be very fulfilled getting to CM within the next 6 years.

I don't want to hijack your thread, but if you want to, I can contribute to your "blogging".

If you want to share tips more directly, please email to arismarghetis at rogers dot com

Thanks, Aris; really rooting for you to make 2200 and following your posts in the other thread ; since you had already broken 2K, I am certain you can do it.

Not sure what you meant by contributing to blogging ; if you meant documenting your own progress in this thread, sure. In fact, it would be great to see more people who wanted to get to 2200 over a few years come together here to egg each other on.

Again, not too sure what you meant by my sharing tips to you ; as of now, I am noob-level and don't have any tips to share with someone at your level.

[Aris Marghetis]

Thanks, Aris; really rooting for you to make 2200 and following your posts in the other thread ; since you had already broken 2K, I am certain you can do it.

Not sure what you meant by contributing to blogging ; if you meant documenting your own progress in this thread, sure. In fact, it would be great to see more people who wanted to get to 2200 over a few years come together here to egg each other on.

Again, not too sure what you meant by my sharing tips to you ; as of now, I am noob-level and don't have any tips to share with someone at your level.

Oh, I just meant things we try that we find seemed to work, or didn't seem to work. Some things will be dependent on our rating levels, but some will be moreover practicing methods, etc.

For example, at some point early in the pandemic, I started the Chess.com lessons, right from the beginning, and I wouldn't move up until I got every answer perfect (there's a hint function).

Anyway, as of today, my profile says that I've done 457 lessons (now, that seems double-high, but I never bothered noting how it was counting, it's a little number off in an upper corner). Anyway, regarding openings during this time, I'm playing almost none of the "lines" I've played forever, and at Rapid-speed games, I'm prioritizing aggressive development. My Chess.com rating has gone up over 50 points in the last month, but I doubt that means much. Tomorrow afternoon will be my first "test", with a few dozen CFC-rated players at Victor Xu's free Sigma tournament:

https://sites.google.com/view/torontocfcchess/registration?authuser=0

I figure I'll have new opinions about lessons and openings after that lol

[John Upper]

While I agree with GM Finegold that the probability of anyone becoming GM after 50 is vanishing low, I'd disagree that it is exactly 0 . Simply because there is a counterexample : Viswanathan Anand. Anand, who will turn 51 in a couple of months, is rated currently at 2753.

Agreed, and in fact just after the end of the clip Finegold actually mentioned Anand as another 50+ player who could make it, along with Nigel (Short) and Kasparov.

OTOH, Vishy and GK are still way over 2700, and no one with that kind of a rating would be "only" an IM with no GM norms; so maybe Ben's counterexamples aren't really counterexamples.

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Agreed, and in fact just after the end of the clip Finegold actually mentioned Anand as another 50+ player who could make it, along with Nigel (Short) and Kasparov.

OTOH, Vishy and GK are still way over 2700, and no one with that kind of a rating would be "only" an IM with no GM norms; so maybe Ben's counterexamples aren't really counterexamples.

I think Anand example is not useful.

"the probability of anyone becoming GM after 50 is vanishing low" -- I think it is about a person still climbing a hill, not going down especially from 2800 heights.

It would be necessary to double check but I think Beliavsky is one of the oldest active GM - 66 years and still with 2517 points.
Karpov is older but does not play regularly in tournaments.

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

P. S: Thank you, Egidijus, for suggesting a thread to kick off this journey.

You're welcome :) And you're in a good club of dad's who played along their sons and daughters - Plotkin, Preotu, Hua to mention several names.

Being a little bit old fashion I recommend books :) For the start Soviet Chess Primer and going over the real chess board. For a little bit entertainment Tal's book on his match against Botvinnik.

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Tomorrow afternoon will be my first "test", with a few dozen CFC-rated players at Victor Xu's free Sigma tournament:

https://sites.google.com/view/torontocfcchess/registration?authuser=0

I figure I'll have new opinions about lessons and openings after that lol

As I see you did great - the end rating 2300 :)

[Aris Marghetis]

As I see you did great - the end rating 2300 :)

LOL, that's just lichess new rating super-volatility ... I drew a game I shoulda lost, and I won on time another game I should have lost ... on the positive side, my time management was decent.

We'll see the CFC rating effect on Thursday ...

Thanks for the kind words though, the event was a LOT of fun, filled with good-natured people!

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

I drew a game I shoulda lost, and I won on time another game I should have lost

It just mean you fought till the end and you were rewarded. I find myself playing much better when the position looks worse. Sometimes with the help of other side, the result is not bad for me :) Though I never get into a worse position intentionally.

[Amit R]

I think Anand example is not useful.

"the probability of anyone becoming GM after 50 is vanishing low" -- I think it is about a person still climbing a hill, not going down especially from 2800 heights.

It would be necessary to double check but I think Beliavsky is one of the oldest active GM - 66 years and still with 2517 points.
Karpov is older but does not play regularly in tournaments.

Fully agreed , John and Egidijus, that becoming GM if still IM/lower is near impossible at 50+ ; my comment was only on GM Finegold's "no grandmaster on Earth..." comment.