Q&A for How to Become a Grandmaster

Chess is a "slow" game. Expect to improve slowly.

If you mean a few months after you first learn the game, that's quite unlikely. "Many years" is more likely, even for a very dedicated player.

It's based on a complex formula of how many FIDE tournaments you attend, your record, and the strength of your opponents. You can check your FIDE score on their website or calculate your score at https://ratings.fide.com/calculators.phtml

There is no upper age limit.

Yes, these steps can help you achieve the level of expert, the next step toward becoming a grandmaster.

No, you will receive a new rating after you play in a FIDE rated tournament.

The easiest way to become good at something is the time-old mantra of 'practice makes perfect.' If you want to become a grandmaster in chess, you must play the game with others or with bots until you can effectively win against most. Then you must play in tournaments until you have ascended to the national level of play. Then you will be considered a grandmaster. There are bot levels that set the skill to grandmaster level and tell you your exact proficiency rating, or 'ELO'. The highest rating is grandmaster (around 3000). There is no age limit; some children are extremely gifted at playing chess.

Your rating type depends on where you live. For example, if you live in the USA, then you have a USCF rating and if you live in Canada you have a CFC rating. To check your current rating, simply visit your country's chess organization site and find the "rating lookup" function.

Go to the FIDE website. You will need to pay a fee.

It would be extraordinarily difficult to do that, but they say nothing is impossible!

No, it doesn't. You can still play in scholastic tournaments if you wish. But I would suggest sticking to either one or the other because you may get very mixed up with which points you have.

Grandmaster is a title, but not a job. Being a grandmaster does not pay you anything.

If you are referring to FIDE membership, yes, you just need to pay the membership fee.

Play with better players and you will become stronger. Go step by step, keep practicing and don't give up.

There is no limit for this.

Try repeating moves, but not three times of course. This will confuse your opponent and make them think that you don't know what you are doing.

ELO is just a ranking scale if you play tournaments. An ELO of 2300+ is Grandmaster.

For e4: play c5 (sicilian defense) or e5 (king's pawn). For d4: play d4 (queen's pawn). For c4: this is a very uncommon opening called the bird's opening. I don't know of any specific defense against this.

No, a USCF membership does not count as an FIDE membership. If you play in an FIDE-rated tournament, and play against at least 9 FIDE-rated players, your national federation will typically submit your results to FIDE to get an FIDE rating. At that point, you will be assigned an FIDE member number.

Play in a FIDE tournament, and you'll get ratings. You will need to play at least one FIDE rated player.

There is no limit. You can play at any age.

It's hard to say. It depends on one's talent level and time constraints. Regardless of age, it would probably take ten or more years.

You can play tournaments on the FIDE website without needing to travel anywhere.

Just play a lot, review your games, study other peoples' strategies, and practice, practice, practice.

You have to have a good visual memory, and be able to visualize the chessboard clearly and remember all the position changes. You also need a high level of concentration. It helps to know every piece by feel alone.

It is possible, but it requires persistence and concentration. If you study chess a lot, you might get to the GM level.

Yes, it is possible but rare. Even the world champion would win 1 % of all games he plays against the bot.

It will usually take at least a few years to become a GM but it depends on how much you play and how well you learn the game strategies.

Yes, it is. There is no age limit to become a GM. The youngest GM ever was Magnus Carlsen. He was also 13 when he became a GM.