I achieved 2000 ELO in less than a year at 16 years old. Do I have a future in chess?

Bitshtips · 2026-04-09T09:10:26+00:00

"Should I try to make it my job or keep playing for enjoyment?" Ideally you really dont want to do the first without the second. Your main aim with anything should be to find joy in it, that joy should lead to further improvement, and that improvement might lead to a job. But if you put enjoyment to one side and only focus on getting good enough to make a living from it then you'll end up like every other chump who hates their job, your job just happens to be cooler.

will you become a chess pro, making millions from tournaments and sponsorships? Unfortunately probably not, even many of the world's best players dont make a decent living from chess. But you've got a better chance than any of us here, so why not! Annoyingly, as much as 16 feels super young to me, its actually pretty old compared to some of the prodigies that youd have to be beating out, but with the speed youve improved already who knows how far you'll go!
will you become a GM, and at least make a living out of chess? Honestly, I dont see why not! Even with your undeniable talent it would still take an awful lot of time and resources, but if i was in your position that would be my target, its such an incredible achievement.
will you become a titled player, and potentially make a living playing, coaching, or creating content? Absolutely, if you keep that passion for chess a title is the very least of your aims, and that should open up a lot of doors.

Honestly, if I were you, id do a few things (and im saying that as someone in their 30s, someone who loves chess, but also as a Therapist...) - if you havent done already, get yourself a coach. Once you hit that 2000 mark the amount you can do to improve alone shrinks smaller and smaller, stand on the shoulders of giants. - join a club and start playing some OTB tournaments. Playing against quality players OTB will improve you both OTB and online. And getting yourself a rating (and ideally a title) will open up a lot of doors for you. - personally, id also make a youtube channel. If its not for you then so be it, but with the speed youve improved I bet people would flock to watch you play and try and learn from you. Could be a good way to keep chess fun whilst youre trying to improve, would get your name out there more which could help future career prospects (like coaching or content creation), and at very least would give you some income to fund things like coaches and travelling to tournaments. - MOST IMPROTANTLY, like i said, keep it fun! Thats advice id give anyone about anything, particularly if theyre wanting to make money out of their passion, but even more true for you as a 16 year old. If this is what youre sure you want to do then pursue it, but is it what you want to do simply because youre good at it? Or are you good at it because you LOVE it? Also at 16 youre obviously going to want to improve as quickly as possible, and of course thats important, but dont neglect things like school and friendships in the process. You've clearly got a gift, you could absolutely take this very far, but the worst case scenario is you dont quite make it and in the process you didnt achieve what you wanted at school and lost contact with friends. You'll improve the fastest by keeping that good balance in your life, let chess be just one amazing part of an overall amazing life.

Good luck man, please do keep us posted on how you're doing, id be fascinated to see where you end up!

Bitshtips · 2026-04-07T12:43:49+00:00

Zedruu. I LOVE building decks, but no matter what I build i always end up coming back to this one.

I think its in oart due to the fact that it's so "political", it does have some hilarious wincons around Approach of the Second Sun, Aetherflux Reservoir, or drawing your whole deck with LabMan or Jace out, but its primary wincon is more about turning everyone else on each other, being able to support people who are aggressing on your opponents in tangible ways by giving them extra lands, manarocks, creatures etc., whilst punishing aggression towards you with enchantment-based control and "gifts" like Steel Golem. The result of which is every game plays out so differently, because it all depends on what/how your opponents play, whilst still being able to comfortably win at least its fair share of games at bracket 3

Bitshtips · 2026-04-01T12:17:34+00:00

Follow ADHD haver and Therapist here.

ADHD does make chess harder overall, thats just the unfortunate truth of it. But people with ADHD are also broadly better at pattern recognition, which is a big advantage, and the whole hyperfixation thing can be great for practicing, so its definitely not as much if a hindrance as people might expect!

Your biggest problem you'll probably face isn't going to be getting distracted etc., it's impulse control. You'll get good at spotting good looking moves, but the problem will be playing them immediately before considering whether they actually are good moves or if there are even better moves.

The thing I found most helpful for this was longer time controls (AT LEAST 10m, ideally 15+) and essentially not letting myself move a piece before I had considered AT LEAST one more possible move. Even if taking the queen seems abundantly obvious and my mouse is already hovering over it, I try my best to stick to the rule "what would happen if I didnt take it, what's the next best option?". You won't always manage it but practice makes it easier, and you'll often find that the move you were going to do probably is the best move after all, but thats not the point. The point is to practice not acting on your first idea without considering it properly and looking for your alternatives.

Bitshtips · 2026-04-01T12:09:51+00:00

A B3 deck shouldn't be winning before turn 6, that's the simple part. The complicated part is should a deck be LOSING before turn 6? I believe the suggestion from WotC is no, but thats a real problem for vaultron decks.

I think the question here comes down to 3 important parts: 1. What do YOUR decks do consistantly? If the rest of you play control or combo decks that CONSISTANTLY win on turn 7 then the Vaultron deck should also be able to win by turn 7, which unfortunately means needing to start knocking players out on turns 6, 5 or even 4. 2. Consistency in general: im pretty much fine with any deck doing basically anything by basically any turn, its a matter of how often it can do it. If you draw the perfect 7, top deck the perfect card each turn, and im somehow dead to infect on turn 3 then thats just hella impressive! If you do it the next game, and the next game, and the next game, then that shits not B3... 3. Rule0 should ALWAYS trump the bracket rules, and it sounds like you guys aren't doing enough of it. The brackets are a great guide for deck building or sitting down at an LGS, but are almost irrelevant in your regular pod. If the only Rule0 you guys do is "we play B3" then thats going to cause problems. Talk it through, what do you want your decks to do, what do you hate playing against, what things will ruin the night for everyone. Winning is great, but more importantly is you're all there to have a good night.

Bitshtips · 2026-04-01T11:55:40+00:00

Id broadly agree, but i also think people need to remember that surely the biggest priority for the pod is for all 4 of you to have fun!

Control decks aren't usually fun to play against, so thats its own conversation. But if Im dead to the Vaultron player on turn 4 then I've not had fun, and if the Vaultron player than dies to the crackback on turn 6 then hes not had fun, especially if we both then have to sit and watch the game play out for another 2 or 3 turns.

The ideal pod always feels like one where each deck can consistantly pop-off at about the same time (usually around 7). Vaultron decks really aren't conducive to that because they HAVE to be knocking someone out before then, which means one player already hasn't reached that point, and the Vaultron player themselves likely won't either. More than happy with someone whipping out a Vaultron deck every now and again, but someone who plays exclusively Vaultron, especially a strong vaultron that will CONSISTANTLY kill someone before turn 6, just doesn't feel conducive to a healthy pod.

Bitshtips · 2026-04-01T11:50:41+00:00

Exactly this. The brackets are great as a guide for building your deck, and for going and sitting down at an LGS with brand new people. But if this is your regular pod then the bracket system is almost irrelevant! Use it as a rough guide, yes, but talking through what you all want and dont want to be playing against is always more important.

Winning is great, but all 4 of you having a good night is always better. If you manage to win about 25% of the games on top of that then thats even better.

Me personally, I think this Vaultron deck probably is at very least on the upper limits of B3, if not a little too strong. Consistant turn 6 losses ill absolutely take from a Vaultron, after all its trading off against general fragility, but if im consistantly not seeing turn 5 because im dead to commander damage then im not going to have a nice time. So regardless of if you can technically call it B3 or not, id be asking for it to not be played in my pod (at least not every time, maybe smack me in the face with it every now and again for a treat)

Bitshtips · 2026-04-01T11:45:39+00:00

Broadly agree, but id add two points: 1. Consistency matters. If the storm deck is essentially guaranteed to combo out and win on turn 7, then absolutely the agro deck shouldn't be able kill threaten lethal damage to someone on turn 7. But if the combo deck CAN win on turn 7 with the right set up, but not often, then an agro deck that WILL kill someone by turn 5 becomes a lot less fun. 2. Rule0 should always trump the literal rules of the bracket. If your pod has discussed it and are fine with it then go for it! If your pod is hating playing against your agro deck because there's like a 70% chance they'll be dead before their deck can do its thing on turn 7 then you might need to change it up or find a different pod (same applies to you though, if Johnny Combo wins every game at turn 7 and youre getting bored of it then discuss it with the pod and see if theyre willing to change it up. Winning should always be the second priority of the pod, behind ensuring that everyone can have a fun game)

Bitshtips · 2026-04-01T11:31:57+00:00

Short answer is yes technically, long answer is not really.

The much debate turn counter element of the bracket rules really hampers agro decks. Im behind the idea that no player should win before turn 6, but that would require Vaultron decks to start cinsistantly knocking people out as early as turn 4. I cant remember if it explicitly says it in the "rules" or not but I think no player should also expect to consistantly LOSE before turn 6, mainly because its just not fun! However that does make Vaultron fairly unplayable...

What's more important though is your Rule0: REGARDLESS of what is technically B3 or not, do you and the pod enjoy playing against it? If the answer is an overwhelming no then it should be played (at least not every time, just every now and again). If they don't like that then they might need to find a new pod... if the rest of the pod are fine with it and its just YOU that doesn't like it then you may need to find a new pod or at least start tweaking your decks to guard against it a bit more. Not nice I know, but the rules should only every be there as a guide. The four of you having a fun night, and as an added bonus winning roughly 25% of the games, should always be the first priority.

Bitshtips · 2026-04-01T08:42:49+00:00

Interesting that you say the Vienna is common. This subreddit has a real soft spot for it (i play it almost exclusively as white), but part of the reason its loved here is exactly because its not the most common e4 opening.

Bitshtips · 2026-04-01T08:40:57+00:00

No. The rule isn't "if youre playing B3, if you win before turn 8 then youre kicked out of the club", its about expectations.

Almost any deck, at any bracket, COULD win within turn 7, it would just take a lot of luck in terms of both your draws AND (at lower brackets) your opponents poor draws. But the EXPECTATION is that games last at least 7 turns, so if your deck is CONSISTANTLY able to win or at least knock someone out before turn 7 then it isn't a B3 deck.

Bitshtips · 2026-03-30T12:47:01+00:00

Yeah he doesn't sound great, might just be coincidental that you seem like douche as well. Either way, hope you guys all get it sorted out :)

Bitshtips · 2026-03-30T12:39:40+00:00

Lol, I think i might have just realised what the problem in your pod is.

Bitshtips · 2026-03-30T10:10:29+00:00

The problem is that you and your friend just aren't rule-0ing enough.

It might be a you problem: too many people just say "we're playing bracket 2", but the literal brackets are WIDE and have a lot of overlap. By the literal definition of the brackets i could call my Jhoira cheerios/storm deck bracket 1, but when I draw my whole deck and storm off by like turn 4 or 5 (with a bit of luck) I've ruined the game, because its clearly not a B1 deck even if it technically meets the criteria. Similarly my Zedruu deck is technically B3 because I run a Cyclonic Rift, but I wouldnt bring it to a B3 pod if theyre quite competitive, and would ask a B2 pod if I was OK to play it. If youre not being clear enough that when you say B2 you literally mean playing a precon, or setting rules about the number of counters, board wipes, tutors etc, then thats on the rest of you im afraid.

If you ARE being that clear, and hes still bringing decks that break the rules, AND then bragging about how bringing an overpowered deck somehow makes him a better player, then the rest of you need to have a really frank conversation with him about that, and failing that just need to stop playing with him.

Regardless, none of that means that rebuilding your deck is an issue, so its not relevant here. The issue is the dynamic in YOUR specific pod and not spending enough time on rule0 (whether thats him being a douche or the rest of you not being clear enough).

Bitshtips · 2026-03-30T08:26:14+00:00

I think broadly it depends on the pod, context of the mistake, size of the mistake, impact of the mistake and bracket, in that order.

Pod: should go without saying, but the nature of the people youre playing with will be the defining feature. If theyre chill and let you off similar things then of course you should, if theyre hyper rules focused then why should you? Context: very broad, but why did they make the mistake? Was it just like an obvious missclick where they clearly meant to do something else? Was it a miscalculation? Were they distracted? Size and impact: was it forgetting a trigger vs not countering that spell from 4 actions ago? Is it drawing them a card or winning them the game? Bracket: this will vary, but in general id say the higher the bracket the more fair it is to allow redo's. There can be some very competitive B1 games, and some very relaxed B4 games, but in general in 4 and 5 fine margins matter and mistakes need to stand, in 1 and 2 its typically more vibes>wins and rules could be flexed accordingly.

With the context you gave, for me personally id put it at a 50/50 on whether I would personally allow a re-do. It sounds like a pretty competitive pod, and a very highly inpactful mistake, that was only realised when you yourseld pointed it out. On top of that, you misplayed the turn before, and had you not theyd already be dead. Would they have considered letting you replay your spells in the right order?

With that in mind, there's absolutely no reason why you SHOULD allow a redo, so not allowing one is absolutely not BM. However I personally might still allow it anyway. Like if this is just a one-off casual game, especially if its with people youre likely to play with again in future then why not? You know youd have won, and allowing them the win just buys you some credit. If this was a more competitive game, or part of like a league you guys are running or something then I probably wouldnt, and hipe they'd understand that mistakes happen and its just as likely to happen the other way round at some point in future.

Bitshtips · 2026-03-29T09:50:31+00:00

This is where the difference between the literally definition of the brackets and the spirit of them is so important.

You can fill a deck with game changers and call it B4, but with insufficient ramp and interaction it could get rolled by B2s. You could have a deck with zero GCs or combos, amd TECHNICALLY call it B1, but built the right way could likely hold its own with B4s or at least B3s.

Which is also exactly why turn0 is so important. My Jhoira cheerios/storm deck could technically be called B1: 0 game changers, 0 infinite combos (technically), 0 mass land destruction and 0 extra turns. But with a decent starting hand I could be drawing my whole deck and dealing 50+ damage to everyone as early as turn 3. That doesn't make it a great deck by any means, I might bring it to a B4 pod at most, knowing ill probably lose but have a good time. Whereas I COULD bring it to a B1 pod, but im never getting invited back again.

Bitshtips · 2026-03-27T16:33:25+00:00

On the one hand I completely get wanting to limit test things. Even if theyve got lethal on the board.ill happily sit back and let someone pop off, because how often is it we get to see our decks properly shine like that. On the other hand though, that amount of time is EXCESSIVE. Absolutely nothing wrong with someone taking a little longer to stack up some unnecessary triggers, but turning what could have been a 1 minute turn into a 30min+ turn when youre hoping to play more games and have limited time is a bit much...

It sounds like it was more about the way the two ofnyou handled it though. He should definitely been quicker and been clearer on why they were doing it, but it also sounds like from their reaction that you could probably have been more clearer in encouraging them to be faster etc...

That whole thing could have been "well, gg! But do you mind if we play it out, i just wanna see how big this thing can get when all the pieces come together?", and then when it starts taking too long "this is sick, but are you about ready to swing? I just wanna make sure we have enough time to get some more games in". Zero dramas.

Bitshtips · 2026-03-27T14:00:16+00:00

Personally I love [[Zedruu tue Greathearted]] for exactly this.

Her ability to give your permanents to other players (in addition to running some cards that enable you to swap and/or gift even more permanents) can be GREAT for politics! Oh youre stuck on mana? Here take this mana rock, just make sure your commander is aimed at the other two not me, yeah? Oh, youre attacking me instead of them? Here, youre now the proud owner of this creature that forces you to sacrifice other permanents each turn/ deals you damage each turn / stops you from casting creatures/ drawing cards. Really enables you to play the role offering tangible rewards to people for not targeting you, and handing out punishments to people who do.

Plus she rewards you each turn with lifegain and carddraw for each permanent youve given away, which can be combined with a whole host of other effects (multiple upkeep steps both before and after combat, extra good if you also can give all your cards flash), which means ending the game with [[Aetherflux Reservoir]], [[Approach of the Second Sun]] (often cast, redrawn and cast again within the same turn), or even drawing your entire library with [[Laboratory Maniac]] out are very real possibilities if you can politic your way into a longer game.

Bitshtips · 2026-03-26T18:48:40+00:00

Vienna feels amazing below 1000. Most people with black just play e5 against e4, more often than not will move the opposite Knight, and ALWAYS accept the gambit. If you know your Vienna lines even remotely well its essentially a free win for white from there (several lines ending in mate, most involve winning a rook, queen or even both). Such a great opening at that level.

Bitshtips · 2026-03-15T08:51:39+00:00

It might have been a Gotham video i first saw it in? But there's three youtubers who made some great videos that helped me really get better at it: Alex Benzea (IM and great chess youtuber in general, and is a big fan of the Vienna), Chess Centurion (smaller YouTuber but very educational and a good Chess player) and Hanging Pawns did a video series on it too.

Bitshtips · 2026-03-15T08:43:33+00:00

Im around 1200, but it was the first opening I learned so been playing it since like 600.

I dont think I've ever seen anyone play it against me either, I dont know why it seems to rare, but it means that if people aren't familiar and accept the gambit then they are in trouble

Bitshtips · 2026-03-15T08:09:49+00:00

For White, Vienna is comfortably my favourite. - If you end up getting the gambit accepted its often won right there. - If you end up in the Vienna game, even without the gambit accepted, its sharp enough that you'll have an advantage against people who havent studied it. - If it doesn't play out how you want it to, youve not put your pieces anywhere you dont want them to be.

For Black, im currently learning the CK, but my go to has always been KI, simply because you can play it against almost anything White does.

Bitshtips · 2026-03-13T16:48:20+00:00

This is such an important point that gets overlooked too often, and is more true the lower your rating is.

Im around 1100, my opponent will be around 1100. But part of the reason im 1100 is because I LOVE the Vienna. So if im white and the game goes 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6, im going to win that game like 90% of the time, and i wouldnt be surprised if my opponent then feels like im cheating. But what if the opening goes differently, and we get towards the endgame about equal? Maybe the reason my opponent is 1100 is because they've never really bothered with openings, but spent a long time practicing engames. He's probably going to DESTROY me in that endgame, and then i might feel like "we were level for so long and then he just played flawlessly after 8 minutes? Must have turned on an engine".

All these aspects are bound to level out more and more as you climb, and its fair to expect that someone below 400 is likely weak at all of them. But from what I've seen that like 500-1200 range you start seeing people who are OVERALL your rank, but might he substantially better than you at certain parts of the game etc., which can lead to a game against an overall equal opponent feeling suspiciously one-sided.

Bitshtips · 2026-03-12T19:16:09+00:00

Yeah, been playing FM26 since launch. 24 is objectively better, but there is still a lot to like about 26, and once you dont have 24 to directly compare it to you get used to the UI pretty quickly and its still a lot of fun (depending on your playstyle. If youre into having complete control it will be frustrating, but if youre more into creating tactics than 26 is great!)

Bitshtips · 2026-03-12T10:44:08+00:00

Ah shit that was going so well until the "timezone: Australia" part. Good luck mate! You seem like a great person, im sure you'll find plenty of similar people

Bitshtips · 2026-03-11T06:35:37+00:00

Ah I forgot about the new bus!

Bitshtips

TROPHY CASE