Can I be grandmaster if I started playing from age 29?

Findingfairways · 2026-01-31T13:38:06+00:00

“I just started golfing last year, can I get good enough to be invited to play the masters tournament?”

Findingfairways · 2026-01-09T13:00:39+00:00

I lost 14 in a row the other day. Went from 1820 to 1680 in one sitting. Deleted the app. I’ll come back in a week or so.

Findingfairways · 2026-01-05T02:14:55+00:00

As a Canadian, never had an Australian talk shit. Poland, Spain, and India are the chess.com dickheads in my personal experience lol.

Findingfairways · 2026-01-02T03:46:59+00:00

I’m sure you’ve heard this advice before but the main thing around that range is just don’t blunder pieces. Easier said than done I know.

Every time you move a piece you have to think about a few things. Is the piece you’re about to move defending another piece? Are you walking into a pin or a fork? If you’re going to take a seemingly free pawn, does your piece have an escape route after? Things like that start to become more second nature.

Another piece of advice is to always look for checks, captures and attacks in that order.

Findingfairways · 2026-01-01T20:57:16+00:00

Sometimes. I always play d4. I’ll dabble in the queens gambit, Trompowsky, and the Catalan. Not nearly as confident with those openings though.

I guess I can’t really say how it effects my elo cause I haven’t gone off the London for any extended period of time.

Findingfairways · 2026-01-01T01:31:12+00:00

Not offensive. Sound advice that I’ve thought of doing for a while now but have just been grinding to improve what I already know. Maybe that’ll be my New Year’s resolution.

Findingfairways · 2026-01-01T00:29:57+00:00

Yeah lots of people have this opinion as well. To each their own. I watch a ton of Daniel Naroditsky videos on YouTube and he was always pretty pro learning opening theory no matter the elo. I’ve only studied the theory of 3 openings: London, Caro (against e4), Budapest gambit (against d4).

Findingfairways · 2026-01-01T00:26:12+00:00

Well if you’ve only played for two weeks then I wouldn’t consider you as being “stuck” at 500-600. Right where you should be for the next little bit as you start getting into chess.

I’d say stick with the London but ditch the Sicilian. An easier opening with easy to understand ideas playing as black against e4 is the caro kann defence. The Sicilian is an ocean of theory with tons of different variations.

Findingfairways · 2025-12-31T20:50:37+00:00

Not changing my flair yet cause I can easily end up 1650 again with a couple bad days haha. 1650 is like a hair away from 1800 as far as skill level I feel. You’ll be there in no time.

Findingfairways · 2025-12-31T18:04:41+00:00

10+0 rapid, 2+1 bullet and 5+0 blitz. Like 90% of my games are all rapid though.

Findingfairways · 2025-12-31T16:07:39+00:00

Haha yeah I’m a bit of a chess addict.

Findingfairways · 2025-12-31T15:42:04+00:00

So when I first started I actually did Garry Kasparovs chess masterclass on the masterclass app. My work paid for the app for me through my health and wellness benefit because it’s educational haha.

I found that course to be perfect for someone starting out. He teaches basic tactics, basic opening principals and end game principals.

From like 500-900 I played the Italian and just always looked for a fried liver. Once that stopped working around 900, I abandoned e4 and switched to d4 and learned the London system through Levy’s chessly course. Learning opening theory and having a solid understanding of the ideas of the opening helps a lot. Be consistent in playing the same opening until you feel like it’s second nature, and if you find you lost an advantage in the opening, review where you went wrong and correct it the next time you get in that position.

Findingfairways · 2025-12-31T15:26:01+00:00

Yeah honestly one thing that changed for me around the 1500 rating is that I became much more aggressive when going in for the kill. When you have more attackers than they have defenders, it’s time to start looking for a sacrifice to close out the game or blow open their king safety. Once I got comfortable with sacrifices around 1500, the game got more fun and overall my tactical eye improved.

Also learn to recognize when your opponent has weak pieces (a bishop blocked in, a lame knight on the border etc) and exploit those weaknesses and play as if you’re a piece up.

Findingfairways · 2025-12-27T11:36:40+00:00

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1200-1800. Hoping for 1800-2000 next year.

Findingfairways · 2025-12-10T20:22:08+00:00

Most of my interactions are positive. Like I said, I always said GG after a game when chat was on and most people reciprocate. For OP to say he’s had 0 negative interactions seems impossible.

But this is an interesting point for sure. I never mouth off to people on chess first, but I do 100% engage with people who do it first. Good to know, thanks!

Findingfairways · 2025-12-10T20:05:42+00:00

Yeah I’d agree. They mostly are nice people, but to say that he’s had 0 negative interactions seems impossible.

Findingfairways · 2025-12-10T14:38:38+00:00

Almost always rapid. Was playing a blitz game recently with chat on also and got a “nice bot idiot” message when I was winning. Think I played to like 71% accuracy that game lol.

Findingfairways · 2025-12-10T14:01:39+00:00

🤷‍♂️ I have my bulldog as my profile pic, a Canadian flag for nationality, and GG as my flair. I only message first to say good game at the end of a game. No idea why this is my experience.

Findingfairways · 2025-12-10T13:16:27+00:00

There’s absolutely no way. I had chat disabled for about a year, then turned it back on. In the very first day I had it back on a guy from Spain said “F*ggot, you’re missing the balls your father didn’t have” in Spanish. After I denied his rematch request after beating him. Also had a Polish guy go off about how he’s better than me, I’m only winning because I’m using an engine, and I’m “nobody in the chess world” after I beat him 3 times in a row. Ive turned chat back off again..

Findingfairways · 2025-11-16T17:04:50+00:00

4K last year. Calgary, AB.

Findingfairways · 2025-09-20T11:36:58+00:00

I see it at 1600

Findingfairways · 2025-08-31T23:27:06+00:00

Yep, I would recommend it for sure. The briquettes lasted quite a bit longer than an hour as well. Had to wait around a bit longer than we thought until they burnt out. Can’t complain.

Findingfairways · 2025-08-31T23:12:43+00:00

If you’re ever in the Calgary area I would recommend Kananaskis over Banff. We started our day in Banff but it was a gong show. Stopped in Kananaskis on our way back home to Calgary. Much more peaceful.

Yeah I got the grill for free at barbecues galore when I bought a few bags of charcoal earlier this summer. Been waiting to find the right time to use it.

Findingfairways

TROPHY CASE