GM Hikaru Nakamura's comment on age & earning GM title

I was reading timhortonsknigt's blog (http://cheszpatzerblog.blogspot.com) and came across some kibitzes with GM Hikaru Nakamura during his examination of a game and noted this question. "harmonicsa kibitzes: do you think someone who picks up chess after age 20 can achieve GM?" To which GM Nakamura replied, "Smallville(GM) kibitzes: No, definitely not harmoncsa"

I definately have to agree with Hikaru on this one. I didn't learn chess until 20, when you are a kid, your brain is like a sponge..neurons ready to take on any information. As you grow older, your brain is trained in the way you have grown in the 20 years before. If you learn chess at 6 and continue to play...your brain is tuned to the game, if you also have the talent to go with it of course. Your mind is fresh, ready to see ideas and concepts that an older brain is tuned to ignore, no matter how much you try to rewire it, it just seems to want to go back to it's old ways.

I learned the game playing with a few friends, getting beat constantly, which of course I didn't like! So I went to the local library in South Dakota (Not really the chess capital of the world) and found Mikhail Tal's autobiography. I learned notation and was in awe of the ways he found to win. By going over his games, I learned a few concepts and soon was beating my friends until they wouldn't play me anymore. Now trying to find another chess partner who is stronger in a small town in South Dakota isn't easy, so it wasn't until I moved to Kansas that I found more chess players. I then found out how weak I still was...so I played at the JUCO I was at, still winning most games, but finding tougher opponents and getting beat as well. Then the disability hit, and I had nothing to do but study chess.

I finally got to play in my first USCF tournament and was totally waxed and buffed. I worked my way over the years to almost a B player. I won some class prizes and such in the C class...but couldn't get over the hump. Then eventually, the disability kicked in more, relapses, more meds...getting older, my rating started to slide. I do not know if I wasn't in that condition if I could have made it to the B class, but I think so, I had beaten B players and drawn A players.

But this was before my first relapse...prednisone is a very useful drug, but evil in high doses...I still have cataracts from it. As well as the constant pain I'm in from the ravage of the immune system eating my muscles. Luckily, my Rheumatologist finally got it under control, but with the meds I'm on, Morphine, Percocet, Valium (to help with muscle tightness and anxiety) and various other drugs (over 20 total) I can't even keep up on ICC anymore.

Now I am 44, 24 years of playing chess and never reached my goal of a B player, except on ICC in blitz..a high of 1727..now in the 1300's! My bullet high was in the 1600's, now in the 1100's. I don't feel I've failed in any way...I've had a lot of fun with chess and now computer chess. That's the main thing. But to those over 20 who are just learning, keep learning. You may not become a GM, I think I've heard of some late learners getting titled, you may be next. But a super-GM, no, I don't think so. It's like the old saying, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks". (Actually you can, but chess isn't a trick) :P

So have fun, play chess, learn, read! And play and play. Learn from your mistakes...also, I've found working backwards was better for me when learning, first learn the moves, then learn your basic mates and mating patterns. Endgames are how you win, if you can get through that mess of openings and middlegames...that's another thing, openings..a kid can learn those so easy, all the names, positions..it's like when they know all the names of the dinosaurs. They just soak it up, it's much harder for us old folks. I don't know if this helps anyone, but I was thinking about it last night, as I was trying to sleep, dreaming of being in a super tournament and being a GM. It never hurts to dream and just maybe for some, that dream will come true.