Any masters who started late

hello im new from chess.com, I taught myself to play chess when I was 20 and im 21 now taking it very seriously, my goal is to become a FM. Is it possible and are there any masters who started late. I been reading books and studying chess a lot I feel like ive improved quickly, I want to get a chess coach but cant afford it. My point is, does anyone know if its possible for someone like me to start late and make it to FM, within 10 years?

@DONTGETSMOKED #1
Regarding the age topic : You can still become IM at 59 years old.
Good luck & have fun !
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsEY7ITuNP8

Thanks! @achja

That's a great question that I would like to know out of interest sake, not for any personal ambitions.

It's true that kids pick up things incredibly quickly, it's also true that an adult mind remains plastic and can learn new things at any age.

www.quora.com/Is-there-any-famous-chess-player-or-grandmaster-who-started-late-like-in-their-20s-or-30s

The first answer lists 2 GMs that both got serious about chess in their late teens, early 20s.

There's also a massive difference between GM and FM. It might that not everyone has the ability to become an FM no matter how young they start, but if you had the ability, I think 10-20 years before your death is probably the oldest you'd want to be before studying chess with the ambition of becoming an FM. So if you were to die an 90, you'd want to start around 70. They say you reach 90% of your ability after 8 years of serious study.

I would also recommend doing the coursera course called "learning how to learn". I found it entertaining and valueable in not just how to learn, but gaining knowledge of how our brain works helps me in all areas of life.

@h2b2 Thank you friend where can I find that course is it a book? Yes my goal is to become an FM so if I believe in myself and keep working hard

No one that learned chess after 20 has ever become a master. Sorry your scrrrrewwwwwweddddd

Don't think so. I have seen thousands of 20 y.o. guys and no-one has become FM although working really hard.

I started with 15-16 by the way.

PS: we are talking of the nowadays, the times where only a few people played chess are gone. So please no Steinitz & Co. comparisons.

Pretty sure just about all but maybe some of the weaker Grandmasters nowadays could start the game at 20 and attain FM by 30. Chess proficiency is mostly inborn talent. If accurately calculating long variations or retaining many branches of variations comes easy to you then it shouldn't be a problem with intensive study. Samuel Reshevsky said that from the time he was a child good moves came to him as easy as breathing. The sort of people (most GMs) who can easily play through games in their head or play multiple blindfold games are just born that way, there's no amount of study that will help if you weren't born with that natural ability.

I strongly disagree with #8. There will hardly be a master player starting from scratch at 20. And such a dominant talent described simply doesn't exist.

Talent is hard work. (Garry Kasparov)

One of my favourite youtube channel "Hanging pawns" (www.youtube.com/channel/UCkJdvwRC-oGPhRHW_XPNokg) is run by Stjepan who started playing serious chess at 25-26 yo, and has ambition to become grandmaster. It's a long shot, but he already managed to beat FM in a tournament. And he almost beat GM Milan Pacher who used to be top Slovakian player some decade ago. He won a piece, had better position and lost by one mistake due to the lack of time and psychological pressure. You can find both games on his youtube channel.

He is also here on lichess: @hpy

I think this proves that one can achieve very serious progress if he works hard, is dedicated and loves chess.

@DONTGETSMOKED just keep doing your thing, nothing is impossible.