Next English GM

[Nick Burrows]

How often do people become GMs in their thirties these days?

Not if they still require the norms, but gaining 50 points is definitely possible.

Lets not forget that both Horner and Pigott became IM's around the age of 60!

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Some get close, but never quite make it (which looks a bit agonising from the outside, probably from the inside as well). The best-known example, I think (and apologies if he doesn't like being reminded of it) is Adam Hunt, who got two GM norms, and might even have met the rating requirements (not sure of that), but despite taking a year out to try and get the third GM norm (again, this is me trying to remember the sequence of events) didn't get it and seems to have gone a different route now (coaching?).

Is it better to be a 'strong' IM or a 'weak' GM?

[IM Jack Rudd]

Is it better to be a 'strong' IM or a 'weak' GM?

Weak GM, by far. You'll get far more in the way of conditions.

[Jonathan Rogers]

How often do people become GMs in their thirties these days?

Not if they still require the norms, but gaining 50 points is definitely possible.

Lets not forget that both Horner and Pigott became IM's around the age of 60!

I think the IM title is likely different in that respect. Not so difficult to be of the requisite standard earlier in life, then retire or otherwise comeback whilst still in good health. It is really an issue about GMs in particular and nowadays I struggle to think of anyone acquiring the title beyond 30. (It was probably different 30-40 years ago simply because of more stringent rules and fewer opportunities).

[Matt Mackenzie]

Jonathan Hawkins was a fairly recent example of course.

[Joey Stewart]

I think Johnathan Hawkins became a GM in his thirties, although I think it is fairly accepted that it was not a title he only just scraped by and very much deserved. For most players their peak strength seems to be between mid 20s and 30s so it doesn't seem too unreasonable for anyone to get a grandmaster title at that age.

[Jonathan Rogers]

I was wondering how old he was. But he was highly exceptional in any event, being British champion already in his twenties (I think) and more to the point, not tending to travel abroad to gain norms (see above comments about why the age was higher in years gone by).

[IM Jack Rudd]

It's perhaps worth pointing out that our highest-rated active non-GM is 34/35-year-old Ameet Ghasi (who went over 2500 briefly in 2019; not sure how many norms he has).

[Nick Burrows]

Ben Finegold became a GM aged 40

This guy learnt chess aged 17, GM at 33: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ye_Jiangchuan

[Joseph Conlon]

As I understand it, Ye Jiangchuan was already an extremely strong player of Chinese Chess at the time he switched to Western chess, so he was not starting from scratch (or anywhere near it) at 17.

[LawrenceCooper]

It's perhaps worth pointing out that our highest-rated active non-GM is 34/35-year-old Ameet Ghasi (who went over 2500 briefly in 2019; not sure how many norms he has).

No norms, mainly due to not playing many tournaments.

[Joey Stewart]

Ameet might not have any GM norms but anyone who has had the misfortune to face him over the board will know that he is definitely that level of playing strength - especially in rapid games.

[John Upham]

I was wondering how old he was. But he was highly exceptional in any event, being British champion already in his twenties (I think) and more to the point, not tending to travel abroad to gain norms (see above comments about why the age was higher in years gone by).

JH became a GM in 2014 and was born on May 1st 1983.

He was British Champion (joint) in 2014 aged 31 and then again in the following year.

J.

[Richard Bates]

How often do people become GMs in their thirties these days?

Not if they still require the norms, but gaining 50 points is definitely possible.

Lets not forget that both Horner and Pigott became IM's around the age of 60!

I think the IM title is likely different in that respect. Not so difficult to be of the requisite standard earlier in life, then retire or otherwise comeback whilst still in good health. It is really an issue about GMs in particular and nowadays I struggle to think of anyone acquiring the title beyond 30. (It was probably different 30-40 years ago simply because of more stringent rules and fewer opportunities).

On the contrary my educated guess is that the large majority of U.K. GMs achieved their titles in their twenties. The nature of the old rules (title requirements needing to be met within a five year period) combined with most of potentially GM strength either getting the title very young or turning pro, made it quite likely that anyone who got the title did so relatively young.

The removal of time limits created the possibility of people getting titles (and this applies as much, if not more, to IMs as GMs) through “passage of time”.

[LawrenceCooper]

Ameet might not have any GM norms but anyone who has had the misfortune to face him over the board will know that he is definitely that level of playing strength - especially in rapid games.

Yes, I 100% agree with that, his OTB blitz rating has been very close to 2600 too.