Beginner to Grandmaster

It is tougher to become a GM than a Phd in a certain field. From beginner to grandmaster? In short you have to be ready to dedicate your life to chess (let's say every day 8+ hours for 10 years, and in many cases more than that). That is for playing, studying, exercising, analyzing, reviewing master games... You need money for books, coaches, etc.

That is only the necessary step, there are certainly no guarantees. In most cases, it will not be enough. Perhaps with a few exceptions, the only people who are able to become GMs are those who start pretty early (AKA as children). 

Be an IM before you finish school seems to be is a good start.

I think becoming a gm in 10 years it's extremely rare, otherwise every 20+ years old titled player on this site would be a grandmaster... 

Not to mention the money and the time investment to play in fide rated tournaments. 

Becoming a GM is extremely rare by itself. I am talking about those who have already achieved this. Those who are capable and start early ... well some of them do it in less than 10 years even (some 12 year old's managed to become GMs, so those prodigies do it in like 6-7 years). So for those who are capable it is not that uncommon to become a GM in 10 years. Of course many GMs take much longer time due to various reasons.

I will quote this part now:

"otherwise every 20+ years old titled player on this site would be a grandmaster... "

Nope. The reason is because they are each others competition. It is extremely hard to get to 2 500 FIDE for someone rated, let's say 2350. It seems like it is just 150 points, but remember that a GM has to beat some 2 100 person around 9 times out of 10 to get to 2 500 FIDE. For some titled people, that is impossible to achieve in 30 years, let alone 10. Eventually, most will just hover around the same rating  that is below 2 500 whatever they do.

But in the end, I said 10 years of extensive learning only as a rough starting point for a gifted young person. Someone extremely talented might do it slightly faster, most will take much more time (if they do it at all).

As for older improvers, well... In a practical sense, it is (almost) impossible for some adult improver to become a GM. If he dedicate his life to chess, he might have a tiny theoretical chance (which would still be almost zero, but perhaps doable for someone really special). As far as I know, there are no GMs today who became GMs but started playing as adults. 

Nklristic, I agree with everything you said, in fact I was trying to say the same thing I just wasn't specific enough, my fault. 

@NiceAndFlowy Yeah, I suspected something like that.

In any case, it is not my intention to put down some adult enthusiast. I mean, there are billions of people on Earth, some of them might be capable of doing something extremely difficult like becoming a GM without playing as a child. That is why I used word almost. It is just that it is extremely unlikely in a practical sense. 

Think of it as like becoming a medical Consultant. First you go to school, then University, then you get your first job as a newly qualified doctor, after more learning and exams you become a registrar, then senior registrar, and eventually somewhere in your 30s or 40s you become a consultant (I.e. Grandmaster) having spent a great deal of your working day plus many evenings either practising or studying. I'm not a doctor by the way but you get the idea. I have a PhD and it isnt comparable, anyone bright and interested enough can knock one out in 3 or 4 years.

If someone wants to become a gm starting from 0, as an adult, imo it's like someone who wants to become a doctor starting from 0,at 50 years old. Theoretically speaking, he can become the greatest neurologist ever.. Realistically speaking, it sounds ridiculous.. 

There isn’t a single “most important” step to go from “bad” to “top 1000 in the world”

Just try to control the centre and don't blunder your pieces and you'll be destroying any club players you meet in six months. Becoming an IM is harder and will take at least a year, and you have to know all sorts of technical stuff like "en passant" and "castling". GM status will be 2-3 years away at this point, but you have to commit to it. You should read at least two chess books and watch 3 hours of chess content on YouTube during this time while playing at least 5 games a week.

More than 600 million chess players world wide. 1,739 GMs in the history of the game. The math is not on your side.

Please tell me you're joking

guy said "control the center" and you'll be gm in two years!!

bruh obviously a troll post to counter the unrealistic question the op asked

hes got a point tho no cap

have you at least read what i wrote? I don't think it's hard to understand that I'm saying the same thing...