Am I too late to become a master?

Hello,

I started playing chess casually when I was five. I was always decent enough at casual play, and I would win school tournaments and the like. Now I am seventeen and I am interested in beginning to play competitively. My live standard rating fluctuates between 900 and 1000 and my correspondence rating is at 1450 after 3 games. I just started taking chess seriously within these past two weeks.  If I work hard and begin to study chess theory, is becoming a master still within my grasp eventually or am I too late/simply not talented enough? I'd also greatly appreciate recommendations in chess literature.

Might be a little too late. But that shouldn't stop you from playing also why not try and join up a club.

It certainly won't stop me from playing, but I'd love to make money in the chess industry someday. I live in a small town, and despite my lackluster rating on this website I am yet to meet someone from around here who can beat me. This website is a wonderful thing, because without it I wouldn't even have an opportunity to improve

You can easily be National Master level if you work at it.  I started Chess at 16, and at 17 and after about 15 tournaments was rated about 1300.  I studied about 10-20 hours a week for about 9 years and played about 200-300 OTB tournaments and reached National Master level at about 26 years old. Never got better than that but if you played me at 17 years old, I was little more than a beginner. 

You need to study chess and play serious standard length games. Pick a great player and study all their games. I studied Bobby Fischer. Study your games after you play them.  I used to take notes and take extra time on the games you lose.  Look at games with other players and you will pick up on their insights.

Some books:

Think like a grandmaster by Alexander Kotov

My System by Aron Nimzovich

My 60 Memorable Games by Bobby Fischer

Pick a small set of opening and learn them

Study end game theory (Rook and pawn for example)

If you didn't srart playing tennis until you were almost 20 could you ever hope to be a world beater?

Not likely

What ericbowiereed said was good. You can definitely become master level starting now. 17 is still young, take advantage of it. Also, there's a lot of other stuff besides chess you can study, don't get too obsessed. You can become a master at several things along with chess. So broaden your horizons along with chess study.

I agree with you Dodger111.  Someone taking up tennis at almost 20 will never be the best.  The same with Chess.  All chess world champions were child prodigies.  However, no problem for a 20 old year to become a solid master in chess or a club champion in tennis.

The Big Boys that made GM mostly  started playing when they were 8 or 10 years old. 

Like anything else. 

Try picking up a Tennis Racket and seeing how easy it is to become a pro.

I just started taking chess seriously within these past two weeks.

...and already you're talking about titles.

Good grief.

17 is far too young to give up on being a master. I started playing again seriously and moved up from 1520 to 1850+ in over the past year... at age 40.

There's plenty of evidence against that

Thanks ericbowie, that was a great response. As for the rest of you, if I meant grandmaster I would have said grandmaster. I am completely content to strive towards NM as a long term goal, and at that point I'd like to work as a chess journalist.

ClaptonDavidLou was right.

Even to get to NM isn't an easily obtainable goal.  There are people who play their whole lives and barely break 2000, and there are others who start late, and rise to 2200 rather easily.  It's still too early to tell for you what kind of player you'll end up being.  But, just a nickels worth of free advice from me to you.. Make sure you know why you want a title.  If it's so people will think you're cool on chess.com, or just in general, then you're probably going about your goals from the wrong perspective.  The great thing about chess is there is always somebody who is better than you or around your level.  You don't have to have a title, or be high rated in FIDE or USCF to enjoy a good game.  Many chess players play chess because they love the game and are interested in obtaining a better understanding of the game itself.  I don't mean to discourage you by any means, but a lot of chess players believe they are good when they are only casual players, myself included (once upon a time).  Like somebody else said, set the goals in baby steps and enjoy your progress and the view along the way.  If by some chance you are one of those late bloomers with some talent, then by all means go for it.

Had you said I learned the rules a year ago, and atm I'm still a beginner, I would say: sure, why not. I myself never saw a chessboard before the age of 17.

But you learned the rules 12 years ago, and were decent enough in casual play, so you played chess in these 12 years.

I'm sorry to have to tell you, no chance whatsoever.

On the other hand, who cares. Just play and see where you end up.

EDIT: ps. Listen to prudentia. (Or should I say Temperance?) That made a lot of sense.

Well, he would certainly need to change his approach to the game in some way, because what he has been doing hasn't been working. But yeah, just do what Prudentia said lol. Enjoy the journey. Even if you don't make it to master, just appreciate the things you do learn about the game. You can always learn something new about chess, whether it's a tactic, positional idea, opening, endgame, whatever. A few new ideas are not guaranteed to improve your results, but just be happy to learn them. Knowing a little more about chess should be satisfying in itself.

Come on people. The defeatism in a lot of these posts is very strange.

The OP said "master." He did not say "World Champion" or "Grandmaster" or even "FIDE titled player."

A late starter can absolutely become a master (2200 USCF/2100 FIDE) if they have a decent study plan and are able to play good tournaments, and if they are willing to make it the primary focus of their life. Most people delude themselves into thinking they work hard at chess, but they don't.

Here's a personal tip: the MORE you play tournaments and the LESS losses bother you, the higher the level you can reach.

Profound words.