How do normal people become 2100 players

I am pondering about this issue for some days now. How exactly does a person not considered a "master" in chess get such high ratings in chess.com? Obviously they've had less training than GM's yet they still manage to rise to a level comparable to one of a GM's. I just don't understand how a GM who ahs been training all their lives to reach that title all of a sudden get beaten by a guy who's only had limited experience as well as limited chess resources. It can't be just talent because talent can only get you so far...

There's cheating with computers of course.  But it's entirely possible for someone to become a very strong player with only online play or play at local clubs (particularly in countries or areas where chess is very strong) and so not have an official FIDE or national rating.  Some of these people do show up at live tournaments eventually and their official initial ratings can be at the expert level or above.  I haven't heard of any stealth players like these being at the GM level though.  There have been reasonably strong masters who have gone under the radar however.

Also, matching a GM at blitz or bullet is not the same thing as being as strong as a GM.

GMs are rated GMs in official events with long time controls.  Fast online games are similar, but a different skill set.

mostly those players are also good OTB players...

Yeah, OTB and online are very different. Familiarity with (or lack of) the interface / great or poor mouse skills and so on can easily translate to a swing of a couple of hundred points or more. Plus the inherently very quick time controls of online chess is a great randomiser...

And don't forget, even OTB at Classical Chess - a 2100 will beat a GM from time to time. That's not that unusual.

I'm sorry, what's OTB? Also I am not talking particularly about bullet, mainly blitz. You would think that Grandmasters or masters should still have a quite significant edge over normal people wouldn't they?

OTB is "over the board" - in other words - real chess. 

And define normal? 2100 is still a decent player. A GM can expect to win most games in classical chess vs that level of player (but not all) - but blitz is a great leveller. The faster the time control, the more the rating difference OTB is negated. Plus the sheer quantity of games available online mean "surprise" results will happen all the time.

Well it seems to me that 2100 is very nearing GM status (of course I've only had limited experience so I may be wrong). The whole point is that even through 5 min or 10 min chess the disparity between 2100 non-masters and a Grandmaster is not very far (again I may be wrong). My whoe point stems from the idea of how someone can achieve a level so close to grandmasters or experts without any sort of "official" training.

Satanic magic.  Duh.

normal people 2100 is not be possible i do think

Yes it is. But, GM: no.

btw...the differences get geometrically tougher as you climb the chess ladder.

A GM (>2600) is far better than a 2100 (Expert). The 500 points is far more difficult than, let's say 1100 vs. 1600.

Hola !!

Well , lets see it from another point of view ; there is players rated 1500-1550 who beat 1750-1800 rated players and so on.... in 1 minutes games everything is possible.....

Saludos.

Preamble

Just to correct a minor misunderstanding, 2100 is not even close to a GM.

Jimmykay

-then how exactly do these 2100 beat GMs in 5 min blitz or even 10 min blitz (no bullet) especially if the difference becomes exponentially tougher as the ratings increase

Because blitz isn't real chess.  

How do you figure this is true? Do you have some stats to back it up?

I only ask because it goes against logic. How is it that a 3/0 time control magically makes both players 'levelled'? It's been my experience and, from what I've read in the forums, the experience of many others, that some people are better at short time controls than they are at longer controls. And, of course, some become much weaker at faster time controls.

As others here have said: it happens, even GMs have off days. Can you quote a couple of games? I'm sure it's not that common OTB. And as far as I know, no GM here plays 10 min games (or even 5?), for very good reasons.

Footnote: The average chess player is about 1200. That's about where most will remain...maybe 200 or 300 better if they really work at it.

So, when I said 2100 is attainable (but not 2600), I should clarify that...what, something like 1% or 2%...of chess players will ever reach 2100.

The other 98%? They tend not to realize how difficult chess is and how many thousands of hours are involved, not to mention the huge amount of study and precision thinking...to name a few criteria.

But of course, there is always "hope". 

I think it was Kasparov that said if you want to beat your friends, you have to study hundreds of hours of GM games.  If you want to be a master, you have to study thousands of hours.  So what makes a great player, GM or expert or whatever?  Dedication, study, discipline, will.  That 98% simply doesn't have enough of any or all of these.

The last refuge of the hopeless.