Ben Finegold when he was 50...I believe
oldest person to become a Grand Master?
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Lasker1900 wrote:
The winner of the World Senior Championship is awarded the Grandmaster title--if he isn't one already. I believe veteran IM Larry Kaufman became a GM that way.
Years back, there were some quite elderly players who were awarded the GM title. These were players who had performed at a GM level in their careers, but whose best years were behind them when the formal title system was put in place
Correct, but he asked who is the olderst to ever qualify and pass the norms and earn the Grand Master title
Lasker1900 wrote:
Well, hwe got even more information than he asked for!
Yes he did!
Bobby Fischer?
Hans Rees was around 60 I think.
Lasker Im glad you chimed in , I wasn't aware that the senior world champ gets the title too. It seems like a perfectly valid way to earn it to me.
Diakonia was sharp to point out that my question was more specific about how it was earned. I was really hoping to find some fodder to throw back at people that presume a person is too old when they reach a certain age. When I was 12 I was the strongest player in elementary school, better then than I am now (43) and now I fear better then than I will ever be again. This sux and ill tell you why.
At the age of 13 I won the California State Archery Championship in the 13 to 15 year old category. I was using super fancy equipment back them, ceramic compound bow, mechanical string release, optical sights, eight foot stabilizers, ten dollar arrows, etc. recently I picked the hobby up and quickly I was shooting as well as i ever did back then but this time with a wooden recurve bow, my own fingers to release the string, no sights at all. I was better at chess than archery back then too. Now I'm playing more chess again and the results are not as good, I had so hoped they were wrong about old dogs. I have never felt so old.
Guess ill live vicariously through my 12 year old son from now on. Wish I could travel back in time and find my young self and slap him in the back of his head for thinking he would have time later.
From Wikipedia -
Oldest grandmaster
Several players have been awarded honorary or retrospective grandmaster titles based on their past achievements. The oldest of these was Enrico Paoli, who was awarded the title in 1996 at the age of 88.
Apart from retrospective awards, a number of players have achieved the title by winning the World Senior Championship. The oldest player to gain the title in this way was Yuri Shabanov, who won the 2003 event and was awarded the title at the age of 66.
Feb 21, 2016
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#10
killb8 wrote:
... I was really hoping to find some fodder to throw back at people that presume a person is too old when they reach a certain age. ...
In general, those players earning the GM title later in life, were probably IMs in their teens or early twenties. I'll never claim someone who wasn't that strong when young won't ever become a GM, but it is a statistical long shot.
Hasn't the norm system only been in place since the early 1970s? Before that players were awarded the GM title somewhat arbitrarily, by winning certain events, sometimes retroactively, and sometimes the GM title might be awarded or withheld for political reasons.
I have no idea who's the oldest player to earn the GM title via the norms system, but I find it somewhat hard to believe that it's Ben Finegold (who earned it at the age of 40). Certainly I could be mistaken, but I can't help but think that sure someone out there must have earned it through norms at a later age than that.
And yes, GM Finegold is an awesome lecturer.
Well, I've found at least one person who's earned the GM title through norms at an older age than Finegold. Leif Øgaard (born: 1952), who earned his final GM in 2007 at the age of 55.
Feb 21, 2016
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#14
oops!
yeres30 won't make gm. he just got banned for cheating.
oops oops oopsiedoodle!
Nikolai Shalnev became a GM via norms at age 57 in 2001.
Chess is perhaps the only game where age of players does not matter eligibility wise,. Jr, Sr, Open championship and then veteran .. age wise there in no bar to enter.....
Dec 25, 2019
0
#17
damngoodcoffee wrote:
From Wikipedia -
Oldest grandmasterSeveral players have been awarded honorary or retrospective grandmaster titles based on their past achievements. The oldest of these was Enrico Paoli, who was awarded the title in 1996 at the age of 88.
But he got it "honoris causa" by FIDE in 1996 since he missed the title in 1969 with 1/2 point. So it does not really count here I guess.
"... He was World Senior Champion in 1997, 1999 and 2001. The first of these victories earned him the grandmaster title at age 62, then the oldest player ever to earn the title (older players have been granted the honorary GM title)."
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=83237
I am asking, it's not a quiz, I don't know the answer. Does anyone know who the oldest person to ever qualify and pass the norms and earn the Grand Master title? What was his name, how old was he, and when and where did he do it. I just know with the collective knowledge in this community that somebody here probably knows, maybe he is amongst you now.