How long did it take to get to where you are now?

I learned how the pieces moved as a kid, but I didn't take the game seriously until a chess club started at my school three years ago. At first I thought chess was a game of being sneaky, making moves and hoping your opponent doesn't notice your threats. I soon learned learned that chess was so much more. I played in my first nonrated tournament in November of 2015, then started playing USCF tournaments in June of 2016. Right now my rating is 1455, but I will never be content with my rating. I must always strive to get better.

After all, I'm just a patzer! Best of wishes to everyone to also improve their game!

More or less I have been on a plateau with minor peaks for about 15 years although I "know" much more than years ago. In fact I am getting slowly worse on average. So what, I have got lots of other nice hobbies! ;)

Same here Sarg0n, that's just because we're old farts. Pretty soon I'm gonna look at some Kortchnoi games for motivation..

@Sarg0n One of the reasons you reached that plateau is because you "know" more.

I started here in 2014 with a 1400 rating (classical rating). Now I am 1850. My highest rating was 1940 though (few months ago). But I know how to move the pieces since I was a kid and have played some games before. I would like to get past the 2000s, but it's been very hard to achieve that.