Is it too late for me to start professional chess? I am 25 years old. I play online chess regularly and I am rated about 1900 on chess.com. And I recently won a local tournament. Now I want to start playing professional chess. Here are some of my questions:


Is it too late for me to be ambitious? I am aiming for a GM title in 5 years time. I don't doubt my learning abilities or memory, as is usually the case for the older aspirants, since I solve problems for a living (computer science/ mathematics). However I am not sure if I can afford the kind of time needed. 
So my second question is about time:


How many hours do serious players put into preparation and analysis? I estimate to be able to put in about 30-35 hours a week.
How many tournaments/ games does it take to be a GM? I need an estimate. Is 5 years too little? I am imagining playing 3-4 tournaments a year.

GM is a long way. So here are more basic questions:


How does one find the right tournaments? I don't want to travel too far. Also I don't want to pay hefty fees to enter tournaments. And the participants should be all roughly around my level or slightly better.
What FIDE rating does a rating of 1900 on chess.com equate to?
I will write from the perspective of my home country, USA. If you are in a different country, you can likely find parallels.


  Is it too late for me to be ambitious?


It is never too late to learn more.


  I am aiming for a GM title in 5
  years time. I don't doubt my learning abilities or memory, as is
  usually the case for the older aspirants, since I solve problems for a
  living (computer science/ mathematics).


5 years is not much time from going from an amateur skill level to earning a GM title. I am also a CS/Math guy. A good one. It doesn't always translate to chess as my lofty 1650 USCF rating will tell you.


  How many hours do serious players put into preparation and analysis? I estimate to be
  able to put in about 30-35 hours a week.


That should do it.  Expect to be very good in 5.5 years of extremely focused work. (10,000 hours for mastery...)


  How many tournaments/ games does it take to be a GM?


Unanswerable. But expect hundreds and hundreds of serious, focused games. Not blitz. Tournament speed games.


  Is 5 years too less? I am imagining playing 3-4 tournaments a year.


It is hard to image anyone with no over-the-board rating can become a GM in 5 years. A few young adults do it and they get their names in Chess Life for it. You need to be playing serious games every week. Plan on some sort of a local tournament every month, plan on 3 or 4 nights at your local chess club playing opponents as serious as you are.  And get an instructor.


  How does one find the right tournaments? I don't want to travel too far. Also I don't
  want to pay hefty fees to enter tournaments. And the participants should be all roughly
  around my level or slightly better.


USCF tournaments are generally very affordable as chess is not a profitable venture for 99% of the participants. Check the USCF web site for chess clubs near you.

Becoming a professional at anything worthwhile is not cheap. Expect to pay thousands annually in hotels, food, transportation, instruction, equipment, entry fees, and so forth.  If you aren't willing to invest you should temper your expectations.


  How much a rating of 1900 on chess.com translate to in real?


It doesn't. There is no reliable way to compare that rating with any other rating.



You've set yourself a lofty goal.

I recommend you play some rated games and earn a rating. This will tell you how hard you'll have to work to become a GM. Let's say your rating is 2000 USCF.  That's an very respectable 'expert' rating. To be a GM, you would have to improve to about an 2600 USCF.   So you'll need 600 points. Every 400 points of improvement means that your old self would have no appreciable chance of defeating your new self. So you'd have to make a Herculean 400 pt improvement, and then become dominant over that new self.