How do I get really good at chess?

How good can I get at chess starting as an adult?

• When I was 19 I had a college professor who was a 2270-2300 at times USCF chess master. He taught me how to play chess in real form with clocks and openings, middle game, endgame, tacticts, strategy, some position, etc. For a year I studied like 6 hours a day, and based on internet play I was dramatically improving. My teacher tried to encourage me to play my first real rated tournament. I couldn't handle the pressure. I felt sick to my stomach when bad things were happening and I was running out of time. I had trouble with my notations and sometimes my games were unreadable because I transposed something or wrote down the wrong piece or square. It was a 6 game disaster. I gave up playing chess for good. Now I"m 34 and I have time to take up a new hobby. I want to conquer the psychological demons in chess that seem more challenging than the game itself. I love chess. It is so addicting. And I like that I can keep pushing my Chess ratings. I doubt I was ever playing above a 1400 USCF rating, though I've won the odd game with higher. I know its not impressive, but starting at age 34 if I could start playing real tournaments and studying an hour a day, what could I achieve. I do not aspire to master, but I want to become a strong player. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

• Answer:

  Go for it and enjoy the game for its many facets, including the challenge of conquering those psychological demons. I was in a similar situation where I got back into the fray in a great part because of my interest in the psychology behind blunders, personally as a means of knowing myself and the challenge of applying that knowledge to achieve better results. Focus on your method and you can certainly become a strong player. You are not so old at 34; if you're feeling that you can't think quite so clearly, it's almost certainly because you're not getting enough sleep. Most likely, you are thinking much more clearly than you were at 19.