What is a Master?

 One of the other factors in my somewhat infrequent positing is the work I am doing as the Secretary of the FIDE Qualification Commission. It isn't so much that the work is time consuming, but more that topics I may have posted about in the past are now part of my official duties, creating a conflict between public comment and private knowledge. 

However some queries are vague enough that I can talk about them in a non official way. One query was basically 'When are you allowed to call yourself a Grandmaster?' The obvious answer is, anytime you want. This is because that while Grandmaster is connected with chess, the title does not necessarily belong to chess (indeed it dates back to the 18th century). But the follow-up question 'When can you call yourself a chess Grandmaster?" is slightly more tricky. I'd still say you can if you wish, but under these circumstances, expect a lot of push back within the chess community. Over the years I have seen a number of complaints about players/coaches passing themselves off as "Chess Masters", although it is usually the case that a parent or player describes the coach as a "master", and the coach does not correct them :)

Of course you still shouldn't call yourself a 'FIDE Grandmaster' if you do not posses the title, not because of the Grandmaster part, but the FIDE part.