I've never been impressed with Silman either as a player or a coach, but he's got quite a reputation as a coach.

Jack Collins, who I believe coached Fischer when he was young, wasn't a particularly strong player either.

Weeramantry's stepson (Hikaru Nakamura), on the other hand, became a GM at 15+~2months, breaking Fischer's record as the youngest American to become a GM. Nakamura is also putting in a decent showing at Wijk aan Zee in the B group, but doesn't get kibitzed about, because he's no longer a novelty at the ripe old age of 16.

Originally from Sri Lanka, he came to the United States for the first time in August 1971, where he entered into a tournament for young players in New York. It was a marathon nine-round event over three days, with over 400 participants, at the McAlpine Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. Sunil astonished the other players by winning his first six games outright, including victories over two masters. He also became known for his engaging personality, easygoing demeanor, and fine sense of sportsmanship. By the end of the second day, it seemed that he had befriended almost all the leading players.

Then, incredibly, disaster struck on the third day when he lost two games in rapid succession. Possibly, he was simply tired. Going into the final round, four players were leading with 6.5, and Sunil was tied with several experts, all of whom had accumulated 6 points out of eight. The leading players all drew each other, so that a score of 7 points would have enabled Sunil to share first prize. Instead, facing a local expert and in serious time pressure, Sunil was in a hopelessly lost position by move 41.

Then he came up with an incredible combination. He sacrificed a rook and a queen, thereby stalemating himself. There was an audible gasp from the spectators, which rapidly escalated into a roar. His opponent was so stunned that he nearly fell out of his chair. One of the spectators asked the tournament director to publish the final position in Chess Life. Later, Bill Goichberg analyzed the game along with the opponent, and described it as “Wild – they were attacking and counterattacking each other all over the place.” It was one of the most inspired drawing combinations ever played.

several coaches were asked what an older player would need to do to become a strong player.

the coaches answers were hypothetheical at best , they seem to have no experence in seeing a mature player improve upto to the expert level.