user13674: I commented to another player that I got nothing from studying master games. He replied: :Neither do I."
One gains a little if the annotation includes mini-lessons. But terse comments are akin to a mathematician's "its obvious that ...". There are many celebrated moves I could never have found in a local game.
My Elo recently peaked at 1300. What level does one need before studying master games and having it be worth the time? That other player & I are both retired. Perhaps our ages are a factor.

user-1: I must say, studying master games is good at every level. It is preferable to look through the game without annotations so that you can work out the main reasons for the moves yourself, apart form the extremely difficult ones.

user13012: You should not do anything that you do not enjoy. Probably at the level you are at, master games are just mystifying and frustrating. But there may nevertheless be some value in playing them through quickly and superficially. You may notice that masters usually bring their pieces out quickly and somehow manage to organize them in cooperation. You may notice that they do not hurry to make exchanges but leave options open. You may notice that their Kings are usually securely defended. You may notice that they often focus their activity on a particular sector of the board. Sometimes you might realize the beauty of an unexpected move. You might notice after a time that their games "look different" from yours.
Then you should study some books of elementary instruction and see if they offer any explanations.
Imagine that you are learning to play the piano and have got as far as basic fingering exercises. You could still enjoy hearing a concert by a great pianist.
You would be completely unable to imitate it, but it would remind you why you want to learn.
So play through (NOT study) master games as soon as you can enjoy it.

user17448: by "studying" you mean studying or just reading/watching? from studying you benefit at any level but from just reading/watching only at high levels - because then you do actual quick study in your head (that's starting from approximately ELO 2300).
at your level studying one master game could take starting from around 8h(simple) till 2 full weeks (very complicated) per game - I doubt you studied any master game even for 1h ever if You are still 1300 ... .
Study means - you go through the game move by move - do it on chess board, no engine! and understand for yourself why each move was made, play out variations you think of on the board yourself - try to find best moves, see what masters played - this way you will definitely improve.

user4418: 
What level does one need before studying master games is worth the
time ?

You need to have got to the stage where you stop playing "hope chess". If you are not currently capable of working out the purpose of your opponent's moves as well as your own then you are not going to get much from trying to work out the purpose of the moves in a master game. Once you do reach that stage then studying master games is a good way of making further progress.

13674: <p>I commented to another player that I got nothing from studying master games. He replied: :Neither do I.&quot;</p>
<p>One gains a little if the annotation includes mini-lessons. But terse comments are akin to a mathematician's &quot;its obvious that ...&quot;. There are many celebrated moves I could never have found in a local game.</p>
<p>My Elo recently peaked at 1300. What level does one need before studying master games and having it be worth the time? That other player &amp; I are both retired. Perhaps our ages are a factor.</p>
 -1: <p>I must say, studying master games is good at every level. It is preferable to look through the game without annotations so that you can work out the main reasons for the moves yourself, apart form the extremely difficult ones.</p>
 13012: <p>You should not do anything that you do not enjoy. Probably at the level you are at, master games are just mystifying and frustrating. But there may nevertheless be some value in playing them through quickly and superficially. You may notice that masters usually bring their pieces out quickly and somehow manage to organize them in cooperation. You may notice that they do not hurry to make exchanges but leave options open. You may notice that their Kings are usually securely defended. You may notice that they often focus their activity on a particular sector of the board. Sometimes you might realize the beauty of an unexpected move. You might notice after a time that their games &quot;look different&quot; from yours.
Then you should study some books of elementary instruction and see if they offer any explanations.</p>
<p>Imagine that you are learning to play the piano and have got as far as basic fingering exercises. You could still enjoy hearing a concert by a great pianist.
You would be completely unable to imitate it, but it would remind you why you want to learn.</p>
<p>So play through (NOT study) master games as soon as you can enjoy it.</p>
 17448: <p>by &quot;studying&quot; you mean studying or just reading/watching? from studying you benefit at any level but from just reading/watching only at high levels - because then you do actual quick study in your head (that's starting from approximately ELO 2300).</p>
<p>at your level studying one master game could take starting from around 8h(simple) till 2 full weeks (very complicated) per game - I doubt you studied any master game even for 1h ever if You are still 1300 ... .</p>
<p>Study means - you go through the game move by move - do it on chess board, no engine! and understand for yourself why each move was made, play out variations you think of on the board yourself - try to find best moves, see what masters played - this way you will definitely improve.</p>
 4418: <blockquote>
<p>What level does one need before studying master games is worth the
time ?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>You need to have got to the stage where you stop playing &quot;<a href="https://chess.stackexchange.com/questions/1030/how-to-get-out-of-hope-chess-into-real-chess">hope chess</a>&quot;. If you are not currently capable of working out the purpose of your opponent's moves as well as your own then you are not going to get much from trying to work out the purpose of the moves in a master game. Once you do reach that stage then studying master games is a good way of making further progress.</p>
