How Many Rating Points Do Players Gain Annually?
Rating improvement is a mysterious journey for many chess players. Sometimes stretches we can gain dozens of points, but others we have stagnant ratings for months or even years. As part of the ChessGoals project I created a new report that compares how similar players study and improve over the course of the previous 12 months.
What Factors Impact Rating Gains?
There are three four main factors that help determine how many points a chess player can gain in a year.
- Current Rating
- Age
- Availability for Chess
- Study Time Allocation
- Commitment
Factors one and two are out of our control. We know from The Effect of Age on Chess Improvement that older players and players with higher ratings tend to gain less rating points. Those can still be overcame by spending time on chess, knowing what to study, and sticking to a plan.
A free rating calculator will be available soon to email subscribers on the website.
ChessGoals Similarity Reports
Similarity Scores are based on survey data from 400 ChessGoals participants. By inputting a player's current age, rating, and available time to spend on chess, we are able to create a similarity score between that player and the 400 ChessGoals participants. We can then rank the participants by similarity score and pull the most similar players.
Next, the scores feed the ChessGoals Similarity Reports by tracking the 15 most similar players and aggregating their data. These similarity reports are available in the Personal Study Plan Consult.
How Many Points Do Others Gain?
Here are some examples of the similarity reports, with 25th percentile, median, and 75th percentile reported.
| Rating | Age | Hours/Week | 25th % Gains | Median Gains | 75th % Gains |
| 800 | 15 | 4 | 140 | 239 | 475 |
| 800 | 45 | 4 | 51 | 194 | 483 |
| 1200 | 35 | 8 | 0 | 95 | 159 |
| 1600 | 45 | 10 | 8 | 35 | 48 |
Looking to Increase Your Rating?
We have a few options on the website!
- Free study plans (freely available recommendations)
- Free study plan worksheet (subscribe to emails)
- Premium 12-week study plans ( master support included)
- ChessGoals chess.com club (share your progress in the forum)
master support included)
For a limited time, anyone who purchases a premium study plan can receive a free similarity report included. 
