is getting to 1200 even considered an accomplishment?

Hi! You have achieved something great and you have the potential to improve even more. However, keep in mind that the higher your rating, the harder you need to work to get better. At some point, it will be very beneficial to take personalized lessons with a coach. Check out my post on how to improve your skills

https://www.chess.com/blog/maafernan/chess-skills-development

Good luck!

Yes

Update: 1100+ elo

It's interesting seeing your old comments with your old ELO...

I must admit I appreciate your reply and I understand, in some senses, so thank you 🙏

To be rather precise, an Elo rating of 1200 basically means that someone is in the upper 1/3rd of people who have decided to compete and acquire an Elo rating.

So, 1) The person actually decided to play Chess in a competitive sense

and, 2) The competition and plays placed that person as better than about 2/3rds of the other players.

If the only goal is to beat Magnus, then sure, noone, in years has accomplished anything, but to me, the word "accomplished" does not mean to be so perfect and is more of like having completed a step along ones path in life.

Best wishes, Sir or Ma'am 🙏

... but I do understand, and yes, what is an 'accomplishment' to someone might NOT be to another ... for example, if Magnus got an Elo rating above 1200, I wouldn't assume he would consider that to be a great accomplishment, so congratualations, Sir, on being an excellent Chess player and best wishes 🙏

To be honest, I've got to say that I've always sort of considered Elo ratings of 1500-1600 to be where the real 'hardcore' tournament play begins and those are the types of people that probably have their own unique Chess boards and might even regularly attend local competitions, but that doesn't mean that a rating of 1200 is not an 'accomplishment'.

I could probably have hung on to my Elo rating of almost 1200, but it's ok ... life is larger than just Chess, but still, personally I think making it to 1200 is a pretty good player at Chess and if you can get to 1500-1600, well then, I must *salute* you for having stuck it out and reached something I would consider to be a serious and potentially quite intimidating Chess player (not that Chess needs to be intimidating, but you probably already know )

Mostly, just have fun, and in my opinion, yes, making it to 1200 IS an accomplishment 👍

Best wishes and good luck whichever way you choose to go and peace out ✌️ hasta

Well, no need to imagine it anymore, right?

look at this noob

I would think it isn't an accomplishment in any real sense. It's about the level here where people start to play real chess instead of moving their pieces aimlessly.

It is in some way

1200 rapid probably puts you in the top 10% which I would say makes you a good player, but it all depends what you're comparing it to

Better to just play, enjoy, not compare.

1200 rapid is my goal for this year. For me, it would be an accomplishment.

honestly it's not an accomplishment bc people will still destroy all ur hopes at being good at chess by saying ur an "advanced beginner"

In the Elo rating system for OTB chess, 1500 is the average rating for people who play in tournaments. This means that they play regularly, study chess, and compete in tournaments. 

the average player who knows how to play but doesn’t go to clubs or tournaments is probably from one to two rating classes lower, say from 900 to 1300. 
you said that you have read one instructional book. That is far less than what most club players have done. so your blitz rating of 1200 on this site may be the equivalent of 809-900 for OTB chess.

The one thing to keep in mind is that an accomplishment is doing something that was a challenge for you at that time. For example, when I first broke, say, 1000 over the board in 5th grade, I was really proud of myself and felt very accomplished, especially because I had put in a fair amount of practice to get there. Of course, now with years of experience and being 1000 points higher, I look back and see all the mistakes I made that are obvious to me now, but despite my level of play being so much weaker than it is now I still consider that an accomplishment.