Is my new year resolution realistic enough?

Yeah... no way.

I have been studying chess for a year, gained about 250 rating in that time. I recently got 1200 rapid.

Unless you are a prodigy, you are not going to gain 600 rating in a year unless you study like 3 hours a day.

Good luck!

1500 is ambitious. The question is: why set a rating goal at all? You have no idea if you are able to achieve it. How would you know? Why not set goals like improving your endgame, working on your openings, learn how to play certain pawn structures, whatever?

Of course my goal is to improve my game. But rating is how I can see of I've improved or not. How else would I know? How do you know if a player is good enough, you see their rating, right? 

You can get to 1500 immediately.
Always check your intended move is no blunder before you play it.
If you stop hanging pieces and pawns you will get to 1500.

bro stop being toxic ur not helping go away

I'm just saying I feel like @tygxc is being toxic because I have worked on chess for over a year with less than 300 improvement.

@sir_mad_alot Study chess a lot and you will improve, but don't be disappointed if you don't make it to 1500 by the end of the year.

With good training and consistency, it is certainly achievable. I started playing here regularly in August and by the end of December, moved from 700 to 1300. I've recently been on a tilt due to the holidays, but expect to get back in a month. Achieving 200 points in the next half a year does therefore not look impossible. On the other hand, if I were on 900 at the moment, I would be much more hesitant with such an ambitious goal, even with a full year of time ahead. Perhaps you should adjust your method of training. Try to do tactics every day and also at least 1 lesson on openings, endings, positional play, etc. At least 2 hours of training every day are required.

• Its certainly possible. I started as an 800 here on January and reached 1500 near the end of December. Everyone improves at a different pace, but there are ways to speed up the process. Here are some things that helped me get there. Hopefully it will help you as well.
• 1. Solving puzzles regularly - Solving puzzles will train your tactical brain (knowledge of tactics) and your tactical eye (skill of spotting tactics). Doing them daily will help keep those skills consistent in your games.
• 2. Familiarize yourself with an opening for white and black stick to it - There is no need to memorize all the lines of the variations of an opening. Just find an opening for white and two openings for black (one against 1. e4 and another against 1. d4.) and use it constantly in your games. That way you will often be in positions where you know what to do and not have to be thinking as early as move 3. Your knowledge of the opening will just build up overtime as you play and analyze games.
• 3. Play longer time controls - Chess at its core is a game that encourages you to think, not to be fast. When you play longer times (I recommend 15/10) you have a lot more time to see if you or your opponent's pieces are under attack, find tactics in the position that would win you material or even the game, and calculate sequences of moves through. Shorter time controls should be saved for later once you have a decent understanding of the fundamentals of chess.
• 4. Take some time to study the game - Whether it be watching chess videos on youtube, reading chess books, or taking lessons on chess.com, studying is a key factor in understanding the game better and applying the things you have learned in your games. Why not take some time to analyze a game where you blundered a lot and see how you could have done better? You'd be surprised at how much easier games can be won when you learn from your mistakes.
• 5. Know when you need to stop playing for awhile - Ever had those times when you are so tilted that you just keep playing and losing games again and again? We all have bad days in chess and sometimes we just have to stop for now before our rating plummets even more. That way you could come back another day refreshed and ready to take on your opponents.

Hi! My name is Lauren Goodkind and I’m a respected  chess coach and chess YouTuber based in California: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP5SPSG_sWSYPjqJYMNwL_Q

I think it's a good goal to have.  You might want to hire a chess coach to help you achieve your goal.  

Make sure you are also doing tactic puzzles.  And try to think several moves ahead.  Try to find a forcing winning line.  

Well

I'm no prodigy and I've done it so everyone else probably can...

50 points a month of improvement. Make that your goal.

I actually reached 1500 in one year, but it was A TON of chess with my games, practice and determination; 1500 goal is probably too ambitious for most, but it is possible. Going up to 1200 or maybe 1300 is much more likely in one year as @ShuckleSquad13 implies. 

Regardless of your goal, the point of the goal is to motivate you towards an objective and a measure if you "succeed" or not, so just keep working on your chess and you'll see your rating ups and downs tracked (hopefully long-term progress upwards, but undoubtedly with many ups and downs along the way).

Write a check for $5000 made out to your worst enemy. Seal it in an addressed envelope. Give it to someone you trust with the instructions if you don't reach 1500 in 1 year it has to be mailed. Then get to work!!!

Ooh, can I be their worse enemy? Please, please, please xD

jk

You can make your chess goals @sir_mad_alot it just becomes a matter of how much time and effort you have to invest in it

I'd say with advise and if you put in the work on improving then it's possible, puzzles, lessons etc help so good luck. 

Of course you should try to improve your rating. It's just pointless to set a fixed goal.

That is not toxic at all. It's actually true. If you keep it safe, don't hang material and just wait for your opponent to do something insane, you will end up above 1500 rapid. Apparently it's easier said than done.

bruh, it is more than doable to get 600 at that level. don't be such a downer...