How good can you get in a year?

The original question is too vague to answer, is the questioner asking about online ratings or otb and is he asking about blitz, rapid or classic time controls/ratings ? 

I posted a forum earlier to help improve

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-openings/lets-get-better-together?lc=1#last_comment

How bout we pick an opening to study for the week! We play that specific opening and talk about the best middle and end games for it. This way we can all learn together!

Lets start with the first suggested opening and work from there. Play the computer on Ez / Med / Hard and post your winning strategies please. what say you?

If you are interested in joining my chess league which i started less than a month ago I'd love to have you as a member. Sign up at www.freewebs.com/chessmobb

After a number of years a player attains a level of chess at the limit of his/her natural abilities. Further improvement is extremely difficult no matter what the techniques, coaching methods or hours put in. We don't all become experts when our library of books is big enough etc.

For the mathematically literate it is an example of the law of diminishing returns: the graph that was zooming upward curves over approaching closer and closer to the horizontal.

It depends on:

1. Learning capability.

2. Eargerness to learn.

3. Your teacher.

4. What you WANT to learn.

5. etc.

ADK

Chess.com doesn't count IMO. Cripes, I was offered a draw by a 1740 player with my K&R vs his K vecause he honestly though it was a draw. That's not even 1400 OTB chess.

OTB progression is typically 200 points a year for the average player that works at it. The quickest I've ever seen a player make expert is three eyars.

OTB: 1250-1350 Online: I don't know and it matters far less.

Yes, I know there is a huge difference between online and OTB chess. That's why I play as closely to OTB as possible and study my ass off. Also, it seems a lot easier to go from the low 800s up to say 1100. I don't count my rating here as anything other than a slight bench mark to show improvement. I sure as hell wouldn't take on a club player with a USCF rating equal to my online rating. I may a novice player but I'm not an idiot (yeah, yeah, I expect the snarky comments to suddenly appear - especially about my lack of spelling skills).

I think the improvement you give is to much. 200pts is a reasonable amount to improve in twelve months for an enthusiaistic young person who has lots to learn about the game and has a good coach, but for those who have been studying for a few years already, or are a little older 50-100pts is probably nearer the mark with hard work. (adults generally take longer to learn stuff, it's fact - but they tend to do so with more commitment, and certain ideas are easier to grasp with age/experience).

I don't see how an "average person" can expect to increase this much each year, because the average person will not have an inherent talent for chess.

And yes, I mean OTB ratings. Online chess ratings are generally wildly innacurate if they're anywhere near 1200 (because 1200 players are usually anything but, as was pointed out) and more often than not inflated if they're much higher.

@deltatango - I think you hit the nail on the head with your point about av. opp. rating, this is one of the main things I look at when gauging someones likely strength from their online chess page.

Hhmm wel as for me I started at 800 but went to about 1550 in a year. I am happy with that.

Where is the forum???

If you can read this join The Checkmate Club