I do not know what the ratios would be but the numbers required definitely increase as you go up (as the people you need to beat consistently are very serious about the game and also working very hard - it is really competitive). Even then you are not guaranteed to keep on moving up. When I was trying one of the things that held me back was inconsistent results against lower-rated players. That kept pulling me back down.
It is like this in all sports I imagine. Maybe at school in track there are seconds between the competitors but in the top-level competitions there are tenths or maybe ms between them?
Gerry
There is something that I have been wondering lately...
When it comes to improving does the time spent studying need to increase to improve the stronger one gets?
For example, does it take 100 hours of studying to get from 1200-1300 but take 500 hours of studying to get from 1900-2000?
Logic would dictate that it does, although at the same time since the effects are cumulative it may not.'
In my own case it does seem that it takes longer to keep improving as my rating increases. As I get stronger I find that my results need to be much more consistent in order for me to maintain my new strength. For example, I went over 1700 in January 2012, but then went into a tailspin due to a handful of inconsistent results and it's taken me until January 2013 to make it back over 1700 after having crashed to 1560 in August 2012.
I'm trying to come up with a reasonable estimate of time that it will take me to make expert. So far my best guess is about five years if I continue to study for 20-30 hours per week.