Thats what my chess teacher used to put me in their local chess club tournaments, in order to get a FIDE Elo, i would have need to go (on that time 1995~1999) to official tournaments and that was expensive for a rural area...
M not saying m on the level of masters but definitely not a newbie... either way i don't need proof just go to chesscom, open a new free account and start grinding... you are gonna see fast the pattern on how the platform gets you engaged but you need to look careful, it entices you with free wins before going hard on you, having three to five games a day was the eureka moment to get good ratings... either go slow or pay premium to get an edge on the game and preferred match making.
Sorry man, that just means you aren't as good as you think you are. I have free accounts on both and don't have any issues winning matches. You're probably nowhere near where you were if you haven't played in 25 years...
I'm anywhere between 1000 and 1800 depending on time constraints and I have friends pushing 2000. All free accounts. Don't know what to tell ya.
You are not getting the point... it is not about the ratings or win ratio, is about how fast you can climb the ladder to 1200 elo (like OP suggested) from 100 at chesscom/liches, 9 months is unrealistic without paying the "pay-to-win" fee, 2 years is more realistic timeframe to get that elo.
If you are think m wrong go start a free account and prove me wrong, you have less than 9 months to go up to 1500 elo.
M not saying m on the level of masters but definitely not a newbie... either way i don't need proof just go to chesscom, open a new free account and start grinding... you are gonna see fast the pattern on how the platform gets you engaged but you need to look careful, it entices you with free wins before going hard on you, having three to five games a day was the eureka moment to get good ratings... either go slow or pay premium to get an edge on the game and preferred match making.