Anand Rishi Chandra (AC_20): FIDE Candidate Master, Bullet Chess Specialist
Anand Rishi Chandra, known to opponents and one extremely durable sparring partner as AC_20, is a FIDE Candidate Master with a true calling: bullet chess. With a bullet peak of 2847 (2026-09-28) and more than 6,000 bullet games on record, Chandra is proof that remarkable things can happen at speeds normally reserved for finger injuries. The preferred conditions for this brilliance are, statistically, 3 AM on a Saturday.
The Long Climb From New Account to Bullet Elite
The archive opens in March 2018 with ratings in the high 1500s and the usual optimism of a fresh account. What followed was less a climb than an escalator assembled by hand. August 2019 alone contained 720 bullet games, and September added 595 more, roughly the schedule of someone who treats sleep as an optional side quest. November 2021 produced a leap of more than 330 bullet points in a single month, and by 2023 Chandra was a fixture above 2400. The crowning stretch arrived in September 2026: 235 bullet games, a fresh all-time peak, and a landing near 2780, with blitz topping out at 2463 (2026-09-24) the same month. Along the way came a 34-game winning streak and, because chess humbles everyone eventually, a 22-game losing streak that was survived through a near-pathological refusal to resign early.
The Amar Gambit Industrial Complex
Most players have an opening. Chandra has an opening with a production schedule. The Amar Gambit has been deployed 1,286 times in bullet at a win rate just under 59%, and 674 of those came with the black pieces at about 63%, which suggests opponents keep falling for it as a matter of principle. The second pillar is the Nimzo-Larsen Attack, opened with 1.b3, which by 2026 had become the most frequent first move as White. Around those two anchors sits a deep bench: the French Defense, the Czech Defense (a 64% bullet win rate), the Caro-Kann Defense, the Blackburne Shilling Gambit, the Barnes Defense, the Australian Defense, and a Colle sideline flown proudly under the Rhamphorhynchus Variation banner, a name apparently borrowed from a pterosaur, which feels appropriate for an opening that swoops in at bullet speed.
The foundation, in three moves:
Rivalries: The Blixiron Saga and Other Nemesis Files
No player is an island, but Chandra comes close to being a blixiron21 dataset. The Blixiron21 series stands at 2,714 games with 1,640 wins, which is less a rivalry than a long-term relationship. The extended blixiron universe adds further chapters against TOO COOL FOR DIS (554 wins, 195 losses) and blixiron22 (152 wins, 45 losses). Not everyone folds, of course. Sandeep Sethuraman leads the all-time series 441 to 281, and Anthony Atanasov has been a genuine wall, winning 112 of 142 meetings. Every great player needs a nemesis or two. Chandra appears to keep an entire filing cabinet.
Playing Style: Endgames, Comebacks, and Late-Night Assaults
The numbers describe a stubborn, endgame-loving night owl. Chandra reaches endgames in nearly 58% of games, makes the first capture around move 7, and resigns early in only about 4% of games, a rate that translates to "let us just play this out" in every language. Losing material barely slows things down: the win rate after dropping a piece sits above 53%, and roughly 79% of lost positions get rebranded as comeback projects. The preferred way to say hello is with the queen, which has delivered 9,115 checks and counting. Timing matters too. Saturday is the best day at a 59% win rate, 3 AM is the best hour at better than 61%, and the 10 AM slot manages just over 22%, so morning meetings are best avoided by everyone involved. A tilt factor of 22 means even the losing streaks come and go without any furniture being rearranged.
AC_20 in Quick Facts
- FIDE title: Candidate Master, earned in the classical world, applied ruthlessly in bullet.
- Over 6,000 bullet games with draws in fewer than 4% of them. Decisive chess only, please.
- 720 bullet games in August 2019 alone. The keyboard deserves hazard pay.
- A 34-game winning streak, plus a 22-game losing streak that built character.
- 9,115 queen checks delivered so far.
- Peak performance window: Saturdays at 3 AM. Peak vulnerability: mid-morning.
- Rated versus casual win difference: about zero. Every game is taken seriously, which is either admirable or slightly alarming.
Whether it is an Amar Gambit ambush after midnight or a patient Caro-Kann at dawn, Anand Rishi Chandra keeps clicking, keeps fighting, and keeps the bullet ladder very interesting.