Alfredo Jr. Balquin: aka akaipromax
Alfredo Jr. Balquin, competing under the gloriously gadget-flavored handle akaipromax, is living proof that an online chess glow-up can happen in a single summer. In August 2026 he was grinding around the low 1600s in blitz chess. By early October he had touched 2650 (2026-10-05), a climb of roughly a thousand rating points in about eight weeks. Some players take the stairs. Alfredo took the catapult.
The Repertoire: Dinosaurs, Gambits and One Haunted House
As White, Alfredo opens with Nf3 more than anything else, then reaches for the delightfully named Hungarian Opening: Wiedenhagen-Beta Gambit, winning about two-thirds of his blitz games with it. His true secret weapon is a Colle line known as the Rhamphorhynchus Variation, a name that sounds like a pterodactyl and bites like one too: a 77% win rate in blitz and an absurd 91% in bullet, where he has peaked at 2551 (2026-09-03). On the black side, the Alekhine Defense is his bullet bread and butter at nearly 82%, while the Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation remains his personal haunted house at a chilling 21% win rate. Nobody is perfect, and honestly, the ghosts probably cheat.
Rivals, Henchmen and the Himanshu Problem
Every serious online grinder collects rivals, and Alfredo has a proper rogues' gallery. lestoar has faced him 20 times and mostly regrets it, losing 14 while winning just 4. Ajiteru has been bullied to the tune of 14-3. Then there is Himanshu_781, the undisputed final boss of this profile at 1-7. Chess requires balance in the universe, and apparently Himanshu is the balance.
Style: The Comeback Machine
Alfredo does not do quick kills. Roughly 80% of his games wander into an endgame, his wins average about 75 moves, and he still wins more than half the time even after dropping a piece. His comeback rate sits north of 84%, and he resigns early in just 1.4% of games, which is a polite way of saying he will fight you from a completely lost position and enjoy every second of it. His favorite checking piece is the queen, deployed 797 times and counting, with 115 total checkmates delivered. The London Poisoned Pawn shows up too, because a man who plays a pterodactyl opening was never going to be afraid of a poisoned pawn.
By the Numbers
- Longest winning streak: 23 straight games, presumably while sipping something cold.
- Played 416 blitz games in September 2026 alone. Sleep is optional content.
- Best hour to catch him: 22:00. Worst hour: 17:00, where the win rate collapses to 21%. Do not schedule Alfredo before dinner.
- Saturday is his strongest day of the week at over 63% wins.
- Tilt factor: a zen-like 8. The man does not rage, he simply re-queues.
- His casual win rate runs 35 points higher than his rated one, suggesting he is here for a good time, not a long time.
- The signature first move in action: