Avatar of Sylvain Carre

Sylvain Carre NM

Username: alturas_pacificas

Location: London

Playing Since: 2012-04-05 (Active)

Wow Factor: ♟♟♟♟♟♟

Chess.com

Rapid: 2166
3W / 1L / 2D
Blitz: 2417
23754W / 21159L / 5241D
Bullet: 2353
1158W / 637L / 99D

Sylvain Carre (alturas_pacificas) - National Master Extraordinaire

Meet Sylvain Carre, a National Master hailing from the mysterious land known simply as "National." Sylvain isn't your average chess warrior; with a career full of fiery battles and legendary comebacks, they have earned the prestigious title of National Master through grit, patience, and an uncanny ability to spot blunders faster than you can say "checkmate."

Sylvain’s journey through the chess cosmos has been nothing short of a rollercoaster: scaling a breath-taking peak blitz rating of 2559 in March 2025, dominating bullet games with a lofty 2423 peak, and even dipping toes into rapid with a solid 2172 peak. Along the way, thousands of games have been fought, with Sylvain clocking up over 22,700 blitz wins, smashing records with tactical sharpness and enduring resilience.

Known for a chess style that indulges in marathon endgames (yes, the kind where you watch the clock tick and tick), Sylvain boasts an average game length north of 80 moves for wins and losses alike. They wield early resignation as a tiny secret weapon (~0.69%), preferring to fight till the end rather than flee the battlefield prematurely.

Not just a tactician but a comeback specialist, Sylvain’s psychological steel is as strong as their chess skills, boasting an impressive 87% comeback rate after falling behind on the board. The phrase “tilt factor” might scare others, but Sylvain’s relatively low tilt score of 13 means they keep cool under pressure—though no one’s perfect when your opponent pulls a sneaky one just before midnight.

When does Sylvain shine? Oddly enough, their best time of day to play is around 3 AM, proving that chess brilliance sometimes requires nocturnal habits. Their win rates hover around 48–50% depending on the day, with a subtle advantage always being on White, and a slightly grittier fight when playing Black.

Opening Repertoire — The Art of Subtle Mystery

  • Top Secret openings dominate Sylvain’s blitz games with a near 48% win rate and an unbelievably large volume of games — the true enigma of their style.
  • Favorites like the Indian Game and its offshoots (East Indian London System and London System) showcase Sylvain’s love for strategic, positional play packed with complexity.
  • Adventurous variations like the Caro-Kann Defense and Modern Defense pepper the playbook, proving Sylvain’s not afraid to mix solid defense with bold counterplays.

Most Memorable Moment

On June 5th, 2025, Sylvain dazzled the chess world by turning a sharp battle in the Indian Game - East Indian London System into a resounding victory, elegantly promoting a pawn on move 57 to seal the deal. If only life’s problems could be solved in under 60 moves and with such grace!

Fun Fact

Despite facing over 50 opponents repeatedly, Sylvain manages to keep them guessing—with win rates ranging from crushing victories to nail-biting draws and occasional heartbreaks. The name "alturas_pacificas" hints at calm seas, but make no mistake: Sylvain is a tempest on the chessboard!

So if you ever find yourself sharing a virtual board online with Sylvain Carre, remember that behind the calm username is a storm of experience, wit, and maybe a little bit of chess wizardry ready to unfold... especially after midnight.


Coach's Avatar

Feedback for Sylvain Carre

Hi Sylvain, here’s some constructive feedback based on your recent games to help you improve your chess performance:

Strengths:

  • Opening Consistency: You seem to have a solid grasp of the London System and related Queen’s Pawn structures. Your development and setup in these openings are reliable, leading you into middlegames with good piece coordination.
  • Active Piece Play: Your games show active moves such as Ne5, g4 and Qf3, aiming for dynamic play and pressure on the opponent. This often helps you seize the initiative, especially in your winning games.
  • Endgame Technique: In some wins, you demonstrate good practical technique closing out games, exploiting opponent mistakes accurately and managing time well towards winning positions.

Areas to Improve:

  • Handling Pressure in the Opening and Early Middlegame: In your losses, your opponents managed to challenge your setup early with moves like ...e5 or ...Nf5, forcing you to react. Work on expanding your opening repertoire and preparing key lines to handle aggressions more confidently.
  • Piece Exchanges and Simplifications: A few of your games included exchanges that allowed your opponent to gain relieving counterplay (e.g., exchanging a good bishop or knight that was holding pressure). Consider carefully whether exchanging pieces helps your position or alleviates opponent’s problems.
  • Calculation and Tactical Awareness: Attacking moves like Qxf7+ and sacrifices worked well when precisely calculated. Continue drilling tactics regularly to sharpen your calculation and improve spotting opportunities earlier.
  • Time Management: Some results indicate tight time situations. Try to balance spending enough time on critical moves and maintaining a good pace to avoid losing on time or missing tactical shots.

Suggestions for Training:

  • Review your most recent losses, such as the game vs Trickfreak and Schachfuchs_K, to study where pressure mounted and how to counter active opponent plans better.
  • Deepen your knowledge of early queen’s pawn lines, especially the London System and related Indian defenses. Knowing plans, typical breaks, and piece placements can improve your confidence.
  • Continue working on tactical puzzles focusing on combinations involving pins, forks, and sacrifices similar to moves like your successful Qxf7+ attack.
  • Practice longer time controls occasionally to develop stronger calculation skills and reduce time pressure in your rapid/blitz games.

Overall you show promising ideas and strong strategic understanding. With focused work on tactical alertness and opening responses, you can raise your level further and convert more games in your favor.



🆚 Opponent Insights

Recent Opponents
Bruce Monson 10W / 10L / 4D
chicagoblitzertim 12W / 12L / 1D
Jim Dean 1W / 0L / 0D
cruz29 17W / 23L / 6D
premierchess64 3W / 4L / 1D
strazanin 0W / 1L / 0D
tjockslump 1W / 0L / 0D
antiego 7W / 1L / 1D
michele182 0W / 1L / 0D
aleksandarasenov 0W / 1L / 0D
Most Played Opponents
topmoi 74W / 156L / 34D
antoine113 114W / 5L / 1D
Bar del fico 50W / 37L / 4D
Sevan Buscara 13W / 52L / 3D
baboteur 13W / 45L / 5D

Rating

Year Bullet Blitz Rapid Daily
2025 2353 2400
2024 2387 2379 2166
2023 2303 2414
2022 2252 2319
2021 2156 2345
2020 2392 2255
2019 2175 2197 2157
2018 2029 2253
2017 2001
2016 1920 2059
2015 1872 2102
2014 2026 2052
2013 1876 2030
2012 1957 2042
Rating by Year2012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024202524141872YearRatingBulletBlitzRapid

Stats by Year

Year White Black Moves
2025 1068W / 942L / 287D 872W / 1155L / 259D 88.5
2024 1127W / 947L / 283D 935W / 1163L / 259D 89.7
2023 1182W / 1006L / 335D 1015W / 1224L / 306D 88.7
2022 1307W / 928L / 283D 1066W / 1116L / 301D 87.0
2021 1450W / 1042L / 281D 1248W / 1232L / 287D 85.3
2020 1209W / 991L / 247D 1059W / 1165L / 230D 84.1
2019 1200W / 809L / 216D 1040W / 990L / 217D 86.0
2018 1005W / 632L / 196D 835W / 837L / 163D 87.7
2017 58W / 61L / 8D 54W / 56L / 13D 77.6
2016 441W / 323L / 78D 378W / 401L / 83D 85.9
2015 863W / 660L / 150D 735W / 764L / 156D 86.9
2014 1353W / 727L / 195D 1150W / 922L / 200D 87.4
2013 796W / 534L / 116D 686W / 666L / 122D 84.4
2012 318W / 157L / 26D 309W / 178L / 21D 80.2

Openings: Most Played

Blitz Opening Games Wins Losses Draws Win Rate
Amazon Attack: Siberian Attack 6612 3313 2540 759 50.1%
London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation 4510 2257 1758 495 50.0%
Amazon Attack 4141 2125 1560 456 51.3%
East Indian Defense 3238 1711 1158 369 52.8%
Modern 3166 1419 1470 277 44.8%
Australian Defense 2443 1269 957 217 51.9%
Petrov's Defense 1942 819 871 252 42.2%
Caro-Kann Defense 1824 750 905 169 41.1%
Slav Defense 1152 461 573 118 40.0%
English Opening: Caro-Kann Defensive System 975 462 424 89 47.4%
Bullet Opening Games Wins Losses Draws Win Rate
Australian Defense 196 119 69 8 60.7%
Amazon Attack 188 123 60 5 65.4%
Amazon Attack: Siberian Attack 174 112 52 10 64.4%
Amar Gambit 120 80 34 6 66.7%
London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation 81 48 24 9 59.3%
Benoni Defense: Benoni Gambit Accepted 74 50 22 2 67.6%
Slav Defense 65 38 22 5 58.5%
Caro-Kann Defense 62 36 25 1 58.1%
Modern 44 18 23 3 40.9%
Scandinavian Defense 39 19 18 2 48.7%
Rapid Opening Games Wins Losses Draws Win Rate
Amazon Attack 2 1 1 0 50.0%
Barnes Defense 1 1 0 0 100.0%
London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation 1 1 0 0 100.0%
Slav Defense: Exchange Variation 1 0 0 1 0.0%
Sicilian Defense: Closed, Anti-Sveshnikov Variation, Kharlov-Kramnik Line 1 1 0 0 100.0%
Caro-Kann Defense 1 1 0 0 100.0%
Amazon Attack: Siberian Attack 1 0 0 1 0.0%

🔥 Streaks

Streak Longest Current
Winning 29 1
Losing 13 0