Anna Kantane - Woman International Master
Meet Anna Kantane, a chess virtuoso who holds the prestigious title of Woman International Master granted by FIDE. Anna’s chess journey is a remarkable saga filled with daring attacks, strategic finesse, and perhaps a sprinkle of magic that causes opponents to wonder “What just happened?”
Playing Style & Strengths
Anna is known for her exceptional endgame skills, engaging in deep, tactical battles that last on average over 65 moves when winning. With a comeback rate of 83%, she’s the queen who refuses to bow out gracefully—expect stubborn resistance until the final checkmate. Early resignations by Anna are rare (just 1.2%), showing she fights till the end, and her win rate with the white pieces sits solidly at 55.4%.
Rating Highlights
- Peak Rapid Rating: 2299
- Peak Blitz Rating: 2386
- Peak Bullet Rating: 2416
- Peak Daily Rating: 1425
Anna’s bullet rating peaked impressively at 2416, proving she can think lightning-fast, although her blitz and rapid games reveal a thoughtfully paced grandmaster with a keen eye for strategy.
Recent Triumphs & Trials
On January 19, 2025, Anna dazzled with a spectacular checkmate victory in a French Defense, Steiner Variation game. Her queen’s side assault left her opponent with no mercy - a true masterclass in aggression and timing.
Even champions have off days, and Anna’s most recent loss was to a Modern Defense specialist who outpaced her on time. But no worries—if chess were a roller coaster, Anna’s ride is all thrilling highs!
Chess Habits & Quirks
Interestingly, Anna is most formidable in the wee hours around 5 AM, making her the ultimate “early bird” of chess battles. Maybe her pawns sip on espresso? She tends to play best on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and despite occasional “tilt factor” moments (we've all had them), her psychological resilience keeps her climbing.
Opening Secrets
When it comes to openings, Anna sometimes pulls out a “Top Secret” repertoire that wins over 80% of her rapid games. Whether it’s traditional lines or mysterious moves, opponents must brace for anything!
Battle Record
- Rapid: 125 wins, 25 losses, 12 draws
- Blitz: 1251 wins, 945 losses, 88 draws
- Bullet: 1063 wins, 944 losses, 57 draws
- Daily: 2 wins, 0 losses
Her vast experience spans thousands of games, and her win rates show a balance of tactical prowess and fierce competitive spirit.
Final Thoughts
Anna Kantane’s chess career is a tale of calculated risks and rewarding victories. At tournaments or online blitz marathons, she’s the player who can snap up a win with elegance or dig deep to stage a brilliant comeback. Watch out world, this WIM’s next move might just be checkmate!
Feedback for Anna Kantane
Anna, you've demonstrated solid tactical awareness and attacking instincts in several recent games, highlighted by your effective use of piece activity to create mating threats and exploit weaknesses. For instance, in your recent victory against JFrade, you successfully executed a brilliant sacrifice with 14. Nxf7 leading directly to a mate threat that your opponent couldn't parry. Well done on spotting these opportunities quickly and maintaining pressure.
Strengths
- Tactical Vision: Your sharpness in calculating forcing moves, especially sacrifices that open lines or deliver checks, stands out. This is crucial for gaining decisive advantages in competitive play.
- Opening Choice & Preparation: Your opening repertoire includes reputable lines such as the French Defense and Alapin Sicilian, and you navigate these with confidence to comfortable middlegame positions.
- Endgame Technique: You showed patience in several endgames, converting advantages methodically (e.g. the Italian Game victory with a neat mating net), which reveals good understanding of endgame principles.
Areas to Improve
- Time Management: In some losses, you were flagged on the clock even in relatively balanced positions or with chances to hold. Try to allocate your thinking time more evenly across the game. Prioritize critical moments, but avoid unnecessary rush in simpler positions.
- Handling Defensive Play: Several losses involved subtle pressure from your opponent leading to gradual deterioration. Studying practical defensive techniques can help you save tricky positions and endure attacks more confidently.
- Positional Decision-Making: Focus on improving strategic planning, including evaluating pawn structures and piece coordination. This can reduce vulnerability to long-term positional disadvantages that may subtly accumulate.
Next Steps
- Review your losses to identify common tactical oversights or positional weaknesses and practice related exercises to reinforce these aspects.
- Work on increment/time control games to gradually improve your clock management and practical decisions under time pressure.
- Deepen your understanding of typical middlegame plans in your chosen openings, so you can easily switch from preparation to flexible strategic play.
Overall, keep leveraging your natural attacking talent, but complement it with better time management and positional understanding. This will give you a more well-rounded and resilient playing style, boosting your consistency and results.
🆚 Opponent Insights
| Recent Opponents | ||
|---|---|---|
| blundermywaytoglory | 1W / 0L / 0D | View |
| Brian Chan | 2W / 3L / 0D | View |
| Scott | 2W / 0L / 1D | View |
| canariotopiq | 0W / 1L / 0D | View |
| nabucodonosorcisimo | 1W / 0L / 0D | View |
| doc-holliday87 | 1W / 0L / 0D | View |
| manitascalientes | 0W / 1L / 0D | View |
| thecountofsaintgermain | 0W / 1L / 0D | View |
| kartu72 | 1W / 0L / 0D | View |
| wltty_alien | 2W / 1L / 0D | View |
| Most Played Opponents | ||
|---|---|---|
| carmichess | 155W / 31L / 5D | View Games |
| mariusz897 | 32W / 10L / 2D | View Games |
| Meera S | 22W / 3L / 1D | View Games |
| Klaudia Kulon | 5W / 15L / 4D | View Games |
| mister_fix_it_sir | 19W / 0L / 0D | View Games |
Rating
| Year | Bullet | Blitz | Rapid | Daily |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2247 | 2440 | 2241 | |
| 2024 | 2257 | 2298 | 2241 | |
| 2023 | 2108 | 2221 | 2257 | |
| 2022 | 2193 | 2257 | ||
| 2021 | 2344 | 2309 | 2257 | |
| 2020 | 2302 | 2284 | 2031 | |
| 2019 | 2269 | 2175 | 2299 | |
| 2018 | 2164 | 2230 | 2299 | |
| 2017 | 2229 | 2248 | 1425 | |
| 2016 | 2144 |
Stats by Year
| Year | White | Black | Moves |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 54W / 40L / 7D | 59W / 42L / 4D | 76.9 |
| 2024 | 199W / 175L / 13D | 204W / 166L / 15D | 70.2 |
| 2023 | 389W / 328L / 22D | 354W / 376L / 17D | 67.2 |
| 2022 | 99W / 65L / 3D | 94W / 69L / 6D | 69.7 |
| 2021 | 126W / 62L / 13D | 112W / 68L / 15D | 68.7 |
| 2020 | 198W / 106L / 13D | 179W / 141L / 16D | 69.5 |
| 2019 | 105W / 79L / 7D | 102W / 82L / 10D | 70.6 |
| 2018 | 127W / 106L / 6D | 136W / 99L / 6D | 72.1 |
| 2017 | 57W / 45L / 6D | 63W / 44L / 4D | 77.5 |
| 2016 | 10W / 8L / 2D | 9W / 11L / 0D | 78.8 |
Openings: Most Played
| Blitz Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scandinavian Defense | 166 | 88 | 72 | 6 | 53.0% |
| Blackburne Shilling Gambit | 125 | 77 | 44 | 4 | 61.6% |
| Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation | 78 | 46 | 29 | 3 | 59.0% |
| Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation, Sherzer Variation | 74 | 34 | 37 | 3 | 46.0% |
| Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation | 74 | 44 | 28 | 2 | 59.5% |
| Caro-Kann Defense | 63 | 28 | 32 | 3 | 44.4% |
| Amazon Attack: Siberian Attack | 54 | 24 | 29 | 1 | 44.4% |
| Italian Game: Two Knights Defense | 49 | 27 | 19 | 3 | 55.1% |
| French Defense | 47 | 29 | 15 | 3 | 61.7% |
| Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation | 46 | 23 | 23 | 0 | 50.0% |
| Bullet Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scandinavian Defense | 133 | 70 | 61 | 2 | 52.6% |
| Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation | 102 | 38 | 63 | 1 | 37.2% |
| Caro-Kann Defense | 83 | 40 | 40 | 3 | 48.2% |
| French Defense | 76 | 48 | 26 | 2 | 63.2% |
| Amar Gambit | 75 | 38 | 36 | 1 | 50.7% |
| Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation, Sherzer Variation | 70 | 35 | 33 | 2 | 50.0% |
| Blackburne Shilling Gambit | 63 | 34 | 27 | 2 | 54.0% |
| Alekhine Defense | 60 | 37 | 22 | 1 | 61.7% |
| Unknown Opening* | 59 | 32 | 25 | 2 | 54.2% |
| Sicilian Defense: Closed | 57 | 35 | 20 | 2 | 61.4% |
| Rapid Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackburne Shilling Gambit | 16 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 87.5% |
| Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation | 13 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| English Opening: Drill Variation | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 57.1% |
| Scandinavian Defense | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 83.3% |
| Sicilian Defense: Closed | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 66.7% |
| Sicilian Defense: Dragon Variation, Yugoslav Attack | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 83.3% |
| Four Knights Game | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 66.7% |
| Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Caro-Kann Defense | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 60.0% |
| Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Daily Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scotch Game | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Sicilian Defense: Taimanov Variation | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
🔥 Streaks
| Streak | Longest | Current |
|---|---|---|
| Winning | 23 | 1 |
| Losing | 11 | 0 |