Arqa

From 1000 to 2600

Arqa first appeared on the online chess scene in May 2019 with a Blitz rating around 1017 and a Bullet rating below 1000. Within a few months Arqa crossed 2000, and by 2023 the rating graph turned vertical. The climb includes a peak Blitz rating of 2629 (2026-08-14), a peak Bullet rating of 2705 (2026-07-22), and a Rapid peak of 2410 (2026-01-11).

The Grind

Arqa has played more than 36,000 rated games online, with roughly 23,000 in Bullet and 13,000 in Blitz. The preferred time control is Blitz, but Arqa will happily accept a bullet challenge at 3:00 AM, which the data suggests is the best hour to play.

• Longest winning streak: 31 games
• Longest losing streak: 28 games
• Comeback rate: 87%
• Endgame frequency: 85.7%

That combination of stats tells a simple story: Arqa never stops fighting, and the 28 game losing streak is just the price of admission for the 31 game heater.

Signature Openings

Arqa's repertoire is a museum of brave choices. The Scandinavian Defense appears more than 3,500 times in bullet games, the Alekhine Defense is a Blitz favorite, and the Sicilian Defense shows up in every flavor, from Najdorf to Closed. When playing White, Arqa has shifted from 1.e4 to the quieter Colle System and London System in recent years, sometimes playing 1.e3 thousands of times in a single season.

In Rapid, the sample is smaller but the results are scary: a perfect 7 for 7 with the Alekhine Defense as Black.

Rivalries

No biography is complete without rivals. Arqa's most played opponent is Orpheus James, with 225 meetings and a dominant 192 wins. The rivalry with Kent Slate is a different story, with Arqa on the wrong side of 121 losses. And David Howell has turned their 111 game series into a personal highlight reel, winning 102 times.

The Verdict

Arqa is not a player who hides in theory books. Arqa is a player who plays, loses, rematches, experiments, and climbs back. Whether it is a 3:00 AM bullet sprint or a 90 move Blitz war, Arqa is always ready to hit the clock.