The Batman (ashwink26): The Dark Knight of Bullet Chess
Under the screen name The Batman, chess.com's ashwink26 has spent more than a decade patrolling the dark squares. He may not fight crime, but he fights the clock, and his preferred battleground is unambiguously bullet chess.
A Decade in the Shadows
Ashwink26's online chess journey reaches back to 2008, but the bullet board is his Gotham. The Batman plays a staggering volume of speed chess, with tens of thousands of rated bullet and blitz games to his name. His steady rise through the bullet ranks is captured in the chart below.
It is no surprise that bullet is his preferred time control. The Batman reached a bullet peak of 2468 (2025-08-17), while his blitz work climbed to 2452 (2026-05-23). Those are not just numbers. They are evidence of a player who can calculate clearly while seconds vanish from the clock.
Opening Utility Belt
The Batman favors a disciplined royal opening and rarely settles for chaos. As White he leans heavily on the Queen's Gambit Declined, especially the solid 3.Nc3 lines, which he has played thousands of times in bullet and blitz. As Black he is comfortable in the noisy Sicilian Defense, where his win rate has been consistently strong across multiple time controls.
His opening record also shows a healthy respect for the Slav Defense, the Caro-Kann Defense, and various King's Indian setups. Recent years show a median preparation depth of six moves, which is rare for a player who lives mostly in bullet.
Fighting Style and Rivalries
The Batman wins about 56% of his games as White and close to 52% as Black. He is a resilient attacker who does not panic after losing material. In fact, he still wins more than half of his games after giving up a piece, and his comeback rate sits near 80%. If you expect him to fold, you may be waiting all night.
- Longest winning streak: 23 straight wins
- Longest losing streak: 12 games, because nobody is perfect
- Best time of day to play: 2 a.m., true to his nocturnal name
- Favorite finish: timeouts, with more than 21,000 timeout wins
Every superhero needs a foil. The Batman's most frequent rival has been zasdf, with 140 meetings, but the most one-sided score belongs to ajluque. Against ajluque, ashwink26 holds a dominant 127 to 12 edge, a record worthy of the Batcomputer.
Legacy of Endurance
With roughly 80,000 rated games analyzed, The Batman has built a legacy on volume, resilience, and an unshakable love of bullet chess. He has survived rough streaks, converted countless lost positions, and always returned for more. For ashwink26, the night is young and the chess clock is always ticking.