Nicholas M. Tilley (aka AveragePickel)
Nicholas M. Tilley is a chess enthusiast whose journey on the 64 squares has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride—with plenty of wins, a fair share of losses, and a surprising amount of resilience that would make even Bobby Fischer nod in approval.
Starting humble in 2023 with a Daily rating of 385, Nicholas steadily improved year after year, reaching an impressive 652 by 2025. If persistence was a chess piece, Nicholas would be the queen—ruling the board with a tactical awareness boasting a 73% comeback rate and a perfect 100% win rate after losing a piece. Evidently, he doesn’t just survive setbacks—he conquers them.
With a penchant for the mysterious "Top Secret" opening across all game modes, Nicholas has a solid win rate (60% in Daily and even near 63% in Bullet games). When it comes to rapid play, watch out—he soared from a modest 585 to a smashing 1107 rating in just two years, proving that lightning-fast thinking suits him well.
His style? Patient yet aggressive. He averages 62 moves per win and 54 moves per loss, showing endurance and fighting spirit. However, don’t mistake his calm—his tilt factor of 12 means sometimes the board might feel like a bit of a personal vendetta, but nothing Nicholas can't handle with a cup of coffee and a reset.
Nicholas plays all days but seems to have a soft spot for Mondays (winning almost 60% of games) and late evenings when the brain’s foggy but the inspiration strikes (note his 66.67% win rate at 1 AM!). Whether it's blitz, bullet, or rapid, he’s got tricks up his sleeve—and a record against opponents that ranges from undefeated streaks to some nemeses who keep him on his toes.
Off the board, Nicholas might be AveragePickel to some, but on the board, he’s anything but average—steadily climbing, adapting and proving that sometimes the best pickles are the ones that age well.
