Avatar of bear856

bear856 FM

Playing Since: 2020-08-14 (Inactive)

Wow Factor: ♟♟

Chess.com

Blitz: 2514
3284W / 2403L / 470D

FIDE Master bear856: The Blitz Beast with a Bearlike Grip

Meet bear856, a FIDE Master who prowls the online chess jungle with a rating peak of 2514 in blitz as of September 2024. Known for fierce tactical awareness and a cunning ability to claw back from losing positions — boasting an impressive comeback rate of over 84% — bear856 doesn’t just play; they dominate the 64-square battlefield.

With a blitz game record totaling thousands of battles and a win rate hovering above 53%, it's clear that few can match bear856's swift and relentless style. Their longest winning streak roared to an astounding 21 consecutive wins, proving that when bear856 is on a roll, the chessboard trembles.

Not just a brute force player, bear856 shines brightest in endgame scenarios, frequently dragging games deep into complex positions — an average game stretches over 74 moves, whether they win or lose, signaling a refusal to give up easily. Early resignation is rare here (only 0.33%), because, like a bear, they hibernate and strike at the perfect moment.

Known to favor openings with solid and flexible structures—especially the Slav Defense and English Opening—bear856 balances aggression and positional mastery. Facts that might surprise you: bear856 seems to have a secret club of favored opponents with a mix of rivalries and victories, showing both respect and dominance.

Timing is everything for bear856. The best hours to catch this chess ursine in action are around midnight and early morning — when opponents might be dreaming, bear856 is wide awake plotting their next checkmate.

Whether it's fast-paced blitz or deep strategic battles, bear856 embodies the spirit of a true chess warrior: calculated, fierce, and occasionally hilarious in their hunting tactics. If you're brave enough to face them, prepare for a bear hug you won't forget.

Fun fact: Their recent triumph on 2024-09-12 ended with a classic resignation from their opponent after a masterful Slav Defense display. Just when you think the bear might take a nap, it strikes again!


Coach's Avatar

Hi bear856–coach’s notebook

Quick snapshot

  • Peak blitz rating: 2514 (2024-09-12)
  • Your activity curve:
    0134567891011121314151617181920212223100%0%Hour of Day
  • Best days to play:
    MonTueWedThuFriSatSun100%0%Day of Week

Your competitive identity

You’re an enterprising d4 / English player as White and rely on the Slav …Bf5 and Caro-Kann / King’s Indian hybrids as Black. These systems suit your dynamic style: you frequently generate imbalance early and trust your tactical vision to carry the day.

Signature strengths

  1. Activity over material. You often give a pawn (e.g. 17…cxd4 in your win vs RockTroll) to seize the initiative and keep Black pieces tied down.
  2. Tactical alertness. The combo 29.Rxe4 Nf3+! in your most recent Slav win shows you spot forcing moves quickly.
  3. End-phase conversion when ahead. When you reach a clear extra pawn or passed pawn you usually finish efficiently (see 36.c6! in the KID game).

Recurring blind spots

  1. King safety in unbalanced middlegames – Loss vs wadsy27: after 10.Nb5 Na6 your king remained in the centre and the f-pawn push (18…fxe4) opened lethal files.
    – Loss vs ChampoulaDourada: Pg 13.g4  …Bg6 14.Nh4? allowed …Re8 and queen-side counterplay.
  2. Premature pawn storms. Both h- and g-pawn thrusts sometimes weaken your own king more than the opponent’s (see 15.g4?! in the Tango loss).
  3. Clock management. Four of the seven recorded defeats were on time in roughly level positions. The typical pattern: ⩾1 min edge early, then heavy think around moves 15-25 and a scramble later.
  4. Technical endgames vs strong opponents. In the English loss you reached a rook-plus-pawns ending only one pawn down, yet resigned in a drawable table-base position (diagram at move 54).

Game-focus: what to take away

Slav success (Black vs nimzo31) – critical moment

You calmly steered into a good-knight-vs-bad-bishop ending. Excellent choice of 18…Qd3! to keep queens active for one move and force the structural concession.

Upgrade: on 22…fxe3 you had 22…Qe4! first, maintaining two connected passed pawns with tempo.

English loss (Black vs wadsy27) – where it slipped
  • 9…Bc2 was thematic but risky before castling; the follow-up 11…f6 froze your dark squares.
  • 17…e5? opened the position while your king was still stuck on g5-f5 later. Prefer 17…Ne7 → 0-0-0.

Targeted training plan (next 4-6 weeks)

ThemeWhyAction items
King safety & pawn storms Most losses traced to self-inflicted weaknesses • Solve 20 mins/day on King attacker vs defender puzzles.
• Annotate your own “g/h-pawn push” games and ask “Was my king safer afterwards?”
Time management Frequent flagging in equal positions • Adopt a 15-second minimum move rule until move 15.
• Practise 5 + 5 games focusing on playing simple plans quickly.
Slav repertoire depth Your main defence, but top players will test the 5.a4 & 6.Ne5 lines • Build a mini-file covering 5.a4 …e6 6.e3 & 5…Bf5 7.Ne5.
• Play three training games vs engine at depth 12 starting from move 5 tabiya.
Technical rook endings Resignations in drawable endings • Work through Chapters 1–3 of “100 Endgames You Must Know.”
• Play “rook-and-four-pawns vs rook-and-four” sparring positions vs a friend/engine.

Mindset & routine

Remember: calculate forcing lines before launching pawn storms, and trust basic endgame principles (activity + passed pawns) even when low on time. Logging a brief voice note after each game about one decision you’d change will accelerate improvement.

Keep up the creative play, and let’s aim to convert more of those sharp middlegames into clean endgames. Good luck at the board!



🆚 Opponent Insights

Most Played Opponents
Giulio Fregonese 9W / 3L / 2D
rostokas 4W / 7L / 3D
delax001 3W / 8L / 0D
Chess Assassin 2W / 6L / 1D
panicho666 6W / 2L / 1D

Rating

Year Bullet Blitz Rapid Daily
2024 2514
2022 2405
2021 2353
2020 2246
Rating by Year202020212022202425142246YearRatingBlitz

Stats by Year

Year White Black Moves
2024 4W / 0L / 0D 2W / 1L / 0D 91.0
2022 996W / 609L / 128D 916W / 666L / 139D 77.3
2021 693W / 540L / 100D 656W / 585L / 101D 76.5
2020 10W / 1L / 0D 7W / 1L / 2D 70.4

Openings: Most Played

Blitz Opening Games Wins Losses Draws Win Rate
Caro-Kann Defense 923 479 373 71 51.9%
Slav Defense 344 182 129 33 52.9%
Slav Defense: Alekhine Variation 269 137 109 23 50.9%
Caro-Kann Defense: Exchange Variation 235 137 82 16 58.3%
London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation 172 84 76 12 48.8%
Amazon Attack 167 91 64 12 54.5%
King's Indian Defense: Exchange Variation 166 99 59 8 59.6%
Australian Defense 154 102 46 6 66.2%
Semi-Slav Defense: Accelerated Meran Variation 139 79 51 9 56.8%
Slav Defense: Bonet Gambit 131 71 49 11 54.2%

🔥 Streaks

Streak Longest Current
Winning 21 6
Losing 10 0