The Ironman of Online Chess
Bernardo Roselli, known to the internet as BernardoRoselli, carries the FIDE title of International Master. But do not let the formal credentials fool you. This is a player who has built his empire one rapid-fire game at a time. His listed preferred time control is bullet, but his true home is the blitz battlefield, where he has racked up roughly 19,700 rated games. Yes, you read that correctly. Almost twenty thousand games, most of them played with the kind of relentless energy usually associated with caffeine and a refusal to sleep.
He arrived on the scene around 2017 with modest ratings, then proceeded to grind his way upward with the patience of someone who believes that the 2,000th game is when things really start to click. His
tells the story of a player who just kept showing up, and by 2023 he touched a peak blitz rating of 2708 (2025-04-06), a number that would make many grandmasters pause before accepting a challenge.Opening Repertoire: A Study in Loyalty
Roselli is remarkably faithful to his opening choices. As White, he almost always plays 1.d4, and he has developed a deep speciality in the King's Indian Defense: Exchange Variation, where he scores comfortably above 53 percent. He also loves to face the Nimzo-Indian Defense and the Bogo-Indian Defense, which means his opponents had better bring their Indian defense homework.
As Black, he is a devoted disciple of the Sicilian Defense: Taimanov Variation, having played it over1,200 times. His win rate with the white pieces hovers near50 percent, while his black win rate dips closer to45 percent. In other words, he is a fierce attacker when he controls the first move, and a stubborn optimist when he does not. Some players avoid their weaker side. Roselli just plays more games until it evens out.
Marathon Sessions and Grudge Matches
If you spot BernardoRoselli in a lobby, there is a good chance Alejandro Hoffman is nearby. The two have collided 424 times, producing one of the most balanced rivalries in online chess: 180 wins for Roselli, 181 for hoffmana26, and a mountain of draws. That is the definition of a knife-edge feud. Another recurring nemesis is Alan Stein, who has faced Roselli 172 times and holds a slight edge in their personal war.
Roselli also has a taste for volume. During the pandemic lockdown months of 2020, he played over800 blitz games in a single month, which is either inspiring or deeply concerning depending on your relationship with sunlight. His longest winning streak was18 games, though his longest losing streak hit10, a stretch he likely prefers to forget. His stats show a comeback rate of88 percent, meaning he somehow finds ways to rescue lost positions. His tilt factor may be a perfect10, but it has not stopped him from queuing up for the next game.
The Endgame Enthusiast
Roselli does not believe in quick handshakes. His average decisive game runs about78 moves, and he reaches the endgame in over85 percent of his contests. He once played a 90-move slugfest, because why finish early when you can squeeze every last drop of tension out of a position? He also delivers the first check about54 percent of the time, usually with his queen, which is a polite way of saying he is not shy about making noise on the board.
His greatest weakness is clear: against higher-rated opponents he wins only about29 percent of the time, but against lower-rated players he feasts, winning almost62 percent. In short, he is a giant among mortals and a mortal among giants. And he is perfectly fine with that arrangement, because there are always more games to play.
Legacy of the Grind
Bernardo Roselli may not be a household name in classical chess, but in the online arena he is a volume monster. With nearly20,000 rated games, he embodies the glorious truth that chess improvement comes from playing, playing, and then playing some more. His rating graph climbed steadily from the 2000s into the 2700s, proof that persistence pays off.
So next time you see him online, feel free to challenge him. Just know what you are getting into: a player who has seen every check, every endgame, and every Taimanov position the internet can throw at him. And he is probably up for another round.