Đăng Kiên (ca1601): The Blitz Bruiser of the 2800 Club
Who Is Đăng Kiên?
Đăng Kiên, known on the board as ca1601, is a Vietnamese online chess phenomenon. He is not the type to slip into a quiet endgame hoping for a draw. He drags you into a fight from move one. With more than 21,000 rated games played and a peak 2805 (2026-08-02) of 2805, he has become one of the most feared speed chess competitors on the platform.
A Blitz-Hearted Competitor
If the numbers tell one story, it is that Đăng Kiên lives for blitz. His blitz account alone holds nearly 16,000 games, and his rating marched from the mid 2300s in 2022 to a monstrous 2805 by the summer of 2026. The chart below captures that relentless climb.
His style is as aggressive as his schedule. He opens with e4 in almost every game, loves to strike first, and rarely blinks when the position gets messy. His longest winning streak is a jaw dropping 79 games, and his comeback rate sits at 88.54 percent. Even after losing a piece, he still wins nearly half of those games, which must drive his opponents up the wall.
Opening Repertoire
Đăng Kiên is a creature of habit, but his habits are dangerous. The Sicilian Defense: Chekhover Variation is his signature weapon, appearing in well over a thousand blitz games with a healthy win rate. He also leans on the Ruy Lopez and the Caro-Kann Defense to outplay both higher and lower rated opposition.
He performs best when he sets the tempo. His white win rate is 53.1 percent while his black win rate is 49.19 percent, a gap that shows he prefers to dictate the game from the very first move.
Rivals and Recurring Foes
Every great player needs a nemesis, and for ca1601 that nemesis is hieuum. The two have clashed 78 times, with hieuum holding a narrow edge of 38 wins to 32. On the flip side, Đăng Kiên has a favorite sparring partner in ducky2302, against whom he has won 30 of 31 games. Some rivalries are built on respect. That one is built on mercy.
Fun Facts From the Data
- His longest winning streak is 79 consecutive wins, a feat few online players ever approach.
- He reaches the endgame in 82.93 percent of his games, so he never avoids the long grind.
- His best hour is 15:00, when his win rate jumps to almost 55 percent.
- He wins by timeout nearly twice as often as by checkmate, which shows he knows how to use the clock as a weapon.
- His tilt factor is 18, remarkably low for someone who plays so many bullet games, meaning he keeps his cool even in total chaos.