About Martyn Kravtsiv
Martyn Kravtsiv is a formidable Ukrainian Grandmaster known for his sharp tactical awareness and strategic depth. With a sustained presence in the competitive chess scene, Martyn has demonstrated remarkable prowess, especially in blitz and bullet formats, where his quick thinking often leaves opponents scrambling. His journey reflects dedication, resilience, and a passion for the game that continues to inspire.
Playing Style
Martyn Kravtsiv's games are characterized by a high frequency of endgames, showing his strength in converting advantages with precision. He prefers to fight to the end, with an average decisive game length of about 78 moves when winning, showing his stamina and deep understanding of complex positions.
He maintains a solid psychological edge, with an impressive comeback rate of 87.74% after losing material and a tactical win rate above 57% after losing a piece. His early resignation rate is low, indicating he rarely gives up prematurely.
Preferred Time Controls
- Blitz: Martyn has excelled in this fast-paced format, peaking at an astonishing 3034 rating in December 2024. He is known for his aggressive and relentless style here, racking up over 1600 wins!
- Bullet: Another favorite of Martyn's, he reached a peak bullet rating of 2851 in May 2025, showcasing his lightning-fast calculation and intuition.
- Rapid: With a peak rating of 2650, Martyn also holds his own in this slightly slower format, demonstrating well-rounded skills across all time controls.
Opening Repertoire Highlights
Martyn's opening choices reveal a strong preference for classical and strategically rich setups that favor his combative style:
- Four Knights Game — boasts a winning rate over 64% in blitz games, reinforcing this solid but flexible choice.
- Sicilian Defense, especially the Closed and Moscow variations — where he has an outstanding win rate over 65%, showing his detailed preparation.
- Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo and Scotch: Mieses — favored for their balanced strategic and tactical opportunities.
- Caro-Kann Defense: Endgame Offer — a surprising choice that reveals his confidence in endgame technique, yielding a strong 65% win rate.
Competitive Record & Memorable Opponents
Martyn Kravtsiv has battled many top-tier players, including multiple encounters with notable grandmasters such as Hikaru Nakamura, scoring several wins in high-paced games.
He has shown versatility and resilience, with significant winning streaks including a longest winning streak of 41 games — enough to make anyone else reconsider challenging him!
Fun Facts
- Martyn enjoys playing blitz at all hours but has his best win rate at 7:00 AM. Morning coffee and chess? A perfect combo!
- He has a penchant for the Scandinavian Defense in bullet, achieving an impressive 85.71% win rate in this opening — because who doesn’t like surprising their opponent right out of the gate?
- Despite his high tactical awareness, Martyn is also remarkably patient, often extending games well into the endgame phase, proving that slow and steady (with a killer tactic) wins the race.
Overall Performance and Rating Trend
Martyn, your recent performance reflects a solid playing strength with a strength adjusted win rate of approximately 54%. You've had an impressive rating increase over the last several months, with a positive trend slope indicating overall upward progress. Although your one-month rating shows a slight decrease of 51 points, the trend slopes for both three and six months remain strongly positive. This suggests that short-term fluctuations are normal and you are maintaining a good long-term improvement trajectory.
Highlights from Recent Wins
- Your use of aggressive openings like the Smith-Morra Gambit and solid handling of the Queens-Pawn Opening allowed for dynamic play and quick attack opportunities.
- You demonstrated good tactical awareness by exploiting pins and forks, as seen in moves that forced early checkmates or decisive material gains.
- Your endgame technique is strong, converting advantages effectively and maintaining pressure on opponents in time-limited scenarios.
- Prudent castling and piece coordination helped you maintain control and launch successful threats.
Areas for Improvement in Recent Losses
- Watch for vulnerabilities in pawn structures, especially after exchanges—this was a factor in a few games where your opponent seized control of key squares.
- Some losses stemmed from underestimating your opponent's counterplay in the middlegame; focusing on defensive awareness and recognizing opponent threats quickly could help.
- In a couple of games, timing and tempo management under bullet conditions affected your responses—work on quick, reliable decision-making to reduce errors.
- Reviewing lines in the French Defense Rubinstein Variation and facing g5 pawn pushes may strengthen your responses, as these were present in challenging games.
Opening Performance Insights
While specific opening stats were unavailable, your repertoire reveals comfortable handling of popular and tactical openings. Continue to deepen your knowledge and preparation in:
- Smith-Morra Gambit and related Sicilian Defense lines for aggressive play.
- Queen's Pawn Opening variations emphasizing control of the center.
- Fundamental structures in the French Defense and Caro-Kann Defense to improve solidity in defense.
Recommendations for Continued Growth
- Review recent losses carefully to identify recurring tactical or positional mistakes.
- Practice quick pattern recognition to improve your speed and accuracy in bullet games.
- Focus training on defense techniques and counterattack awareness to minimize vulnerability in complex positions.
- Maintain your aggressive style while balancing risk, especially in tight situations.
- Consider specialized drills on openings where you feel less confident to sharpen your preparation.
Keep up the great work, and use this analysis to refine your strategies and continue climbing your rating.
🆚 Opponent Insights
| Recent Opponents | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sebastian Kostolansky | 1W / 0L / 0D | View |
| Roman Pyrih | 1W / 1L / 0D | View |
| ragingknightnc | 1W / 0L / 0D | View |
| Bogdan Bilovil | 0W / 1L / 0D | View |
| Aryan Chopra | 0W / 2L / 0D | View |
| Viktor Gazik | 0W / 1L / 1D | View |
| Tianqi Wang | 1W / 0L / 0D | View |
| Rahul Srivatshav P | 1W / 0L / 0D | View |
| Yair Parkhov | 1W / 2L / 0D | View |
| Balaji Daggupati | 0W / 1L / 0D | View |
| Most Played Opponents | ||
|---|---|---|
| Maksym Dubnevych | 68W / 30L / 13D | View Games |
| Alexander Rustemov | 9W / 20L / 10D | View Games |
| Oleksandr Bortnyk | 11W / 18L / 0D | View Games |
| Hikaru Nakamura | 4W / 16L / 2D | View Games |
| Jose Martinez | 7W / 10L / 4D | View Games |
Rating
| Year | Bullet | Blitz | Rapid | Daily |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2747 | 2935 | 2571 | |
| 2024 | 2620 | 2952 | 2579 | |
| 2023 | 2612 | 2859 | 2624 | |
| 2022 | 2650 | 2824 | 2583 | |
| 2021 | 2776 | |||
| 2020 | 2710 | |||
| 2019 | 2637 | |||
| 2018 | 2546 | |||
| 2017 | 2628 | |||
| 2016 | 2582 | |||
| 2015 | 2056 |
Stats by Year
| Year | White | Black | Moves |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 491W / 201L / 62D | 446W / 238L / 73D | 79.9 |
| 2024 | 187W / 85L / 41D | 166W / 119L / 29D | 84.3 |
| 2023 | 200W / 87L / 35D | 158W / 106L / 40D | 85.5 |
| 2022 | 220W / 92L / 28D | 189W / 123L / 31D | 88.2 |
| 2021 | 6W / 10L / 2D | 12W / 4L / 0D | 86.4 |
| 2020 | 6W / 5L / 0D | 7W / 2L / 3D | 93.7 |
| 2019 | 5W / 4L / 1D | 3W / 2L / 2D | 101.8 |
| 2018 | 2W / 2L / 0D | 0W / 2L / 1D | 40.3 |
| 2017 | 24W / 15L / 2D | 16W / 15L / 6D | 90.7 |
| 2016 | 37W / 13L / 3D | 34W / 11L / 1D | 89.2 |
| 2015 | 4W / 0L / 0D | 5W / 0L / 0D | 51.3 |
Openings: Most Played
| Blitz Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caro-Kann Defense | 194 | 117 | 62 | 15 | 60.3% |
| Four Knights Game | 177 | 106 | 53 | 18 | 59.9% |
| Sicilian Defense: Closed | 157 | 112 | 31 | 14 | 71.3% |
| Scotch Game | 143 | 82 | 47 | 14 | 57.3% |
| Ruy Lopez: Closed | 115 | 71 | 30 | 14 | 61.7% |
| French Defense: Exchange Variation | 106 | 57 | 33 | 16 | 53.8% |
| Barnes Defense | 80 | 57 | 19 | 4 | 71.2% |
| English Opening: Agincourt Defense | 78 | 35 | 34 | 9 | 44.9% |
| Bird Opening: Dutch Variation, Batavo Gambit | 65 | 43 | 19 | 3 | 66.2% |
| Italian Game: Two Knights Defense | 61 | 44 | 14 | 3 | 72.1% |
| Bullet Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caro-Kann Defense | 28 | 19 | 8 | 1 | 67.9% |
| Scandinavian Defense | 27 | 22 | 4 | 1 | 81.5% |
| Barnes Defense | 20 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 85.0% |
| Sicilian Defense: Closed | 17 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 47.1% |
| Four Knights Game | 15 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 46.7% |
| Scotch Game | 14 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 64.3% |
| London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 75.0% |
| French Defense: Exchange Variation | 12 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 75.0% |
| Alekhine Defense | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 30.0% |
| Amazon Attack | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 50.0% |
| Rapid Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Four Knights Game | 45 | 20 | 10 | 15 | 44.4% |
| Ruy Lopez: Closed | 17 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 52.9% |
| Caro-Kann Defense | 15 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 46.7% |
| Blackburne Shilling Gambit | 12 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 33.3% |
| Sicilian Defense: Moscow Variation | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 40.0% |
| Italian Game: Two Knights Defense | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 50.0% |
| QGD: 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 11.1% |
| QGD: Ragozin | 9 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 11.1% |
| French Defense: Advance Variation | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 44.4% |
| Giuoco Piano: Tarrasch Variation | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 71.4% |
🔥 Streaks
| Streak | Longest | Current |
|---|---|---|
| Winning | 41 | 3 |
| Losing | 7 | 0 |