National Master Andrew Wu
Andrew Wu, known to rating pools everywhere as chess13524678, is a National Master whose username was almost certainly chosen by dragging a hand across the keyboard's number row. It is, fittingly, the last random decision he ever made. Since his debut in early 2019, Andrew has become one of the most relentless players online: a daily chess specialist, a bullet chess predator, and a documented collector of 300-plus games against the same very patient opponent.
The Climb: From 1036 Beginner to Master
Every master has an origin story, and Andrew's begins in February 2019 with a 1036 rapid rating and a losing record, just like the rest of us. Then came 2020, and while the world stayed home, Andrew stayed at the board. He gained roughly 800 rapid rating points in a single year, cracked 2000 in 2022, and kept going. The chart below is less a graph and more an EKG of ambition.
His rapid rating has since peaked at 2169 (2026-06-07), which is honestly the calmest number in his collection.
Speed Chess: Bullet and Blitz Mayhem
If rapid is where Andrew learned the game, bullet is where he goes hunting. His bullet rating has peaked at 2939 (2026-07-08) and his blitz at 2914 (2026-08-19), figures usually reserved for players who have never once blinked away from the screen. Along the way he assembled a 30 game winning streak, the kind of run that makes opponents suspect the site itself is broken.
Daily Chess and the Unbeaten Amar Gambit
Andrew's preferred time control is Daily, and it is where his inner mischief lives. In daily games he has played the Amar Gambit seven times and won all seven, which is seven more successes than that opening has any right to expect. The line begins 1.Nh3 and dares you to take him seriously:
He is also undefeated in daily play with the Barnes Defense, the Czech Defense, and the English Opening, and his overall daily record sits at 22 wins against just 5 losses. Slow chess, it turns out, is just fast chess with the drama stretched out.
Rivals, Victims, and Pen Pals
No biography of Andrew is complete without arnchess23, who has faced him 303 times. The score: 271 wins for Andrew, 11 draws, and 21 losses, a series that stopped being a rivalry somewhere around game fifty. stevealappatt (97 games, 50-43-4) and Krasimir Rusev (94 games, 47-34-13) have made things genuinely competitive. born2blundr has not, losing 30 of 33. And then there is mysterymutant123, who is 0 for 29 against him. The real mystery is why the rematches keep getting accepted.
Opening Repertoire
Andrew's repertoire has traveled far. As White in rapid, the Four Knights Game was long his workhorse, and he refutes the Blackburne Shilling Gambit at a 77 percent clip. As Black, the Sicilian Defense is home turf, featuring the Dragon Variation, the Yugoslav Attack, and the memorably named Cobra Variation. In faster games he leaned into the Modern Defense and, most tellingly, the Nimzo-Larsen Attack: in 2026 alone he opened with 1.b3 a staggering 455 times, which is less an opening choice and more a personality.
Style and Odd Habits
- The polite surrender: Andrew resigns early 97 percent of the time when a game turns. He does not linger in bad positions; he files them away.
- The comeback engine: an 84 percent comeback rate, and he still wins half his games even after dropping a piece. Take his knight and you have simply opened a negotiation.
- The long game: about 79 percent of his games reach an endgame, and his wins average roughly 79 moves. He grinds.
- Rook first: he has delivered more than 8,000 rook checks, far more than with any other piece. When Andrew says hello, it is usually with a rook.
- Checkmate? Rarely needed: his termination stats show far more wins by resignation and timeout than by checkmate. Opponents see it coming and prefer to leave with dignity.
- Never lost on time: nine timeout wins, zero timeout losses. The clock does not beat Andrew; Andrew beats the clock.
- Morning person: at 10:00 his win rate is perfect, at 11:00 it collapses. Whatever happens in that hour, it is not chess, it is coffee.
The Bottom Line
National Master, four-digit username, 455 games of 1.b3 in a single year, and a 303 game engagement with one very persistent rival. Andrew Wu is proof that the fastest way to improve at chess is to play an enormous amount of it, and currently rides a 14 game winning streak with no plans to stop. If you queue against chess13524678, bring a plan, bring a cushion, and maybe reschedule for 11:00 AM.