chigorin28: National Master, Blitz Favorite, Bullet Machine
chigorin28 is a National Master and one of the internet's most devoted online chess grinders. Since arriving in 2019, this account has played more than 14,000 games, the overwhelming majority in bullet chess, with Blitz as the declared preferred time control. Peak marks include 2757 (2022-11-09) in bullet and 2726 (2020-03-13) in blitz, but the true calling card is sheer volume. Very few humans have clicked a clock this many times and kept the same username.
The Name Is a Homage. The Number Is a Mystery.
The handle salutes Mikhail Chigorin, founding father of Russian chess and a man who attacked the way weather happens. Fitting, then, that chigorin28's favorite checking piece is the queen, with over 16,000 checks delivered and counting. The 28, however, remains unexplained. Leading theories include a lucky number, a favorite square, and the number of blunders committed during one ambitious Tuesday evening. Requests for clarification went unanswered, presumably because chigorin28 was playing another game.
Streaks: The Universe Demands Symmetry
The career ledger features a 26 game winning streak and, in the spirit of cosmic balance, a 27 game losing streak. Not many players can claim both. As of August 2026, chigorin28 is riding an eight game winning streak, so the scales may finally tip. Once opponent strength is factored in, the win rate lands almost exactly at 50 percent, which is a polite way of saying chigorin28 loses to precisely the right people.
The Repertoire: e4 First, Questions Later
As White, chigorin28 opens 1.e4 with religious devotion, and against the Sicilian Defense the weapon of choice is the Alapin Variation, where the blitz win rate climbs above 56 percent. The main line looks like this:
As Black, the most trusted companion is the French Defense, especially the Classical Variation's Svenonius Variation, deployed hundreds of times in bullet. A flirtation with the Najdorf Variation ended the way most flirtations with the Najdorf do: in quiet heartbreak. Meanwhile, the Caro-Kann Defense deserves special recognition for beating chigorin28 from both sides of the board, which takes genuine commitment.
Opponents Love Weird Openings. chigorin28 Has Seen Them All.
Being an e4 grinder means meeting every fringe idea the internet has to offer:
- The Amar Gambit, faced 248 times in bullet. That is 248 more times than most people have even heard of it.
- The Nimzo-Larsen Attack, 211 encounters and counting.
- The Wiedenhagen-Beta Gambit and the Döry Defense, two openings that sound like a law firm specializing in pawn structure disputes.
- The London [REDACTED] Poisoned Pawn Variation, which even the database refuses to name out loud.
The Rivalry File
- Yaacov Norowitz: 154 games, 24 wins, 126 losses, 4 draws. This is not a rivalry so much as a mortgage.
- ZURAB AZMAIPARASHVILI: 169 games, 65 wins, 91 losses, 13 draws. Competitive in spirit. Barely competitive on the scoreboard.
- Jonathan Corbblah: 87 games, 40 wins, 41 losses, 6 draws. The only recurring opponent who leaves the board genuinely unsure who was favored.
Signature Style: A Marathon in Sprint Shoes
chigorin28 plays Blitz like a classical game wearing running shoes. Games regularly march past move 85, the endgame arrives in 88 percent of contests, and the first capture often waits until around move seven. Add an 89 percent comeback rate, a 37 percent win rate even after dropping a piece, and an early resignation rate of just 16 percent, and a clear picture emerges: chigorin28 rarely gives up. The clock has to do the finishing.
- Peak performance hour: 8:00 in the morning, a 54 percent win rate. By 9:00 it collapses to 33 percent. Something happens between the second and third cup of coffee, and it is not good.
- Tuesdays are the best day of the week. Fridays are best described as a learning experience.
- Versus lower rated opponents: a 65 percent win rate. Versus higher rated ones: 28 percent, plus stories.
- The gap between casual and rated win rates is reported at roughly 50 points, a number so lopsided someone should probably audit it.
- White scores 41.6 percent, Black 36 percent. The white pieces get the first move; the black pieces get the wisdom.
The Legend Continues
Years into the grind, thousands of games deep, still opening 1.e4, still dragging people to move 88, still down a match to the nemesis and charging up the board anyway. Whatever the 28 in chigorin28 means, one thing is certain: it is definitely not the number of lessons chigorin28 has taught the blitz world. That number is much, much higher.