Christian Palozza FM

Christian Palozza: The FIDE Master of the "Top Secret" Opening

Christian Palozza, known in the online chess world as ChrisPalo21, proudly wears the title of FIDE Master, a testament to their deep strategic skills and relentless pursuit of chess excellence. With a penchant for keeping their opening strategy top secret — and it clearly works, boasting win rates north of 50% in Bullet, 92% in Blitz, and a perfect 100% in Rapid — Christian is a player who thrives under pressure.

Starting from humble beginnings with a Rapid rating of 1601 in 2022, ChrisPalo21 launched into the Blitz scene, skyrocketing to an impressive peak rating of 2450 in 2024. Their Bullet rating tells a tale of rapid growth too, jumping from the sub-1800s in early 2024 to over 2200 in 2025 — an explosive trajectory that makes casual observers wonder if they’ve secretly been running their game on turbo mode.

Known for their endurance and love of the endgame (71.25% of their games reach the final phase), Christian isn’t one to give up easily — after all, their comeback rate is nearly mythical at 83.67%, and they boast a perfect 100% win rate even after losing a piece. Opponents beware: losing material against Chris probably means you’re halfway to defeat.

With a longest winning streak of 11 games (no pressure, though), Chris is a force to be reckoned with on any day, especially Thursdays when their win rate hits a flawless 100%. Their favorite battle hours range from the early morning grind (7 AM also sports a perfect win percentage—perhaps fueled by coffee) to the late-night warfare where they hit a 100% win rate at 9 PM. Night owl or early riser? Why not both!

When not busy checkmating opponents ranging from "papezuvptak" to "brave_rookie," Christian enjoys demonstrating that early resignations are for the faint-hearted (their early resignation rate is 0%), and that the black pieces are often a lucky charm — boasting an impressive 65.79% win rate playing second fiddle.

Apart from chess, Christian’s low tilt factor of 3 indicates that they keep their cool even in the face of setbacks — though they display an amusing paradox: a notable drop in win rates when switching between rated and casual games, making win or loss in friendly matches a fun mystery among their mates.

Whether it's blitz or bullet, morning brew or midnight oil, Christian Palozza plays each move with the cunning of a grandmaster and the humor of a chess enthusiast who knows that, sometimes, the best move is just to enjoy the game.