Sahil Tickoo, AKA CrazyMartian: National Master and Blitz Invader
Sahil Tickoo, known across the online chess universe as CrazyMartian, is a National Master and chess streamer who has spent nearly a decade doing one thing extremely well: playing fast chess until Earth considers surrendering. With a surname that sounds exactly like a ticking clock, speed chess was less a choice and more a prophecy. The blitz career officially began in December 2016 with a single loss at 1005, now best understood as a covert reconnaissance mission. The invasion proper started in 2019, and the leaderboards have never fully recovered.
- Title: National Master
- Peak blitz rating: 2659 (2026-08-14)
- Peak bullet rating: 2705 (2026-05-29)
- Preferred time control: Blitz, plus a truly irresponsible number of bullet games on the side
- Status: active streamer, most dangerous after midnight
The Great Ascent: From 1005 to the Stratosphere
Every Martian invasion begins with a rough landing. The first traces of the operation date to May 2015, when a mysterious force won three straight rapid games under the radar. Then came the 1005 blitz stumble of 2016, after which CrazyMartian vanished for almost three years, presumably gathering reinforcements. The return arrived in July 2019 at 1167, and the climb was steep enough to attract complaints from physicists: past 2300 by April 2020, a first touch of 2505 in September 2021, and routine raids into the 2600s by 2026.
The Fast Chess Laboratory: Volume, Endurance, 33 Straight Wins
The numbers read like science fiction: more than 4,100 blitz games and over 15,000 bullet games, including a bullet record that is essentially a coin flip performed fifteen thousand times, except the coin is on fire and so is the Martian. Beneath the volume hides the real story.
- A longest winning streak of 33 games: roughly one full lunar cycle of never losing
- An endgame frequency near 86% with average wins lasting 84 moves: not a cheap-shot opening trapper, but a marathon runner holding a rook
- An 85% comeback rate, so losing a piece to CrazyMartian is usually just the season premiere of a show that ends badly for the opponent
- A tilt factor of 15, which in Earth units translates to "unbothered"
- Clean early resignations in dead-lost positions, a diplomatic courtesy rarely extended by visitors from other planets
CrazyMartian's Opening Repertoire: Amazon Attacks and Redacted Files
With the white pieces, this is an unapologetic d4 loyalist: in 2026 alone the queen's pawn appeared on move one 971 times, and if e4 ever shows up, check the server logs for anomalies. The signature weapon is the Amazon Attack: Siberian Attack, deployed in hundreds of blitz games, a wonderfully on-brand choice since the only verified Martian in chess insists on attacking Earth with invasions named after the planet's most feared fictional conquerors. The backup plan is the London Poisoned Pawn Variation, an opening so dangerous that part of its official name has been redacted in the archives, which is exactly the energy a good line should have.
As Black, the repertoire keeps a dinosaur in the garage: the Modern Defense: Pterodactyl Variation, which pairs beautifully with the pilot, alongside the classical Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation and the dependable Slav Defense, shown below in its natural habitat.
Rivalries and Nemesis Files
No invasion is complete without recurring adversaries. The most frequent opponent, S Dharia Parnali, has met CrazyMartian 145 times and lost 96 of those, a genuine rivalry that mostly ends one way. The war against LordGigantics is the true deadlock: 148 battles settled at 69 wins, 68 losses, and 11 draws, presumably decided by whoever had coffee that morning. thodasachess has escaped only 13 times in 89 attempts, and the special file on gp1702 reads 47 meetings, 45 Martian wins, 2 human wins, a rivalry in the same sense that a meteor shower has a rivalry with a parking lot. The kryptonite award belongs to Pavel Sevostianov, against whom the record sits at 16 wins and 34 losses, proof that even experienced invaders struggle when the opponent is literally named coach.
The Martian Lifestyle: Streaming, 2 AM, and Rook Checks
The stream is where the quirks become content. Peak performance arrives in the small hours, with 2 AM officially the best time to play, which tracks perfectly: that is when Earth's defenders are asleep and the atmosphere is quiet enough for a clean landing. The preferred checking piece is the rook, responsible for more than 22,000 checks across the career, because rooks move in straight lines and straight lines are how professionals fly. Roughly 70% of games against lower-rated opposition end in wins, higher-rated opponents get negotiated with, and casual games produce noticeably better results than rated ones, suggesting that when no points are at stake, the invasion becomes pure art.
Legacy of the Invasion
From a lone 1005 loss in 2016 to National Master, streamer, permanent 2600+ blitz resident, and the owner of bullet chess's most prolific coin flip, Sahil Tickoo has built one of online chess's most entertaining careers without ever making it look calm. The games run long, the comebacks are merciless, the openings are either named after interplanetary disasters or partially redacted by the authorities, and the win streaks last a lunar cycle at a time. Residents of Earth are advised to prepare accordingly: study the Slav Defense, be asleep before 2 AM, and if the Martian offers a handshake, check the clock first.