Roberto Carlos Gomez Ledo - The Lock of Chessboards
Known by his formidable chess handle elcandado (which means "the lock" in Spanish), Roberto Carlos Gomez Ledo has firmly secured his place in the world of chess as an International Master recognized by FIDE. His opponents often find themselves stuck in his strategic grip, struggling to unlock the secrets of his play.
Born to challenge the limits of time, Roberto has dazzled in blitz chess, achieving a peak rating of 2769 as recently as September 2024—a rating that would make even grandmasters give a nervous glance at their clocks. He’s no slouch in other formats either, boasting a bullet peak of 2612 and a rapid rating touching 2450. His explosive style in lightning-fast games reflects a tactical awareness that leaves no room for mercy—comebacks are his specialty, with an impressive 87.82% comeback rate that keeps fans at the edge of their seats and opponents wondering if they’ve made a blunder, or if he’s simply that good.
Roberto's dedication is evident in his marathon-like blitz career with nearly 14,500 games recorded under "Top Secret" openings, where he maintains a competitive win rate of around 44%. Whether it's striking quickly or grinding out an endgame, his average of almost 80 moves per victory and more than 85 moves in defeat shows he likes to make every game a journey, not just a sprint.
His psychological resilience stands out—his tilt factor is impressively low at 11%, meaning frustration rarely gets the best of him. And when you peak at the hour of his best play—around 11 PM—you might just catch "elcandado" in his prime mode, locking down opponents as if chessboards were treasure chests.
Known to wield some secret weaponry in openings that remain mysterious even to seasoned rivals, Roberto’s practical strength is also clear in his win-loss-draw matrix: over 6,300 wins in blitz alone, balanced by a similar number of losses and a respectable stack of draws signaling a player who loves to fight till the very end.
Notable Recent Game Highlight
On September 10, 2024, in a brilliant demonstration of his aggressive acumen, elcandado delivered a stunning checkmate against RayanTheGoat01 with a dazzling Qxc8+ that left spectators breathless. The game showcased both his tactical precision and psychological pressure —he scored a swift resignation victory with style and panache.
Chess Style and Personality
Roberto’s style is a balanced blend of patience and explosive tactical awareness. His endgame frequency approach is high, affirming his love for battle till the late moves, while his readiness to resign early is a mere 0.36%, proving he is not someone to waste time on hopeless positions. His games are known to have a rich narrative: mesmerizing comebacks, fearless attempts to seize the initiative, and an unyielding fighting spirit.
Fun fact: given his blitz prowess, if he were a lock, he'd be the kind that takes a master locksmith to open—none have yet turned the key!
Overview and focus
Great work staying active in blitz and finding practical chances in the recent games. You showed sharp attacking ideas in the win, and your opening choices align with confident, modern systems. There are clear opportunities to tighten decision making, improve endgame technique, and sharpen your time management in fast games. The plan below focuses on concrete steps to convert more of your promising positions into consistent results.
What you're doing well
- You pursue active piece play and timely piece activity, especially when the position opens up or your opponent’s king is under pressure.
- You choose aggressive lines that create practical chances, which is important in blitz where you must fight for initiative.
- Your opening choices show a willingness to test dynamic plans and learn from those middlegame structures.
- You compensate for material imbalances with concrete tactical ideas and quick, forcing sequences when possible.
Areas to improve
- Time management in blitz: avoid long deliberations on critical moves. After the first 10–15 moves, quickly identify two or three candidate plans and choose the most practical one, then re-evaluate before the next critical moment.
- Endgame technique: practice converting rook endings and simplified middlegames where you have a space or activity edge. Focus on keeping kings active and using the rook to cut off opponent counterplay.
- Calculation discipline: in complex middlegames, write down your candidate plans aloud (even mentally) and check for forcing moves your opponent can reply with. This reduces missed threats and blunders.
- Opening diversification and plan clarity: deepen a couple of core lines so you have a clear middlegame plan after the opening, rather than relying on queuing up quick tactical ideas alone.
- Blunder avoidance in sharp sequences: set a habit of verifying the safety of a key square or your king’s safety before committing a strong looking forcing move.
Opening performance insights
Your openings show solid results in several aggressive setups as well as solid, positional lines. Notably, certain aggressive and flexible themes are yielding near-term gains, while some solid defense setups produce steadier games but can drift toward longer endgames. Consider integrating a balanced, two-repertoire approach: one aggressive, one solid, with a plan for each that you can execute within a blitz clock.
- Strong results from flexible aggressive systems suggest you can push more of your winning chances by committing to thematic middlegame plans after the opening, rather than drifting into vague positions.
- Give yourself a small set of routine middlegame ideas per opening choice (for example, typical pawn breaks, common piece maneuvers, and typical endgame transitions) so you know what to aim for after move 15–20.
Incorporating focused study on your most effective openings can help you convert advantages more consistently. If you’d like, we can map a short study plan around your top two openings, using targeted practice and short drills.
Amazon AttackPractical drills and a simple plan
- Daily tactical warm-up: solve 5–10 puzzles focusing on motifs you encounter often (knight forks, back-rank ideas, exposed king threats).
- Endgame practice: spend 15 minutes twice a week on rook endings, practicing converting an active king and rook against a lone rook or pawn.
- Opening reinforcement: pick one aggressive opening and one solid option to drill for a week. After 8–10 games, summarize the middlegame plans you aimed for and compare to what actually happened.
- Post-game review habit: after each blitz game, write two bullet points — one thing you did well and one concrete improvement for the next game.
- Time checkpoints: in practice games, set a mental 25–30 second cadence for each early move; if you’re over time on a move, switch to a two-candidate-plan rule to keep pace.
Next steps and a compact two-week plan
- Week 1: solidify two-repertoire approach. Practice 6–8 blitz games per day focusing on the chosen openings, with a quick post-game note on the plan you attempted in the middlegame.
- Week 2: emphasize endgame technique. Do two-endgame drills per day (rook endings, opposite-colors endings, and simple pawn endings) and apply those techniques in blitz games.
- End of two weeks: review your results and identify which openings and middlegame plans consistently yield the best practical positions. Build a short reference sheet with 3–4 key ideas per opening.
Notes on the recent trend data
Short-term progress appears positive, with a noticeable month-to-month uptick. Mid-term and longer-term trends show stability with slight downswings, suggesting you’re close to a plateau where small changes in process can yield meaningful gains. The practical takeaway is to couple sharp tactical play with disciplined planning in the middlegame and tighter endgame technique.
🆚 Opponent Insights
| Recent Opponents | ||
|---|---|---|
| Rafail Antoniou | 1W / 1L / 0D | |
| Alexander Jasinski | 0W / 0L / 1D | |
| Saidakbar Saydaliev | 4W / 4L / 0D | |
| bursabbsatranc | 7W / 4L / 1D | |
| Artiom Samsonkin | 1W / 3L / 0D | |
| Artur Gabrielian | 0W / 2L / 0D | |
| lipauska3 | 3W / 0L / 0D | |
| manmish2 | 0W / 1L / 0D | |
| tobdongus | 0W / 1L / 0D | |
| chessisshocking | 1W / 0L / 0D | |
| Most Played Opponents | ||
|---|---|---|
| Nebojsa Djordjevic | 30W / 36L / 17D | |
| matveev_vladimir | 33W / 29L / 7D | |
| honestgirl | 17W / 38L / 8D | |
| Vjacheslav Weetik | 26W / 31L / 4D | |
| Khatanbaatar Bazar | 14W / 30L / 15D | |
Rating
| Year | Bullet | Blitz | Rapid | Daily |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2766 | |||
| 2024 | 2769 | |||
| 2023 | 2769 | |||
| 2022 | 2600 | 2689 | 2305 | |
| 2021 | 2665 | |||
| 2020 | 2370 | 2610 | ||
| 2019 | 2600 | 2450 | ||
| 2018 | 2657 | |||
| 2017 | 2373 |
Stats by Year
| Year | White | Black | Moves |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 22W / 27L / 9D | 28W / 21L / 9D | 86.6 |
| 2024 | 2W / 0L / 0D | 2W / 0L / 0D | 35.5 |
| 2023 | 77W / 58L / 22D | 52W / 64L / 34D | 88.1 |
| 2022 | 624W / 568L / 172D | 533W / 664L / 167D | 86.4 |
| 2021 | 794W / 677L / 255D | 652W / 852L / 234D | 86.1 |
| 2020 | 742W / 567L / 198D | 583W / 717L / 191D | 84.4 |
| 2019 | 409W / 339L / 102D | 338W / 404L / 109D | 85.4 |
| 2018 | 834W / 690L / 163D | 735W / 778L / 181D | 84.0 |
| 2017 | 40W / 18L / 3D | 44W / 13L / 3D | 72.0 |
Openings: Most Played
| Blitz Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Attack: Siberian Attack | 3030 | 1416 | 1216 | 398 | 46.7% |
| London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation | 1260 | 615 | 516 | 129 | 48.8% |
| Amazon Attack | 1165 | 544 | 458 | 163 | 46.7% |
| Czech Defense | 805 | 346 | 353 | 106 | 43.0% |
| Philidor Defense | 722 | 353 | 294 | 75 | 48.9% |
| Australian Defense | 543 | 291 | 207 | 45 | 53.6% |
| East Indian Defense | 534 | 234 | 229 | 71 | 43.8% |
| Döry Defense | 338 | 146 | 148 | 44 | 43.2% |
| Semi-Slav Defense Accepted | 290 | 113 | 134 | 43 | 39.0% |
| English Opening: Agincourt Defense | 241 | 92 | 118 | 31 | 38.2% |
| Rapid Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Attack: Siberian Attack | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 50.0% |
| Dresden Opening: The Goblin | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Ruy Lopez: Closed, Breyer | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Philidor Defense | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| East Indian Defense | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0% |
| Caro-Kann Defense: Exchange Variation | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Anderssen Variation | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Bullet Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Attack: Siberian Attack | 41 | 19 | 20 | 2 | 46.3% |
| Australian Defense | 22 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 68.2% |
| Amazon Attack | 18 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 66.7% |
| London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 66.7% |
| Czech Defense | 14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 64.3% |
| Döry Defense | 11 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 36.4% |
| Philidor Defense | 11 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 36.4% |
| Hungarian Opening: Wiedenhagen-Beta Gambit | 9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 33.3% |
| Amar Gambit | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 37.5% |
| Modern Defense | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 25.0% |
🔥 Streaks
| Streak | Longest | Current |
|---|---|---|
| Winning | 10 | 0 |
| Losing | 11 | 1 |