Career Snapshot
Elshad Orujov, known online as Elshadchess, is a blitz specialist with a marathon runner's heart. Since his first rated games in October 2017, he has piled up more than 10,000 blitz encounters and pushed his rating from 1388 to a blistering peak of 2626 (2025-07-11) in July 2025. The path was anything but smooth, with thrilling surges past 2500 and punishing downswings that only made him queue up for more.
shows the full arc of his journey, including a breakout February 2018 in which he played nearly 400 games in a single month. His early 3-0 start in 2017 set the tone for a career built on volume, grit, and relentless blitz battles.Playing Style
Elshad is not afraid to leave book theory behind. As White, he has a clear soft spot for the Amar Gambit, playing it more than 2,400 times with a win rate just above 53 percent. As Black, the Scandinavian Defense is his most trusted shield, appearing over 1,600 times with a healthy 54 percent score. His blitz games are surprisingly long, with wins averaging about 60 moves and losses stretching past 80, showing a fighter who rarely lets go without a struggle.
He also loves to give check. He averages four checks per game and lands the first check in almost two thirds of his games.
offers a deeper look at how his favorite openings perform.Rivalries
No opponent has faced Elshad more than ff aa, a 33-game marathon in which he currently trails 12-20-1. The rivalry with Guido Caprio has run a similar course, with Elshad winning 9 of 29 meetings. Against 2011KING the story flips: he leads 17-7-1, proving that his best chess comes out when the match is personal.
Key Numbers
- Career blitz record: 5201 wins, 4673 losses, 399 draws
- Longest winning streak: 13; longest losing streak: 12
- Comeback rate: 91.55 percent
- Peak rapid rating: 2274 (2025-07-10)
- Best hour to play: around 3:00 a.m., where his win rate jumps to 60 percent