Elvira Berend: The Woman Grandmaster with a Tactical Twist
Elvira Berend, known in chess circles as ElviraBerend, holds the prestigious title of Woman Grandmaster awarded by FIDE—a true testament to her mastery of the 64 squares.
With a peak bullet rating soaring to 2466 in early 2022, and a blitz apex of 2556, Elvira demonstrates lightning-fast thinking and an uncanny ability to dominate under pressure. Opponents beware: her rapid-fire style conceals an impressive tactical awareness, boasting an 86.18% comeback rate that proves she’s never out of the fight—even when the odds look grim.
Her playing style is a curious mix of endurance and flair. On average, Elvira wins games after a marathon of 72 moves, showing a penchant for deep, strategic battles, yet she also knows when to strike decisively—checkmates account for over a thousand of her wins! If you’re hoping for a quick resignation, think again: she resigns early in less than 1% of her games.
Whether wielding the white or black pieces, Elvira’s win rates are impressive (54.15% with white, 48.49% with black) and she has a strong record against a variety of opponents, some with whimsical usernames like sherlock-holmes and tastyfrenchfries. She even hits near perfection against certain foes—legends of patience and precise calculation.
Her best time to wreak havoc? The ungodly hour of 3 AM, when most mortals are asleep but Elvira wakes to tactically crush her challengers—proving the early bird gets the bishop.
Elvira’s recent games reveal her love for dynamic and sharp openings. A memorable victory was achieved through the Englund Gambit, demonstrating both boldness and time management skills as she won on time.
In summary, Elvira Berend is a fierce competitor who mixes wit and endurance in her chess battles. She might occasionally lose on time or in a tactical skirmish, but never without putting up a spectacular fight. Serious opponents should prepare for fireworks—and maybe, just maybe, consider chess therapy sessions before facing her.
Hi Elvira, here’s some tailored feedback to help you keep climbing!
What you’re doing very well
- Dynamic Piece Play. In your recent win against ali shahibzadegan, the sequence 11.Nf5! followed by 18.fxg6+ seized the initiative and never let go. Your willingness to calculate sharp lines is a big asset.
- Central Control from the Opening. Whether you play 1.d4 or steer the Sicilian as Black, you consistently claim space and keep your pieces active.
- Peak level. Your best blitz mark so far is 2556 (2021-05-28). Maintaining that level shows both technical skill and fighting spirit.
Key areas to focus on next
-
Time management ("Zeitnot").
• Five of your last six losses ended on the clock.
• Typical pattern: solid early play, then long thinks around move 18–25, followed by a scramble.
Action plan: Use a “traffic-light” system—aim to keep ≥40 s after move 15, ≥20 s after move 25, and never drop below 5 s without increment unless it is a forced win. -
End-game conversion.
• In the Slav loss to TheKingOfTheForest you reached an equal rook/knight ending but drifted when pawns started to fall.
Action plan: Add 10-minute daily drills on technical rook endings (e.g. Lucena, Philidor) so that practical decisions come faster under time pressure. -
Consistent opening menu.
• Recent games show a mix of ...g6 Modern, ...c6 Slav, and Najdorf setups. Flexibility is great, but in 60-second games repetition breeds speed.
Action plan: Pick one main defence to 1.e4 and one to 1.d4 for the next 50 games. Review only the tabiyas you actually reach; shave prep time, gain clock time.
Micro-adjustments from specific games
| Game | Moment | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| Win vs PhysioTherapist | 7.h3?! | Develop with 7.Nc3 or 7.c4 to punish the Englund’s tempo loss even faster. |
| Loss vs TheKingOfTheForest | 20…Qd5?! | Instead 20…Nxe5! 21.dxe5 Qxd3 equalises and simplifies into a no-risk ending. |
| Loss vs TheArcticCold | 15…Nh6 | Consider 15…h6 first; keeping …Nh5 ideas later avoids the awkward knight. |
When you score best
Use these to schedule sessions at your personal “golden hours.”
Drill set for the week
- 5 rapid games (10 + 0) focusing solely on clock discipline—annotate lost minutes.
- Daily 20-puzzle streak; stop after the first mistake and review calculation shortcuts.
- One thematic blitz session from the Najdorf "…e5" tabiya to build muscle memory.
Keep up the fighting spirit and let me know how these tweaks work out. Good luck in your next push beyond 2556 (2021-05-28)!
🆚 Opponent Insights
| Most Played Opponents | ||
|---|---|---|
| KF3WIN | 15W / 19L / 3D | View Games |
| luis_rey | 18W / 17L / 0D | View Games |
| Sherlock Holmes | 8W / 22L / 1D | View Games |
| sjevtic | 8W / 14L / 3D | View Games |
| Lionel davis | 11W / 10L / 0D | View Games |
Rating
| Year | Bullet | Blitz | Rapid | Daily |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2430 | |||
| 2021 | 2304 | 2504 | 2071 | 2076 |
| 2020 | 2402 | 2509 | 2070 |
Stats by Year
| Year | White | Black | Moves |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 164W / 113L / 26D | 162W / 128L / 23D | 78.4 |
| 2021 | 845W / 625L / 103D | 761W / 704L / 122D | 79.3 |
| 2020 | 1172W / 797L / 183D | 1058W / 931L / 196D | 80.2 |
Openings: Most Played
| Bullet Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amar Gambit | 305 | 145 | 144 | 16 | 47.5% |
| Australian Defense | 233 | 132 | 92 | 9 | 56.6% |
| Döry Defense | 173 | 80 | 79 | 14 | 46.2% |
| Sicilian Defense | 166 | 90 | 67 | 9 | 54.2% |
| Scandinavian Defense | 146 | 83 | 51 | 12 | 56.9% |
| Modern | 145 | 77 | 57 | 11 | 53.1% |
| Caro-Kann Defense | 139 | 79 | 51 | 9 | 56.8% |
| Amazon Attack: Siberian Attack | 130 | 70 | 52 | 8 | 53.9% |
| Colle System: Rhamphorhynchus Variation | 116 | 69 | 39 | 8 | 59.5% |
| Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation, Sherzer Variation | 116 | 58 | 46 | 12 | 50.0% |
| Blitz Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense | 53 | 17 | 23 | 13 | 32.1% |
| Bogo-Indian Defense | 44 | 21 | 18 | 5 | 47.7% |
| Diemer-Duhm Gambit (DDG): 4...f5 | 41 | 20 | 11 | 10 | 48.8% |
| Amazon Attack: Siberian Attack | 40 | 20 | 14 | 6 | 50.0% |
| Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Berlin Wall | 38 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 31.6% |
| Blackburne Shilling Gambit | 33 | 20 | 8 | 5 | 60.6% |
| Döry Defense | 31 | 13 | 13 | 5 | 41.9% |
| King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Delayed Fianchetto | 29 | 15 | 11 | 3 | 51.7% |
| Catalan Opening | 29 | 16 | 8 | 5 | 55.2% |
| Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation, Sherzer Variation | 25 | 16 | 3 | 6 | 64.0% |
| Daily Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sicilian Defense: Closed, Anti-Sveshnikov Variation, Kharlov-Kramnik Line | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| English Opening: Four Knights System, Nimzowitsch Variation | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation, Sherzer Variation | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| English Opening: King's English Variation | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Old Indian Defense | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Rapid Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sicilian Defense | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Catalan Opening | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Sicilian Defense: O'Kelly Variation | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation, Sherzer Variation | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Benoni Defense | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0% |
| Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0% |
🔥 Streaks
| Streak | Longest | Current |
|---|---|---|
| Winning | 13 | 1 |
| Losing | 10 | 0 |