Vladimir Sakun - The FIDE Master with a Blitzkrieg Mind
Known online as FMVolodymyrSakun, Vladimir Sakun is a FIDE Master who turns chess battles into thrilling spectacles of strategy and flair. With a peak blitz rating soaring up to an astounding 2847 in 2025—a score that makes even grandmasters raise an eyebrow—Vladimir epitomizes the art of rapid-fire chess warfare.
A Journey Through the Ranks
Starting with humble beginnings, Vladimir rapidly ascended chess ladders with a natural talent for blitz and bullet play, boasting win rates flirting near 60% in these lightning-fast formats. His gameplay is so fierce that his longest winning streak stretched to 22 consecutive victories—a streak long enough to make opponents question whether they accidentally logged into a chess supercomputer.
Playing Style
Vladimir’s approach is a brilliant concoction of psychological resilience and tactical wizardry. With an 80% comeback rate after losing a piece, he’s the chess equivalent of a phoenix; just when you think he's down, he swoops back with a cunning strike. Interestingly, he tends to resign early only about 10% of the time—proof he fights hard, but never wastes time when the board screams defeat.
True to his blitz roots, Vladimir averages a staggering 72 moves in his wins and even more in losses, showcasing his love for long, grinding battles that exhaust both mind and clock.
Favorite Openings
His secret weapon in blitz is the cleverly named Top Secret opening, where he holds a solid 57% win rate over more than 1600 games. But if you like gambits, watch out for his Sicilian Defense Smith Morra Gambit—with an 81% success rate, it can dismantle defenses before opponents even blink.
Achievements and Stats
- Peak Ratings:
- Blitz: 2847
- Bullet: 2815
- Daily: 2379
- Rapid: 2514
- Overall Blitz Record: 1036 wins, 617 losses, 183 draws
- Known for crushing opponents with resignation wins (732 times) and an impressive number of checkmate victories (231)
Recent Triumphs and Setbacks
On June 4, 2025, Vladimir dazzled his fans by winning a captivating game against jethrovv with a Modern Defense Standard Line, culminating in a heroic resignation victory. But even masters stumble – that same day, GregShahade delivered a checkmate tragedy to Vladimir, reminding everyone that in chess, humility is always on the horizon.
Psychological Quirks & Fun Facts
Vladimir’s best time to unleash his magic? Early mornings around 8 AM, when the coffee is strong and the mind sharper than a knight’s fork. Despite occasional tilts (he’s human after all, with a tilt factor of 10), he’s known to bounce back quickly and maintain consistent performance throughout the week, especially Sundays with a hearty 67% win rate.
Beware if you play him on an 8 AM hour—his win rate spikes to a curious 76%! Seems mornings are when Vladimir’s brain hits ludicrous speed.
In a Nutshell
Vladimir Sakun is not just a chess player; he’s a blitz maestro, a bullet battler, and a daily grind warrior all rolled into one. A player whose games are as thrilling as a rollercoaster and as calculated as a grandmaster’s dagger. Whether you face him over the board or online, holding your pieces tight won't always save you from the storm named FMVolodymyrSakun.
Recent Performance Overview
Vladimir, your recent rapid games continue to show your positional understanding and tactical awareness, particularly in the Sicilian Defense and the French Defense. You have an impressive overall record with 9 wins, 1 loss, and 3 draws, and a strength-adjusted win rate of nearly 60%. This illustrates solid consistency at your level.
What You're Doing Well
- Opening Preparation: You have strong success with several openings, including the Sicilian Defense variations and French Defense. Your win rate is 100% in these lines, showing effective preparation and understanding of the resulting middlegames.
- Endgame Play: In your recent wins, you demonstrated good technique converting material and positional advantages to victory, especially in rook and pawn endgames.
- Dynamic Play: Your games reveal active piece play and timely pawn breaks (e.g., advancing pawns to restrict opponent space), which helped generate attacking chances.
Areas for Improvement
- Managing Pressure in Complex Positions: The recent loss in the Queen's Gambit Declined (Tartakower variation) showed difficulty handling dynamic pawn structures and counterplay threats. Focus on identifying opponent's tactical ideas earlier to neutralize threats.
- Consistency in the Opening: Although your overall opening results are excellent, work to deepen your knowledge in less familiar lines such as the Tartakower variation where you faced setbacks. This will improve confidence and reduce early inaccuracies.
- Time Management: Aim to balance your clock usage better. In analyzing games, consider whether certain critical moves took too long or too little time, which can have psychological effects.
Focus for Next Training
- Study key themes and typical plans in the Queen's Gambit Declined and related pawn tension structures to improve your response under pressure.
- Review tactical motifs from your games where opponent’s threats appeared too late; drills with tactics puzzles can enhance pattern recognition.
- Practice strategic planning exercises in openings where you have wins, to convert these advantages even more efficiently.
- Implement a clock management routine: review your thinking times in critical vs routine moves to build a smooth flow during rapid play.
Positive Outlook on Your Rating Trajectory
While there has been a recent slight rating dip of 90 points, your overall trend slope remains strongly positive, indicating that your underlying skill and potential are on the rise. Focused training on the suggested areas should help you return to and surpass peak performance soon.
Encouragement
Your dedication and solid play set a great foundation for improvement. Keep analyzing your games thoughtfully and targeting your weaknesses, and you'll continue to climb in rating and strength.
🆚 Opponent Insights
| Recent Opponents | ||
|---|---|---|
| Oleg Vastrukhin | 1W / 0L / 0D | |
| Amilal Munkhdalai | 2W / 0L / 0D | |
| Zaur Tekeyev | 1W / 1L / 0D | |
| Mikhail Markov | 0W / 0L / 1D | |
| Petros Trimitzios | 0W / 0L / 1D | |
| Barad Yeganegi | 1W / 0L / 1D | |
| RigorousEarners | 1W / 0L / 0D | |
| Nigel Short | 0W / 1L / 0D | |
| Tunar Davudov | 1W / 0L / 0D | |
| Igor Miladinovic | 1W / 0L / 0D | |
| Most Played Opponents | ||
|---|---|---|
| hannibal4 | 16W / 8L / 1D | |
| gerenar | 13W / 6L / 2D | |
| Carlos Hoyos | 9W / 7L / 0D | |
| Leo Bispo | 7W / 9L / 0D | |
| othergabe | 9W / 5L / 1D | |
Rating
| Year | Bullet | Blitz | Rapid | Daily |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2843 | 2903 | ||
| 2024 | 2803 | 2750 | ||
| 2023 | 2765 | 2633 | 2424 | |
| 2022 | 2663 | 2692 | ||
| 2021 | 2553 | 2573 | ||
| 2020 | 2400 | 2506 | 2514 | 2371 |
| 2019 | 2546 | 1200 | ||
| 2018 | 2424 | 2587 | ||
| 2017 | 2231 | 1835 | ||
| 2016 | 1842 | 2330 |
Stats by Year
| Year | White | Black | Moves |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 110W / 52L / 35D | 94W / 74L / 26D | 94.4 |
| 2024 | 95W / 67L / 27D | 94W / 67L / 27D | 92.9 |
| 2023 | 38W / 21L / 5D | 39W / 19L / 10D | 88.9 |
| 2022 | 41W / 20L / 9D | 35W / 18L / 10D | 85.4 |
| 2021 | 28W / 12L / 7D | 33W / 12L / 4D | 86.1 |
| 2020 | 94W / 34L / 15D | 99W / 39L / 13D | 81.7 |
| 2019 | 37W / 22L / 6D | 33W / 24L / 6D | 84.8 |
| 2018 | 173W / 124L / 24D | 163W / 138L / 23D | 79.4 |
| 2017 | 138W / 53L / 6D | 129W / 84L / 4D | 54.2 |
| 2016 | 45W / 9L / 2D | 44W / 9L / 3D | 71.2 |
Openings: Most Played
| Blitz Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 185 | 102 | 83 | 0 | 55.1% |
| Bird Opening: Dutch Variation, Batavo Gambit | 60 | 38 | 15 | 7 | 63.3% |
| Amar Gambit | 59 | 30 | 24 | 5 | 50.9% |
| Caro-Kann Defense | 52 | 33 | 16 | 3 | 63.5% |
| Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation | 47 | 28 | 12 | 7 | 59.6% |
| Döry Defense | 44 | 24 | 14 | 6 | 54.5% |
| Modern | 37 | 25 | 10 | 2 | 67.6% |
| Australian Defense | 37 | 22 | 10 | 5 | 59.5% |
| Barnes Defense | 37 | 19 | 16 | 2 | 51.4% |
| Amazon Attack | 35 | 20 | 14 | 1 | 57.1% |
| Bullet Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amar Gambit | 135 | 98 | 28 | 9 | 72.6% |
| Colle System: Rhamphorhynchus Variation | 41 | 25 | 13 | 3 | 61.0% |
| Barnes Defense | 37 | 18 | 15 | 4 | 48.6% |
| Australian Defense | 34 | 15 | 17 | 2 | 44.1% |
| Alekhine Defense | 28 | 15 | 13 | 0 | 53.6% |
| French Defense | 19 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 57.9% |
| Modern | 19 | 7 | 11 | 1 | 36.8% |
| Nimzo-Larsen Attack | 19 | 11 | 8 | 0 | 57.9% |
| Czech Defense | 18 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 61.1% |
| Hungarian Opening: Wiedenhagen-Beta Gambit | 15 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 33.3% |
| Rapid Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sicilian Defense: Closed, Anti-Sveshnikov Variation, Kharlov-Kramnik Line | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| QGD: Tartakower, 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Bxe7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| English Opening: Agincourt Defense | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| QGD: 4.Nf3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0% |
| Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Sicilian Defense: Closed | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| French Defense: MacCutcheon Variation, Wolf Gambit | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Center Game: Berger Variation | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0% |
| Sicilian Defense: Chekhover Variation | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Daily Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sicilian Defense: Closed | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Scandinavian Defense | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.0% |
| Sicilian Defense: Closed, Anti-Sveshnikov Variation, Kharlov-Kramnik Line | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| French Defense: Burn Variation | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Bogo-Indian Defense | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Ruy Lopez: Closed | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Amazon Attack | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Czech Defense | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Gligoric System, Exchange Variation | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| English Opening | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0% |
🔥 Streaks
| Streak | Longest | Current |
|---|---|---|
| Winning | 22 | 2 |
| Losing | 10 | 0 |