Gavin Derr (Gavin_Derr125): Bullet Chess Specialist and Comeback Artist
Gavin Derr, known to the online chess world as Gavin_Derr125, is a bullet chess grinder with roughly 29,656 games of experience and a peak bullet rating of 2480 (2026-06-19). His career is a five-year proof of a bold theory: the fastest way to get good at bullet chess is to keep playing bullet chess until the universe gets tired and lets you win.
Early Days: The Great Descent of 2020
Gavin arrived in October 2020 and immediately learned an important lesson about gravity. His bullet rating started near 1000 and slid to 832 within two months, eventually bottoming out at 745 in June 2021. That low point would become the most important number of his career, because everything after it was uphill.
His early opening choices were, to put it kindly, experimental. In 2020 he opened more games with 1.Nc3 than with 1.e4, in 2021 he started 662 games with 1.d4, and by 2023 he had settled on 1.e4 like a responsible adult.
The Climb from 745 to 2480
What followed was one long staircase. Gavin passed 1400 in spring 2022, 1600 that August, 2000 in October 2023, and 2200 in 2024. By June 2026 the needle read 2480, a climb of 1,735 points from that early low.
Bullet First, Everything Else Second
Blitz and rapid exist in Gavin's life, but they are side quests. His career bullet ledger reads 8,468 wins, 7,430 losses, and 950 draws, a shade above a 50 percent strength-adjusted win rate against ever-tougher opposition. He does not rush: his average win runs about 72 moves, and 77 percent of his games actually reach an endgame, which in bullet is its own special kind of endurance sport.
Then there is daily chess, where Gavin is a perfect 2 for 2, including a win with the gloriously named Dresden Opening: The Goblin. Undefeated. Unbothered. Goblined.
An Opening Repertoire Approved by No Theorist
Gavin treats opening theory as a polite suggestion. His most played defense is the Australian Defense, which has appeared in over 1,500 bullet games. Next comes the Amar Gambit, 1,116 appearances and a healthy 54 percent win rate, impressive for an opening that begins like this:
He also wins above 52 percent with the Barnes Defense and over 53 percent with Barnes Opening: Walkerling, lines most players only meet in nightmares. When he does something respectable, it works too: his rapid Philidor Defense wins at nearly 60 percent, the best score in his repertoire, and his 1,000-plus games of Sicilian Defense sit comfortably above 51 percent. He has even logged 372 blitz games with the Blackburne Shilling Gambit, where the trap springs in both directions.
Playing Style: The Comeback Machine
The numbers tell one story: Gavin does not quit. His early resignation rate is 0.76 percent, so if you are beating him, you had better finish the job. His comeback rate is 82.42 percent, and he still wins 47 percent of games after dropping a piece. Only 1.61 percent of his losses are one-sided, meaning when he goes down, the game at least had some dignity. His tilt factor is a calm 16, and he captures his first piece around move 6 before settling in for the long grind. His most relatable stat: his rated win rate trails his casual win rate by 36 points, making him statistically better at chess when nothing is at stake.
Rivals, Victims, and One Crab Cake
Gavin's most played opponent is razvan0903, with 103 meetings and a 69 to 30 lead. Then there is lortcrabcake: 102 games, a record of 93 wins, 4 losses, and 5 draws, which is less a rivalry and more a public service announcement. Not every story is happy: astroduk leads the head to head 35 to 10 and remains the one player who reliably ruins Gavin's day. iguera07 keeps things honest at 27 to 32, with 9 stubborn draws.
The 9 AM Rule
Gavin's win rate by hour produces the most relatable finding of his career. At 8 AM he wins about 42 percent of his games. One hour later, at 9 AM, that jumps to nearly 55 percent. The difference is coffee, and it is not close. He is oddly strong at 5 AM, plays his best on Thursdays, and has absorbed over 110,000 opponent checks against his own 79,000, shrugging most of them off on the way to winning 58 percent of games where he checks first. His queen has delivered 28,131 of those checks, which is either impressive or a cry for help.
Quick Facts
- Peak bullet rating: 2480 (June 2026), from a career low of 745
- Career games: roughly 29,656, with over 16,800 in bullet
- Longest winning streak: 15 games; longest losing streak: 16, so it basically evens out
- Peak blitz: 2305 (February 2026); peak rapid: 2340 (August 2026)
- Daily chess record: 2-0 lifetime, 100 percent with Dresden Opening: The Goblin
- Rating gap between 8 AM Gavin and 9 AM Gavin: approximately one breakfast