Blake Salisbury - aka gimmethatpawn
Meet Blake Salisbury, a chess warrior who might just be part grandmaster, part grandmaster’s mischievous sibling. Since first clacking his pawns back in 2013, Blake has navigated the battlefield of online chess with a mixture of strategic brilliance and a pinch of joyful chaos — because why not have fun when you can checkmate?
Starting at a modest 1152 Daily rating, Blake swiftly climbed the ranks, peaking impressively at 1909 in early 2025. But don’t let that fool you — his real playground is the Bullet arena, where he reached a blistering 2395 rating, flirting with the grandmaster threshold at lightning-fast time controls. On slower boards, his Blitz rating soared past 2300 and his Rapid rating danced near 2285, proving he’s more than just a quick-fingered tactician.
Blake’s style is a fascinating cocktail of patience and aggression. Known for staying in games well past the twilight of tired minds (his average decisive game spans almost 79 moves), he exhibits an uncommonly high endurance for endgames — over 85% of his games go there! He’s the kind of player who won’t surrender mildly; unless, of course, he’s early realizing he’s made a royal blunder, which happens in less than 0.4% of his games.
A tactical maestro, Blake has an 80% comeback rate after being down — showing that under pressure, he either rises spectacularly or manages to gently nudge his opponents back to safety, occasionally moving a few pawns just to keep things interesting. But beware: his tilt factor of 8 means that even this calm storm can have moments of “Why did I just do that?” at the board!
His opening repertoire is as versatile as a Swiss Army knife. While some might stick to their favorites, Blake dances excellently through the London System, Alapin Sicilian, and Slav Defense among others — with win rates often hovering around or above 60% depending on the variation and time control. In Bullet games, he’s been a fan of the mysterious Top Secret opening which yields a steady win rate above 50% — talk about keeping opponents guessing!
Off the chessboard, Blake’s known among foes and friends alike for a sense of humor as slick as his rook maneuvers. After all, if you can’t laugh at a missed mate or a pawn blunder, what are you really playing for?
Recent Adventures on the Board
- Latest win by checkmate on 2025-06-08, sealing the game in style with a precise king hunt and a final, crowning
Qa5#– truly a move worthy of “gimmethatpawn.” - Fastest fingers meet strategic wit as Blake’s wins by flag (time wins) continue to accumulate, proving sometimes the clock is the best friend of a clever bishop.
Fun Fact
Despite the intensity of rapid and blitz battles, Blake prefers the sometimes less frantic pace of Daily chess — probably to savor every chance to giggle softly when a knight forks two unsuspecting queens.
Keep an eye on this daring player — if there were an award for turning openings into grand finales, Blake Salisbury would be right there, grinning while collecting the prize.