The FIDE Master with a 2400 Blitz Fantasy
Halldor Gretar Einarsson, known online as halldorgretar, is a FIDE Master who taught us that you can climb from a modest 1375 blitz rating to a genuinely intimidating 2439 (2025-03-20) while never once giving up on 1.d4. His preferred time control is Rapid, but the data story is overwhelmingly blitz: thousands of games, a 52% overall score, and a rating curve that resembles a very enthusiastic stock market.
The d4 Devotee
If you step into one of Halldor's games as White, you're likely to face a Catalan Opening, a King's Indian setup, or just a friendly dose of d4. In 2025 he opened with 1.d4 in 472 blitz games, versus 14 appearances of 1.e4 and one mystery 1.d3. That sort of commitment is hard to argue with, and his White win rate sits near 51%.
As Black he is far less loyal, especially against 1.e4. He is happy to play a Sicilian Defense and is particularly comfortable in the Four Knights Variation, Cobra branch, where he has passed the 300 game mark. The Catalan Opening is his own pet setup with the better score, and he seems happiest when somebody steps into a Benko Gambit or a Slav Defence he has seen a dozen times before.
These opening habits are no accident. He has built his house on flexible, strategic positions and then converted them with a steady hand.
shows exactly which setups keep him at the good side of 50%.Resilience and Rivalries
Numbers reveal a player who survives chaos. His comeback statistic sits at a staggering 86%, and even after losing a piece, he still wins half the time. Longest winning streak? 13 wins. Longest losing streak? 10, because even FIDE Masters need to reset their tilt dial.
No archive is complete without rivals, and no one has crossed swords with Halldor more often than Jorge A González Rodríguez. Their 23-game rivalry is a real battle: jordigon leads 6 wins to Halldor's 6, with 3 draws? A rivalry that can only be settled by another two d's.
If he wins at 1:00 AM and wins the early resignation race, mind the stereotype. The stats say 1:00 AM is actually his best window to play, so protect your rating if you meet him after midnight.
Curious Facts and Loose Threads
- Longest winning streak of 13 consecutive blitz games, and he can also handle losing 10 in a row without abandoning the d4.
- Every opening, from the Benko Gambit to the Gruenfeld, seems to get a fair trial in his file cabinet.
- He has a trampoline heartbeat: his losing game fallbacks almost as high as his winning score.
- Rapid games are fewer but handle with care: his rapid win rate sits just above 63% across the sample.
The Legend, in One Candle
Halldor Gretar Einarsson is, at heart, a 1.d4 enjoyer who somehow turned the most normal first move in chess into a personal brand. His rating trek from 2013 to 2026 makes more sense when you see a bump, a crash, and then an even higher bump:
So if you ever meet halldorgretar in a Rapid or Blitz lobby, bring your best Catalan, warm up your Sicilian, and don't expect any sly "canals" early. He has a FIDE Master title, a comeback rate most players can scarce dream about, and an oversized love of moving pieces one square at a time with a really big queen.