Meet Eric Hansen
Eric Hansen, known on the boards as hansen, is a Canadian Grandmaster with a FIDE title and a streaming career that has turned thousands of viewers into chess fans. He is a fast mover at the table, a fast talker on the mic, and no less dangerous when the position calls for patience.
An Online Engine
If Eric had a theme song, it would probably be played twice as fast as normal. His online account has absorbed tens of thousands of bullet, blitz, rapid, and Daily games, and he has kept winning at an impressive rate in almost all of them.
shows a rating path that looks less like a player improving and more like a firework display.At his flying best, Eric reached 3265 (2021-03-25) in bullet, a serious number even by the standards of the top online heavyweights. For all that speed, though, there is something relaxed about him during a stream. He will snatch a piece, explain why it is a good move, and be halfway through a joke before the opponent finds their response.
Openings and Instincts
Eric's opening hand is full of the fighting lines that online players love. He has played over one thousand bullet games against the Caro-Kann Defense and hundreds more in the Sicilian Defense, winning the majority of both. He is also proudly willing to try something offbeat, as anyone who has met his Amar Gambit files can confirm.
His instincts go deeper than the opening. More than 85% of his recorded games reach an endgame, and he remains calm in the messy phase. When he loses a piece he still finds a way to win about 62% of those games, which is one of the less polite ways to tell an opponent that the game is not over.
Friends, Rivals, and Sometimes Both
No Eric Hansen biography feels complete without the names that fill his match history. He has played Hikaru Nakamura more than 1,300 times online, which is either a beautiful rivalry or two grandmasters who never ran out of time. He has also faced Daniel Naroditsky and Alireza Firouzja over hundreds of games. The scoreline is not always in his favor against those names, but the rematch rate says everything about his attitude.
Streaks and Strange Facts
- Longest winning streak: 56 games. He knows how to keep a run alive.
- Longest losing streak: 18 games, which proves even streamers have tilt.
- Comeback rate: roughly 85%. Do not expect him to resign early just because you are up material.
- Best time of day on his profile: 04:00, a solid answer for anyone wondering about grandmaster sleeping hours.
The Daily Secret
For someone whose online life often looks like a bullet marathon, Eric's preferred time control is the slower, thoughtful Daily format. His Daily history is absurdly tidy: 44 wins, 3 draws, and just 1 loss. It is the chess equivalent of a speed demon who also owns a slow, comfortable sports car and drives it perfectly.