Illusion Aashish (illusion_S3)
Meet Illusion Aashish, a chess player who truly lives up to the mystique of his name. Known in the arena as illusion_S3, this grandmaster-of-blitz isn't just another piece on the board; he's the entire magical forest full of surprises.
Rising Star and Relentless Competitor
From humble beginnings breaking 1400 in blitz chess, Illusion Aashish surged through the ranks and now boasts a peak blitz rating of 2089 as of September 2023, and a striking rapid rating soaring past 2221 in mid-2025. Turns out, when it comes to rapid time controls, illusions become reality.
Fighting Spirit & Tactical Wizardry
With a 79.87% comeback rate and an average of nearly 80 moves per win, Illusion doesn't just defeat opponents — he outlasts them. Endgames are his playground, appearing in nearly 73.45% of his games. Beware if you find yourself in a late game with him; the illusion might just be your undoing.
Favorite Openings (Or Disguises)
- Scandinavian Defense: Mieses Kotrc Variation – The classic choice that fools many, played over 3500 times (win rate: 43.88%).
- Queen's Pawn Opening: Zukertort & Chigorin Variations – Trusted weapons with solid win rates around 51%.
- London System – A subtle yet deadly approach, boasting a 51.37% win rate over nearly 1000 blitz games.
- Indian Game: East Indian London System – His secret weapon with a powerful 55.57% win rate.
Playing Style
Illusion Aashish loves to grind in long bouts of tactical and strategic play, with an average winning game lasting 79.7 moves. He shows a slight preference playing White, winning over 52% of those games, while his Black pieces still manage a respectable 44% win rate.
Perils and Quirks
Our Illusionist has a tilt factor of 12, which means sometimes the magic fades a little — but with a 12% early resignation rate, perhaps sometimes even the greatest magicians know when to pull the disappearing act. His best hours to cause some chess wizardry is around 11 PM, with win rates peaking then, so if you’re challenging him late at night, beware!
Recent Games: Triumphs and Near-Miracles
A recent masterpiece was a swift victory over rinaldi_tanjung on June 1, 2025, featuring a smooth transition through the famed Queen's Pawn Opening Zukertort Variation — the opponent resigned acknowledging the illusion. However, illusions sometimes vanish, as shown in a recent loss to krzys7 where the London System outplayed Aashish’s defenses.
Fun Facts
- Longest winning streak: 14 games. That's some serious magic!
- Current winning streak: 3 games. The illusion continues!
- Favorite day to slay opponents: Thursday, with a near 50% win rate on the dot.
- Has practically turned resignation into an art form — with over 10,000 wins by resignation, opponents must think twice before throwing in the towel.
In the world of kings and pawns, Illusion Aashish enchants his opponents, making each move an enigma and every game a grand performance.
Hi Illusion Aashish!
Congratulations on a solid streak of wins against 2000-2200 opposition and on reaching 2221 (2025-05-15). Below is some personalised feedback drawn from your latest games.
🌟 What you’re already doing well
- Consistent opening framework. With White you comfortably steer play into London-type structures (Nf3, d4, Bf4, e3) and with Black you rely on the Slav / Scandinavian. This consistency lets you reach middlegames you understand.
- Tenacity in long games. Your wins vs Bosman_Arg and yayssi123 showed excellent stamina – you defended inferior positions, waited for errors and converted the endgames confidently.
- Resourceful counter-punching. In several games you absorbed early pressure, then hit back with tactics such as …Rxc3 vs yayssi123 and the …Na4 fork vs CeyhunAliyev1974.
- Clock handling. Even in 10 | 0 games you usually keep a 1-2-minute reserve, allowing you to exploit opponents’ time trouble late on.
🔍 Priority improvement areas
- Pawn over-extension on the kingside.
• Both recent losses in the A45/London (e.g. vs Benaustin123, HusniddinEsanov_1987) started with the sequence h3-g4-f4-gxf5. • These pushes left squares e4, g4, h4 weak and gave Black open files for counter-play. ➜ Before advancing a pawn in front of your king ask, “Can my opponent open a file in ≤3 moves?” If yes, consider slower plans such as c4 or Rc1 first. - Handling of central tension.
• In multiple games (e.g. vs nazrul59) you exchanged on d5/c5 too early, giving Black a protected passed pawn or freeing their pieces. ➜ Practise positions with a locked pawn chain; study the concept of pawn tension and only resolve it when you gain a concrete benefit (space, open file, tactical shot). - Tactical calculation under pressure.
• Critical blunders occurred after move 30 when the position was sharp but your clock had <1 min (e.g. 36…Ra1+ winning vs you). ➜ Daily exercise: solve 3-5 tactics that end in mate or decisive material in 3-5 moves. Focus on “do not move until you see the refutation”. - Endgame conversion vs stubborn defence.
• In the win against Bosman_Arg you needed 20 moves to convert a rook + 2 pawns; technique was eventually fine, but you allowed counter-checks on the 7th rank. ➜ Brush up on R+P vs R fundamentals and the idea of “cutting the king” with the rook on the 6th file/rank.
🎯 Targeted action plan (next 4 weeks)
- Week 1: Review every game where you pushed g- and h-pawns early. Ask, “Could I achieve the same goal with pieces instead?” Annotate one critical moment per game.
- Week 2: Study model games on the “Carlsbad structure” (your Slav games reach it often). Note plans for minority attack vs kingside expansion.
- Week 3: Endgame drill – play 10 positions of R+2 vs R+1 pawns against the engine until you can win in <20 moves.
- Week 4: Add one alternative Black weapon vs 1.d4 (e.g. Queen’s Gambit Declined) so you’re not forced into early Bf5 lines every game.
📌 Two illustrative moments
A) Over-extended kingside (vs Benaustin123, move 34)
White cannot defend both back-rank and passed pawn; earlier pawn pushes made the king permanently unsafe.
B) Exemplary patience (vs yayssi123, move 48)
You waited until every piece was ideally placed before striking with …Rxc3. Strive to replicate this restraint when you are defending as well.
⏱️ Time-management tip
Your losses often feature a sudden drop from ~4 min to <30 sec during a tactical sequence. Try a “speed bump” rule: if your clock hits 3:00, make the next three moves in ≤20 sec each unless the position is critical. This preserves enough time for the eventual complicated calculation.
📊 Progress tracker
Keep an eye on your momentum:
(helps spot times of day you blunder most) and .🙌 Closing words
You are already an ambitious, resourceful player. By tightening your pawn discipline and sharpening tactical calculation you can push comfortably past 2300. Let’s revisit these goals in two weeks and measure the progress. Good luck, and enjoy the journey!
🆚 Opponent Insights
| Recent Opponents | ||
|---|---|---|
| longrider | 1W / 0L / 0D | |
| fifthdimention | 1W / 1L / 1D | |
| gammadoudou | 0W / 1L / 0D | |
| mirkamolmirboboev | 1W / 0L / 0D | |
| sacrificemesoftly | 1W / 0L / 0D | |
| yosef-mohamed-1 | 0W / 3L / 0D | |
| themooseontheloose | 1W / 0L / 0D | |
| thisisnotinteresting | 0W / 1L / 0D | |
| viktor_getman | 1W / 1L / 0D | |
| zypyxl | 0W / 1L / 0D | |
| Most Played Opponents | ||
|---|---|---|
| recklesspeshal | 20W / 14L / 0D | |
| mister2x | 7W / 9L / 2D | |
| modricheg | 10W / 7L / 1D | |
| ghia-ale | 7W / 7L / 1D | |
| captainarabella | 5W / 5L / 4D | |
Rating
| Year | Bullet | Blitz | Rapid | Daily |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2150 | 977 | ||
| 2024 | 2035 | 2056 | 1002 | |
| 2023 | 1739 | 1973 | 1839 | 1024 |
| 2022 | 1818 | 1616 | 949 | |
| 2021 | 1637 |
Stats by Year
| Year | White | Black | Moves |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1138W / 931L / 277D | 1009W / 1067L / 264D | 82.2 |
| 2024 | 1836W / 1418L / 237D | 1568W / 1654L / 277D | 77.3 |
| 2023 | 2004W / 1507L / 203D | 1543W / 1769L / 210D | 75.1 |
| 2022 | 2588W / 2001L / 331D | 2039W / 2249L / 305D | 71.3 |
| 2021 | 1152W / 910L / 117D | 907W / 1005L / 123D | 71.1 |
Openings: Most Played
| Rapid Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation | 4606 | 2246 | 1957 | 403 | 48.8% |
| Scandinavian Defense | 2801 | 1219 | 1285 | 297 | 43.5% |
| Amazon Attack | 639 | 303 | 300 | 36 | 47.4% |
| Australian Defense | 575 | 322 | 213 | 40 | 56.0% |
| Colle System: Rhamphorhynchus Variation | 553 | 331 | 187 | 35 | 59.9% |
| East Indian Defense | 519 | 281 | 203 | 35 | 54.1% |
| Döry Defense | 369 | 188 | 156 | 25 | 51.0% |
| Slav Defense | 348 | 156 | 157 | 35 | 44.8% |
| Amar Gambit | 263 | 142 | 102 | 19 | 54.0% |
| Amazon Attack: Siberian Attack | 260 | 144 | 89 | 27 | 55.4% |
| Daily Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scandinavian Defense | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 56.2% |
| London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation | 11 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 63.6% |
| Colle System: Rhamphorhynchus Variation | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 75.0% |
| Amar Gambit | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.0% |
| Australian Defense | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.0% |
| Blitz Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation | 6093 | 3104 | 2600 | 389 | 50.9% |
| Scandinavian Defense | 4541 | 2036 | 2226 | 279 | 44.8% |
| Australian Defense | 993 | 567 | 373 | 53 | 57.1% |
| Amazon Attack | 980 | 440 | 475 | 65 | 44.9% |
| Colle System: Rhamphorhynchus Variation | 817 | 453 | 320 | 44 | 55.5% |
| Slav Defense | 717 | 303 | 361 | 53 | 42.3% |
| East Indian Defense | 606 | 338 | 246 | 22 | 55.8% |
| Döry Defense | 395 | 207 | 159 | 29 | 52.4% |
| Amar Gambit | 366 | 150 | 192 | 24 | 41.0% |
| QGA: 3.e3 c5 | 348 | 158 | 175 | 15 | 45.4% |
| Bullet Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation | 162 | 81 | 72 | 9 | 50.0% |
| Scandinavian Defense | 139 | 71 | 62 | 6 | 51.1% |
| Slav Defense | 31 | 15 | 13 | 3 | 48.4% |
| Amazon Attack | 25 | 11 | 14 | 0 | 44.0% |
| Colle System: Rhamphorhynchus Variation | 24 | 16 | 7 | 1 | 66.7% |
| East Indian Defense | 21 | 10 | 10 | 1 | 47.6% |
| Australian Defense | 19 | 9 | 10 | 0 | 47.4% |
| Amazon Attack: Siberian Attack | 19 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 73.7% |
| Döry Defense | 15 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 60.0% |
| Slav Defense: Alekhine Variation | 14 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 28.6% |
🔥 Streaks
| Streak | Longest | Current |
|---|---|---|
| Winning | 14 | 2 |
| Losing | 12 | 0 |