Meet Maksim Ivannikov
Maksim Ivannikov, known on the chessboard as IMaksim2010, is a FIDE Candidate Master who has turned online chess into his personal laboratory. Since late 2018, when his blitz rating sat near 1362, Maksim has climbed with remarkable speed, peaking at 2817 (2025-10-07) in October 2025. His trajectory reads like a rocket launch: steady grinding, sudden breakthroughs, and a whole lot of 1.e4.
Maksim is a bullet enthusiast at heart, though his blitz rating has made the biggest headlines. Across all time controls he has racked up more than 1,600 wins, and he plays fast, fights hard, and rarely offers a quiet draw.
Playing Style and Grit
Maksim is not the kind of player who folds when things go wrong. His comeback rate is an astonishing 80.38%, and he wins 60.72% of games even after losing a piece. He also delivers the first check in 56.81% of his games, usually with the queen, which points to an aggressive, initiative-first approach.
One of his most notable runs was a 26-game winning streak. He also loves the endgame, reaching one in 73.66% of his games, and he has a remarkably low early resignation rate of 1.32%. Simply put, Maksim will make you prove it.
Opening Repertoire
Maksim's opening tastes are delightfully unorthodox. As White, he is a loyal 1.e4 player who has scored heavily with the Blackburne Shilling Gambit, the Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, and the Sicilian Defense: Closed. He also enjoys the Caro-Kann Defense from the White side, which gives his repertoire a practical, solid backbone.
As Black, he is equally comfortable in sharp tactical lines, often steering games into the Scotch Game or the Four Knights Game. His willingness to play unusual setups makes him a tricky opponent to prepare against.
Here is a tiny taste of the kind of position he likes to create:
Fierce Rivalries
No profile of Maksim would be complete without mentioning his long-running rivalry with lochmatic. The two have faced each other 91 times, with Maksim edging the series 38 wins to 19 losses, alongside 34 draws. It is the kind of rivalry that defines online chess: familiar, intense, and always competitive.
He has also built dominant records against several other frequent opponents, including bashmak_1234 (18 wins, no losses) and Baldi's Basics (9 wins, 2 losses), showing that he tends to figure out his rivals over time.
You can relive one of their clashes here: View Game
Quick Facts
- FIDE title: Candidate Master
- Username: IMaksim2010
- Peak Blitz Rating: 2817 (2025-10-07)
- Longest winning streak: 26 games
- Current winning streak: 9 games
- Most common first move as White: 1.e4