Ionut-Alexandru Dobrin: The Owl of the Blitz Board
From 1800 to Candidate Master
This chess biography follows Ionut-Alexandru Dobrin, better known online as Ionutdd123, a FIDE Candidate Master whose preferred time control is blitz. He first appeared on the online rating ladder in 2018 with a modest 1800 blitz rating, but by January 2024 he had rocketed to 2601, eventually peaking at 2635 (2025-01-13). That relentless climb earned him the Candidate Master title and a permanent place in the 1 AM chess ecosystem.
Style and Repertoire
Dobrin is a 1.d4 player through and through, with thousands of games beginning with the queen pawn. As White he is most at home in the Slav Defense and the King's Indian Defense, especially the sharp Sämisch Variation with the Bobotsov-Korchnoi-Petrosian line, where his win rate hovers around 56 percent. As Black he cycles through a wide menu of Sicilian Defense setups, from the Alapin Variation to the Closed Sicilian, and he scores comfortably against the Nimzo-Indian Defense. His games are wars of attrition: the average decisive battle runs over 80 moves, and endgames appear in more than 82 percent of his contests.
Friends, Foes, and Streaks
Every online grinder needs a rivalry report, and Dobrin has a colorful one. Against maoamking he is practically a landlord, collecting 24 wins in 27 games. Against Lewis Eisen the tables turn completely: lewiseisen leads 14 to 2, with 5 draws. Longtime dance partner alexcrc has faced him 28 times, making that one of the most intense recurring feuds on the platform.
The hot hand can also go cold. Dobrin once won 17 straight games, but he has also lost 9 in a row when the tilt kicked in. His comeback rate is a ridiculous 87.98 percent, and even after losing a piece he still finds a way to win nearly half the time. Opponents who expect a quick resignation will be disappointed: most of his wins come from grinding the other player down until they disappear or run out of clock.
By the Numbers
Blitz is clearly his home turf, with more than 7,800 recorded blitz games, and his strength-adjusted win rate stays above 50 percent even against elite opposition. If you want a piece of him, Wednesday is statistically his best day, and midnight to 1 AM is when he turns into a rating monster. Try to get him on a Monday morning instead.