Irfan Mukhtarudin Idham

Irfan Mukhtarudin Idham (aka IrfanIdham)

In the sprawling arena of online rapid chess battles, few players climb the rating ladder quite like IrfanIdham. With a peak rapid rating hitting a proud 925 in June 2025, Irfan has demonstrated a mixture of tactical sharpness and battling spirit that's hard to ignore—unless you're on the losing side, of course.

Playing Style & Strengths

Known for an impressive 80.85% comeback rate, Irfan doesn’t just back down when a piece goes missing—he turns adversity into opportunity. With an average of about 61 moves per win, patience is a virtue Irfan wields like a knight on a mission. Early resignation? Barely a 5.33% habit for this persevering player.

White pieces or black, Irfan is comfortable everywhere, boasting a 56.32% win rate with white and a solid 51.72% with black. He’s got a knack for endgames with a hefty 62% frequency, proving he can close out games when it really counts.

Opening Repertoire

Irfan dances through the openings with style — a blend of classics and sharp lines:

• Petrov's Defense: 100% win rate in 4 rapid games! When Irfan puts on the black hat against this opening, consider it a safe fortress.
• French Defense, Advance Variation: Another perfect 100% in 4 games — a real bulletproof shield.
• Scandinavian Defense, Mieses-Kotrc Variation: He crushes it with 80% wins in 5 games, showing that Irfan likes to surprise opponents early on.
• And if things get spicy, his play in Kings Pawn openings and Philidor defense variations keep opponents guessing quite a bit.

Battle Records & Rivals

With 94 wins, 75 losses, and 5 draws in rapid formats, Irfan’s matches are vigorous contests of wits. He has faced a colorful cast of opponents — from namphonggggg to vanroy35 — with notable success (100% wins against both!). Of course, shreyasjain1995 and a few others have managed to rain on his parade.

Signature Victories

One of Irfan’s latest masterpieces came on June 3, 2025, where he executed a flawless checkmate against namphonggggg in a Petrov Defense game. That final move? A queen’s serenade backed by rook precision — a fitting end to a tactical symphony.

Quirky Tidbits

Playing at his best around 10:00 AM (definitely not a morning person’s myth), Irfan surprisingly struggles a bit on Sundays (only a 37.93% win rate) – probably because Sundays are for relaxing, not checkmating!

With a tilt factor of 6, he’s mostly steady but not immune to the emotional rollercoaster of chess wins and losses. Still, his resilience ensures he bounces back stronger every game.

Summary

If chess were a rollercoaster, IrfanIdham rides it with a hands-up, grin-on-the-face bravado. Whether orchestrating a slow-burning endgame or a lightning-fast checkmate, he’s a rapid force on Chess.com worth watching. And hey, if you see a Scandinavian Defense coming your way, watch out — it might just be a sneaky Irfan surprise!