Overview
Jakub Kusa (username J36225) is an International Master and a Blitz specialist who plays fast, thinks faster, and wins even faster. Jakub prefers Blitz games and has built a reputation for long, strategic encounters that somehow still finish before your coffee gets cold.
Career highlights include a peak Blitz performance of 2648 (2025-08-12) and a strong overall record in Blitz with 135 wins, 109 losses, and 28 draws. For a quick visual of Jakub's progress, check this trend view:
Playing Style and Strengths
Jakub combines endurance with tactical flair. Expect long games, deep endgames, and dramatic reversals.
- Preferred time control: Blitz. Speed with heavy strategic content.
- Endgame frequency is high at about 87 percent, so Jakub often grinds opponents down in the late phase.
- Average decisive game length is roughly 80 moves. These are not bullet skirmishes but marathon blitz games.
- Remarkable comeback rate of 91.85 percent. If Jakub is behind, do not celebrate yet.
- Common checking piece: the rook. Prepare for lateral invasions.
- Psychological profile: Best time to challenge him is around 14:00, but beware of a modest Tilt Factor of 8.
- Streaks: longest winning streak 8 games, longest losing streak 8 games, current winning streak 1.
Openings and Repertoire
Jakub favors dynamic but reliable systems. Below are some of his most-played openings and how he fares with them in Blitz.
- English Opening: Agincourt Defense — excellent results, aggressively handled. English Opening: Agincourt Defense
- Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation — spectacular win rate as White in this line. Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation
- Sicilian Defense: Moscow Variation and the Haag Gambit — frequent and effective choices. Sicilian Defense: Moscow Variation
- Caro-Kann Defense — a steady option with solid returns. Caro-Kann Defense
- When facing white's setups, Jakub is comfortable in Catalan and QGD structures.
Notable opening performance examples:
- English Opening: Agincourt Defense — 77.78 percent win rate.
- Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation — 83.33 percent win rate.
- Sicilian Defense: Moscow Variation — 70 percent win rate.
Notable Matches and Opponents
Jakub has faced a variety of regulars on the ladder. He has dominant mini-rivalries and a few stubborn nemeses.
- paulrusan — one of Jakub's most-played opponents. Record 4 wins, 1 loss. Paul Cristian Rusan
- nalatac — a perfect 4-0 record for Jakub. Nalatac
- rebeljohnny — a tougher matchup, currently 0-3. Amir Ali Ghafourian
- kildepiotr, harald_schmidt, sjumadinac — several encounters with mixed results. Piotr Piesik Harald Schmidt sjumadinac
Watch a representative rapid-fire duel: Exciting Blitz Duel
Fun Facts and Highlights
- Jakub averages over 80 moves per decisive game. If chess were a novel, his games would be thick paperbacks.
- He tends to capture the first piece around move 7 on average. Timing is everything.
- When down material, Jakub's win rate after losing a piece is near 49 percent. He does not panic, he plans.
- Jakub rarely resigns early. His early resignation rate is under 1 percent, so you will see him fight until the end.
- Sample interactive game to explore:
- For quick reference, Jakub's peak Blitz mark and trend are included above. Great for headlines like "IM Jakub Kusa rises in Blitz"