CM Joseph Gauci
CM Joseph Gauci, known online as JGauci, is a FIDE Candidate Master and one of the most prolific online chess competitors you will find. Since 2014, he has played over 56,000 rated games, making the chess server his second home. His preferred battlefield is bullet and blitz, where quick hands and quicker decisions rule the day.
Career at a glance
Joseph started his online rating journey in 2014 and steadily climbed the blitz ladder. He reached a peak blitz rating of 2406 (2022-05-18) in May 2022, and his rapid chess hit 2420 (2025-08-25) in August 2025. His bullet rating peaked at 2211 (2022-03-18), proof that he can thrive even when the clock is nearly out of control.
His longest winning streak is 13 games, and his longest losing streak is 12, so he has experienced both glory and humility in equal measure. His white pieces win about 49.9% of the time, while his black pieces win 45.15%, a solid record for such a massive sample size.
Playing style and openings
Joseph is a devoted 1.d4 player. With the white pieces, he frequently heads into the London System and fianchetto setups against the King's Indian Defense. With black, the Sicilian Defense is his constant companion, appearing in the Najdorf, Alapin, Closed, and Sherzer variations. He also loves the Grünfeld Defense, especially the Exchange Variation, which shows up thousands of times in his game history.
His style is resilient rather than perfect. His comeback rate is 84.94%, and he still manages to win 45.3% of games after losing a piece. He also reaches the endgame in 83.49% of games, which suggests he enjoys grinding out wins when the fireworks fade.
Familiar rivals
Every marathon runner has rivals on the road. Joseph's most frequent opponent is Tom Borvander, who faced him 116 times in a rivalry that stayed remarkably close. Other regular sparring partners include jaro7, aleksander555, and jeff cedas, all of whom crossed swords with him more than 60 times.
Fun facts
- His best time of day to play is 4 AM, which suggests either elite focus or a very unusual alarm clock.
- His strength-adjusted win rate is highest in bullet at 52.56%, making him a genuine speed chess specialist.
- He prefers to win by resignation or timeout rather than checkmate, delivering the final checkmate in only about 5.6% of his games.
- His tilt factor is 12, which is a fancy way of saying he stays reasonably calm even after a tough loss.