Justin Menhard — aka justinsouvlaki

Justin Menhard, who often plays under the handle justinsouvlaki, is a fast-paced online chess player known for a love of chaos, a fondness for the Amar Gambit, and an uncanny ability to snatch wins from the jaws of defeat. Preferring bullet time controls, Justin mixes scrappy tactical play with surprisingly deep endgames — and the occasional dramatic resignation when coffee runs out.

Career highlights

Preferred time control: Bullet — frequent matches and marathon sessions. (
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Massive Bullet experience: over 5,000 decisive Bullet games (Win: 2,591 • Loss: 2,580 • Draw: 104).
Peak performances across time controls: see peak Bullet rating 923 (2023-02-10) and notable Rapid peak in 2020.
Remarkable comeback ability — comeback rate around 80%: never give up on a lost-looking position.
Longest recorded streaks: 11 wins and an equally memorable 11-game losing slump (we forgive the latter).

Playing style & personality

Justin's style is a cocktail of tactical daring and stubborn endgame play:

Gambit-happy: frequently elects the Amar Gambit and other offbeat lines — may or may not have a secret map to the opponent's king.
Endgame oriented: high endgame frequency and long decisive games (average decisive length often ~55–65 moves).
Tactical resilience: wins after losing material at a respectable rate and often finds comebacks where others would resign.
Mental quirks: modest tilt factor (11) but best time to play is reportedly around 08:00 — breakfast brain for the win.

Opening repertoire — crowd favorites

Justin keeps opponents guessing by repeating a handful of signature openings. Notable favorites include:

Amar Gambit — a go-to for sharp, tactical melee. (Amar Gambit)
Czech Defense — solid and surprising in equal measure. (Czech Defense)
London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation — quiet-looking but venomous. (London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation)
French Defense and Australian Defense — dependable replies that show versatility.

Notable opponents & head-to-heads

Justin has a stable of frequent opponents. His most-played rival is justinegmorin, against whom he boasts an impressive record:

justinegmorin — 53 games (Wins: 45 • Losses: 4 • Draws: 4). (justinegmorin)
Other regulars: leacharlebois, bignate6969, sandrineboisvert — great for repetitive opening experiments.

Memorable sample & placeholders

For visitors and profile pages, here are a few embedded items you can use to enrich a mobile view:

Sample Amar Gambit mini-spark:
One of the latest dramatic finishes: Thrilling Finish
Quick link to a favorite opening page: Amar Gambit
Rating trend snippet for Bullet play:
Peak Bullet stat: 923 (2023-02-10)

Fun facts

Average decisive game length is long enough to qualify as a short novel — Justin likes to tell a story before delivering the punchline.
Best times: evening hours around 19–21 are strong, but morning coffee at 08:00 is the secret weapon.
Stubbornly plays uncommon openings — opponents should be ready for anything from the Amar Gambit to the Barnes Opening: Walkerling.

If you want a friendly match or a rematch, challenge justinsouvlaki — Justin will probably accept, provided there’s coffee and at least one gambit on the board.