Mahmoud Elnaekb: The Tactical Trailblazer
Meet Mahmoud Elnaekb, a chess player whose journey on the 64 squares is as eventful as a thriller novel with a few plot twists! Starting with humble beginnings around a 675 bullet rating back in 2018, Mahmoud has tirelessly honed his skills to climb past the 1700 mark in blitz chess by mid-2021 — a true testament to dedication (and probably a few caffeine-fueled late nights).
Rise and Shine
From blitz battles to rapid duels, Mahmoud's playing style embraces patience with an average of over 63 moves per game. Despite a tilt factor hovering around 20, he has mastered the art of comebacks, boasting a comeback rate of a striking 76%. When he loses a piece, he's not down for the count — he fights back to win nearly 40% of those encounters. A true fighter, even when the chips are down!
Favorite Openings
Fans of classic openings will recognize Mahmoud's taste for the Scotch Game and the Sicilian Defense, with win rates of approximately 57% and an impressive nearly 69% respectively in blitz. In rapid and bullet formats, he showcases love for Four Knights and some Italian flair, proving that Mahmoud likes to keep opponents on their toes with solid but aggressive play.
Statistics That Tell a Story
- Peak Ratings: Blitz - 1731 (June 2021), Rapid - 1575 (July 2022), Bullet - 1528 (Feb 2021)
- Total Blitz Games: Over 1,400 games with 643 wins — enough to wear out several chess clocks!
- Longest Winning Streak: 13 games (because sometimes the bishop just lines up perfectly)
- Endgame Frequency: Plays through the battle to an impressive 66% of games hitting the endgame, showcasing stamina and strategy.
- Favorite Time to Play: Oddly enough, 2 AM is Mahmoud’s prime time — probably when the pawns start whispering secrets.
Playing Style & Personality
Mahmoud balances tactical awareness with psychological resilience. Early resignations are kept low at around 6.7%, which means he rarely throws in the towel without a fight. His black pieces tend to outscore his white slightly, perhaps an indication of his love for counter-attacking strategies. That said, don’t be fooled by the stats — this is a player who thrives on challenges and isn’t afraid to dive into complex middlegames.
Notable Recent Games
In an exhilarating battle on May 19, 2025, Mahmoud clinched victory in a Ruy Lopez Morphy Defense after his opponent resigned, showcasing deep strategic understanding. Just earlier that day, he delivered a checkmate against nurAkbarpresiden using the Italian Game — a quick demonstration of his sharp tactical eye.
A Word of Warning for Opponents
If you’re facing Mahmoud, remember: he’s got a mixed bag of impressive streaks and some nerve-testing losing streaks (his longest losing streak stands at 20). But with his knack for comebacks, it’s wise to never count him out until the king is cornered and checkmated.
Whether it's daylight or the mysterious twilight hours, Mahmoud Elnaekb plays chess not just as a game, but as a marathon of wit, patience, and gutsy moves. Maybe next time, he’ll be the one turning your strategy into a beautiful blunder!
Hi Mahmoud!
Great job keeping the grind going and pushing your blitz rating up to . I reviewed your last few wins and losses (examples against Liz Ivanov, escimoplay, and others) and put together targeted feedback to help you climb to the next bracket.
What’s already working
- Opening familiarity. With Black you steer 1.e4 into the Ruy-Lopez C88/C91 and get comfortably to middlegames you understand. With White you’re not afraid to play sharp Italians or Sicilian main lines.
- Tactical alertness when attacking. The miniature below shows how you converted an initiative into mate:
Key areas to sharpen
- Time management. Four of the last five losses were on the clock. You often enter reasonable endgames (e.g. versus escimoplay) but leave yourself under 10 seconds. • Adopt games with a small increment (3 + 2). • Make one early “big think” and then switch to play–by-principle mode to save time.
- End-game technique. When you do reach endings, converting is slower than it could be (see A01 loss where 46…Kg5 instead of 46…Kf5 kept drawing chances). • Spend 15 minutes/day on basic rook-pawn endings and the “Lucena” & “Philidor” positions. • Use the 50-move drill: set up K+P vs K and win it against the computer in under 50 seconds.
- Piece coordination after queen trades. In many Ruy-Lopez games you exchange queens on move 12; sometimes the minor pieces get tangled (e.g. Nc6-a5-c4 with no follow-up). • After a queen trade ask “Which piece is my worst?” and relocate it before pushing pawns. • Review classic games in the Closed Spanish to mimic correct knight manoeuvres (…Nd7-f8-g6-f4).
- Dark-square awareness. In the Nimzo-Larsen loss 24…Qd7? allowed White to plant a knight & bishop on e5/f7. Practice spotting hole squares using daily puzzle rush or a quick scan: “Which color complex did I just weaken?” (see outpost).
Action plan for the next two weeks
- Play 10 games of 3 + 2 only, no bullet. After each one, quickly tag one moment you spent >15 seconds and ask if it was worth the time.
- Solve 25 intermediate tactics daily. Focus on back-rank mates and knight forks—patterns that showed up in both wins and losses.
- Watch a 20-minute video or read a chapter on the endgame you mis-played that day, then replay it against the engine from move 30.
- Once per session, open a Ruy-Lopez master game, skip to move 12 (after Qxd8 Rxd8) and guess the next five moves. Compare ideas, not exact moves.
Progress tracker
Keep an eye on how the changes affect your performance:
Final encouragement
You’re already converting clear tactical chances and you have a reliable opening backbone. By tightening the clock discipline and polishing those bread-and-butter endings you’ll see a rapid jump past 1500. Good luck, and keep me posted on your progress!
🆚 Opponent Insights
| Recent Opponents | ||
|---|---|---|
| Lile Koridze | 3W / 21L / 2D | |
| Liz Ivanov | 0W / 1L / 0D | |
| worstpatzer2 | 0W / 1L / 0D | |
| Most Played Opponents | ||
|---|---|---|
| Kincső Tóth | 28W / 84L / 8D | |
| Angelika Valkova | 27W / 75L / 5D | |
| Piotr | 42W / 29L / 2D | |
| ja92 | 9W / 45L / 6D | |
| setopp | 25W / 11L / 0D | |
Rating
| Year | Bullet | Blitz | Rapid | Daily |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1225 | 1458 | 1352 | |
| 2024 | 1426 | |||
| 2023 | 1225 | 1593 | 1483 | |
| 2022 | 1243 | 1522 | 1476 | |
| 2021 | 1500 | 1642 | 1418 | 400 |
| 2020 | 1247 | 1466 | 1044 | 400 |
| 2019 | 544 | 1206 | ||
| 2018 | 675 | 821 | 689 | 800 |
Stats by Year
| Year | White | Black | Moves |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 18W / 33L / 3D | 17W / 31L / 0D | 67.1 |
| 2024 | 16W / 21L / 0D | 9W / 24L / 0D | 58.9 |
| 2023 | 42W / 59L / 2D | 31W / 63L / 3D | 54.6 |
| 2022 | 61W / 108L / 16D | 77W / 100L / 11D | 67.8 |
| 2021 | 240W / 292L / 33D | 276W / 278L / 29D | 68.3 |
| 2020 | 46W / 35L / 2D | 40W / 37L / 7D | 63.2 |
| 2019 | 27W / 12L / 0D | 22W / 16L / 0D | 55.1 |
| 2018 | 22W / 26L / 3D | 30W / 22L / 2D | 45.2 |
Openings: Most Played
| Blitz Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scotch Game | 107 | 52 | 49 | 6 | 48.6% |
| Scandinavian Defense | 52 | 20 | 26 | 6 | 38.5% |
| Sicilian Defense | 51 | 32 | 14 | 5 | 62.8% |
| Four Knights Game | 47 | 17 | 28 | 2 | 36.2% |
| Caro-Kann Defense | 42 | 14 | 24 | 4 | 33.3% |
| Italian Game: Two Knights Defense | 42 | 14 | 27 | 1 | 33.3% |
| Czech Defense | 41 | 18 | 21 | 2 | 43.9% |
| Amar Gambit | 37 | 12 | 22 | 3 | 32.4% |
| Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation | 37 | 18 | 18 | 1 | 48.6% |
| Blackburne Shilling Gambit | 34 | 17 | 15 | 2 | 50.0% |
| Rapid Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scotch Game | 18 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 44.4% |
| Blackburne Shilling Gambit | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 60.0% |
| Four Knights Game | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 62.5% |
| Elephant Gambit | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 71.4% |
| Italian Game: Two Knights Defense | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 60.0% |
| Barnes Defense | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 40.0% |
| Sicilian Defense | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 25.0% |
| Amar Gambit | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0.0% |
| Amazon Attack | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 66.7% |
| Ruy Lopez: Brix Variation | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Bullet Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amar Gambit | 40 | 19 | 20 | 1 | 47.5% |
| Sicilian Defense | 30 | 23 | 7 | 0 | 76.7% |
| Scandinavian Defense | 26 | 10 | 14 | 2 | 38.5% |
| Scotch Game | 25 | 12 | 12 | 1 | 48.0% |
| Barnes Defense | 20 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 35.0% |
| French Defense | 17 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 17.6% |
| Australian Defense | 16 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 31.2% |
| Caro-Kann Defense | 15 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 33.3% |
| Bird Opening: Dutch Variation, Batavo Gambit | 15 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 33.3% |
| Czech Defense | 15 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 46.7% |
| Daily Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 30.0% |
| Barnes Defense | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Nimzo-Indian Defense: Three Knights Variation, Duchamp Variation | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Queen's Indian Defense: Buerger Variation | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
🔥 Streaks
| Streak | Longest | Current |
|---|---|---|
| Winning | 13 | 0 |
| Losing | 20 | 3 |