God save the Americans

Marco (Username: MARKAZ73) - The Chess Conqueror with a Wink

Meet Marco, a dedicated chess warrior best known online as MARKAZ73. His journey through the 64 squares is a thrilling saga of ups and downs, strategic gambits, and occasional blunders—because what’s chess without a little chaos?

Despite not yet reaching grandmaster status, Marco artfully navigates the battlegrounds of Rapid, Blitz, Bullet, and Daily chess, each with its own flair and risk. His peak rapid rating peaked at a solid 941 back in early 2022, ramping up again to splendid highs above 750 in 2024! His blitz encounters have brought him close to 640, while bullet remains a challenging arena, with a peak just over 500—slow and steady, or fast and fiddly, Marco embraces all.

Marco tends to favor openings like the King’s Pawn Opening, showing great persistence there with nearly 2,800 games and just about a 50% win rate. His secret weapon? The French Defense and the Scandinavian Defense – who said defense isn't thrilling! On a more whimsical note, his blitz games improvise a dab of success with the Van t Kruijs Opening boasting a surprising 76% win ratio. It’s like finding a secret Trump card in your grandmother’s attic.

One of should-be-government-funded statistics: Marco wins about 48% of his games with White, slightly less with Black at 45%. He’s known for pulling off comebacks in nearly 60% of the games where he was at a disadvantage—proving he’s the phoenix of the board, rising just when the apocalypse seemed inevitable.

However, like all mortals, he occasionally hits that tilt factor (rated at 11), making him somewhat human after all. His best brainpower tends to burst forth in the wee hours around 2 AM, when the world sleeps but the pawns march on.

Career Highlights & Quirky Stats

• Games played: Over 8,000 rated games across all time controls.
• Longest winning streak: A respectable 10 games, proving Marco can keep the fire burning.
• Current winning streak: Well, it’s a reset button kind of day.
• Most played opponent: gallogio77, who seems to be a recurring chess nemesis with a 20% win rate against Marco. Talk about rivalry fueling the spirit!
• Prefers rapid time controls, but can scramble under blitz and bullet deadlines where the clock is the true enemy.

Recently on the Board

Marco’s latest victory was quite the spectacle—checkmating opponent japsimransinghbajwa with a sharp finish involving the Alekhine’s Defense. Who says Classics aren’t thrilling?

1. e4 Nf6 2. Qf3 d5 3. exd5 Nxd5 4. Bc4 e6 5. Bxd5 Qxd5 6. Nc3 Qxf3 7. Nxf3 c5 8. Nb5 Na6 9. Ne5 Bd7 10. Nc3 Bd6 11. Nxd7 Kxd7 12. Nb5 Rac8 13. d3 c4 14. Nxa7 Rc7 15. Nb5 Rc5 16. a4 cxd3 17. cxd3 Rhc8 18. Nc3 Nb4 19. Ra3 Nc2+ 20. Kd2 Nxa3 21. bxa3 Rxc3 22. Kd1 Rxc1+ 23. Kd2 Rg1 24. Rxg1 Bxh2 25. Rh1 Bf4+ 26. Ke2 Rc2+ 27. Kf3 e5 28. Rxh7 Rc3 29. Ke4 Rxa3 30. Rxg7 Rxa4+ 31. Kf3 Ke7 32. g3 Bh6 33. Rh7 Bd2 34. Rh5 f6 35. Rh7+ Ke6 36. Rxb7 Kf5 37. Rb6 e4+ 38. dxe4 Rxe4 39. Rb5+ Kg6 40. Rb2 f5 41. Rxd2 Re6 42. Rd1 Rf6 43. Ke3 Kg5 44. f3 f4+ 45. gxf4 Rxf4 46. Rd5+ Rf5 47. Rd4 Kf6 48. Ke4 Ke6 49. f4 Rd5 50. Kd3 Rxd4+ 51. Kxd4 Kf5 52. Ke3 Kg4 53. Ke4 Kg3 54. f5 Kg4 55. Ke5 Kg5 56. f6 Kg6 57. Ke6 Kh7 58. f7 Kg7 59. Ke7 Kg6 60. f8=Q Kg5 61. Qg8+ Kf5 62. Qe6+ Kf4 63. Kf6 Kf3 64. Kf5 Kg3 65. Qe4 Kf2 66. Kf4 Kg1 67. Kf3 Kf1 68. Qe2+ Kg1 69. Kg3 Kh1 70. Qg2# 1-0
  

Marco may not always win, but when he does, it’s with style!

Playing Philosophy

Marco isn’t just about pawns and kings—he relishes the strategic struggle and the occasional mind-boggling sacrifice. With an average of nearly 57 moves per win, he’s no quick-draw artist. He’s more of a chess marathoner, and he prefers to keep his pieces dancing until the very endgame, occurring in over 56% of his games.

Beware: this player is not one to shy away from comebacks, boasting a strong comeback rate of nearly 60%. Just when you think the game’s done, Marco pulls a rabbit from his rook's hat.

Quick Stats

• Overall record in Rapid: 4021 wins, 4114 losses, 532 draws.
• Blitz battle count: Closely fought with 286 wins and 290 losses.
• Preferred Openings: A healthy mix of classics and cheeky defenses.
• The current nemesis? gallogio77 with a challenging 20% win rate from 34 encounters.
• Psychologically? Marco’s tilt is low but exists, at a mild 11.

So whether it’s a brainy rapid game, a whipping-speed blitz, or the adrenaline-fueled bullet games, Marco is here to show what good old passion and stamina can do on a chessboard. Just don’t get in his way when he’s on a 10-game winning streak!