Mark DeDona: The Bullet-First National Master
Overview
Mark DeDona, known online as Marks1420, is a National Master whose chess story is written at bullet speed. He can handle slower games, but the numbers make his home clear: Bullet is where he has played thousands of battles and pushed his rating to a towering peak. His rating graph shows a steady climb from the low 2000s to a peak above 2700.
In more than 13,500 tracked games, Mark has collected over 7,200 wins while keeping a winning record in every time control. He is the kind of player who treats a one-minute game like a duel and a rapid game like a chance to breathe.
A Bullet-First Style
Mark's preferred time control is Bullet, and he plays with a fast, practical, hard-to-swat style. His White win rate sits at 55.6%, and even with Black he posts a positive 50.9% score. He reaches the endgame often and remains dangerous late into the game.
- Longest winning streak: 23 consecutive wins
- Comeback rate: 88.5%
- Best hour of day to play: 8am, when the coffee is still doing its work
Opening Repertoire
Mark is a devoted 1.e4 player. As White he regularly steers into closed Sicilian Defense structures, grinds against the Caro-Kann Defense, and enjoys the sharp Vienna Gambit. As Black he often reaches for the French Defense and keeps things loose with practical setups like the Australian Defense and Amar Gambit.
His opening explorer shows strong results across formats, including 71.6% scoring with the Sicilian family in Rapid.
Rivalries and Resilience
No opponent has seen more of Mark than BuffyBear. They have clashed 294 times, with Mark taking 165 wins. He also owns a staggeringly clean score against pmasterchess7, with 57 wins, 16 draws, and zero losses in 73 meetings.
Mark is hard to put away. When he falls behind, he comes back 88.5% of the time, and he once ran off 23 wins in a row. His longest losing streak is 11, which means he is human after all, or at least that he plays enough games for any streak to happen.
Although Bullet is his main stage, Mark also holds strong winning records in Blitz, Rapid, and Daily chess. His National Master title reflects a real foundation in the game, even if the scoreboard sometimes resembles a video game high score.