Shaunn Swietzer - The Strategist with a Hint of Mystery
Meet Shaunn Swietzer, better known in the chess world by his cunning username mateinX. A player whose journey through the ranks reads like a thrilling chess novel peppered with impressive comebacks, heartfelt wins, and the occasional learning moment (because who’s perfect, right?).
Early Days and Rapid Rise
Shaunn started making his mark around 2009 with a Blitz rating that hinted at a promising future. By 2011, mateinX was cruising through Daily chess, reaching a peak rating of 1924 in early 2012 — not bad for a mortal player! His Rapid rating also soared, peaking at a sturdy 1790 in 2017. Not to mention wielding a Blitz peak just north of 1586 in 2011, proving versatility across time controls is his forte.
Playing Style: The Calculated Fighter
Shaunn's style is a fascinating blend of resilience and patience. Boasting a comeback rate of over 77% and a tendency to battle hard even after losing a piece, he’s clearly not one to fold early. Expect long games with an average of about 61 moves per win. Also notable is his psychological strength — although a tilt factor of 7 suggests some frustration creeps in, he bounces back with lessons learned.
Opening Choices: From Secret Weapons to Polish Precision
If you ever face Shaunn, beware the Top Secret opening - a mysterious blend that's brought a cool 60% win rate over 165 games. When feeling confident, he switches gears to the Polish Opening, where he enjoys a flawless 100% win streak over 16 games. He also dips toes into solid defenses and variations like the Scandinavian Defense Bronstein Variation (where the win rate is humbling at 25%, but hey, challenge accepted), and the Bird’s Opening Dutch Variation, rocking a respectable 75% success.
Trendsetter of Time
While Shaunn plays all day, the magic hours are clear: early afternoon to noon is when the chess gods favor him most — he boasts a win rate above 80% around 11-12 noon! Move over coffee, Shaunn’s brain wakes fastest when the clock strikes midday.
Victories and Defeats - A Balanced Tale
With over 275 wins in Daily chess alone, Shaunn has experienced the sweet taste of victory more often than not — though a few losses and draws add character to his chess saga. In Blitz, he's battled through more than 2000 games, forging an almost even split in wins and losses, highlighting the fast-paced thrills and spills he thrives on.
Highlight Reel:
- Longest winning streak: 12 games, proving he can ride a hot streak with style.
- Psychological resilience: a stellar 77% comeback rate from losing positions.
- Prefers to finish games decisively: checkmates lead over timeouts or resignations!
Recent Battle
One memorable win came with a neat little move order starting with 1. b3 Bb2, showcasing his strategic flair in Daily chess against GiselleStar. His grit wasn’t without setback, though; a tough loss in Chess960 against Eggie366 reminds us even the best have off days.
Shaunn "mateinX" Swietzer continues to challenge the chessboards and opponents around the globe — a player to watch, a rival to respect, and definitely one to avoid underestimating.
Hi Shaunn, here’s a tailored review of your recent play
Your current strengths
- Creative openings. Lines like the Nimzo-Larsen (1 b3) and Bird’s (1 f4) often take opponents out of book early and you score well when they react inaccurately.
- Pressure with the g- and h-pawns. In your win against jplayschess101 you used
h4–h5followed by …f4/g4to rip open the kingside—great feel for initiative. - Practical tactics. The …Qf7# combination in your daily win showed good calculation and pattern recognition.
Key areas to improve
-
Time management. Three of the last five losses were on the clock rather than the board.
- Adopt a simple “spend 30 s before move 10” rule in rapid games.
- Use the opening phase to stay ahead on time by relying on a tighter repertoire.
-
Opening efficiency. Early pawn moves such as
h3anda3often appear before development is complete (e.g. loss vs jplayschess101 in the French). Each such move costs a tempo.- When playing 1 e4, study the mainlines of the Caro-Kann (Classical 4…Bf5) so you can skip sideline experiments like 3 Qf3.
- If you enjoy 1 b3/1 f4, create a model game file of 5–6 GM examples and replay them weekly.
-
Piece safety & tactics. Several defeats featured unprotected pieces (e.g. 13…Nxe4 winning a central pawn in the Caro-Kann).
- After every opponent move, ask “what changed? what’s hanging?”
- Daily 5-minute tactic drills focusing on forks and intermediate moves (zwischenzug) will pay quick dividends.
-
End-game conversion. Your win with …
g3showed you can finish, but some promising positions fizzle out when minor pieces remain passive.- Practice
R+PvsRand basic opposite-colored bishop endings 10-15 min per week.
- Practice
Action plan for the next month
- Play three 30 + 10 rapid games each week; annotate one of them yourself before checking with an engine.
- Complete 50 puzzles/week on themes you blundered (forks & hanging pieces).
- Build a core opening file: Caro-Kann (as White) + Classical Scandinavian (as Black) with no more than 10 moves of prep each.
- Review this feedback again after 30 days and update goals.
Quick stats & visuals
Your peak rapid rating: 1790 (2017-02-09)
When do you win most?
Which days are streaky?
Keep it up!
You already demonstrate tactical awareness and fighting spirit. By tightening the opening moves and managing your clock better, 1600+ is within reach soon. Good luck, and enjoy the climb!
🆚 Opponent Insights
| Most Played Opponents | ||
|---|---|---|
| sdcapatrick | 56W / 8L / 1D | |
| eggie366 | 36W / 6L / 5D | |
| Ming Lu | 31W / 10L / 4D | |
| vonkater | 15W / 10L / 1D | |
| jplayschess101 | 9W / 9L / 0D | |
Rating
| Year | Bullet | Blitz | Rapid | Daily |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1216 | 1482 | 1520 | |
| 2020 | 1649 | |||
| 2019 | 1323 | 1706 | ||
| 2018 | 1390 | 1618 | ||
| 2017 | 1380 | 1790 | 1629 | |
| 2016 | 1398 | 1720 | ||
| 2015 | 1307 | 1784 | 1641 | |
| 2014 | 1317 | 1691 | ||
| 2013 | 1335 | 1792 | ||
| 2012 | 1395 | 1866 | ||
| 2011 | 1462 | 1578 | 1873 | |
| 2010 | 1408 | 1426 | ||
| 2009 | 1372 |
Stats by Year
| Year | White | Black | Moves |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 4W / 4L / 0D | 1W / 7L / 0D | 52.2 |
| 2020 | 1W / 6L / 0D | 6W / 8L / 0D | 35.8 |
| 2019 | 7W / 4L / 0D | 10W / 2L / 1D | 52.5 |
| 2018 | 11W / 6L / 1D | 11W / 7L / 1D | 57.4 |
| 2017 | 29W / 20L / 1D | 18W / 23L / 4D | 54.1 |
| 2016 | 77W / 39L / 7D | 78W / 42L / 6D | 63.1 |
| 2015 | 91W / 98L / 11D | 101W / 96L / 20D | 65.4 |
| 2014 | 62W / 50L / 6D | 56W / 59L / 7D | 60.0 |
| 2013 | 77W / 64L / 13D | 79W / 67L / 8D | 63.7 |
| 2012 | 142W / 128L / 8D | 130W / 123L / 16D | 66.8 |
| 2011 | 111W / 68L / 7D | 100W / 86L / 8D | 64.3 |
| 2010 | 21W / 12L / 1D | 15W / 19L / 3D | 68.1 |
| 2009 | 28W / 16L / 0D | 26W / 20L / 3D | 59.5 |
Openings: Most Played
| Daily Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amar Gambit | 79 | 60 | 18 | 1 | 76.0% |
| Scandinavian Defense | 37 | 19 | 14 | 4 | 51.4% |
| Bird Opening | 23 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 60.9% |
| Barnes Defense | 20 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 80.0% |
| Australian Defense | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 44.4% |
| Amazon Attack | 17 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 58.8% |
| Benoni Defense: Benoni Gambit Accepted | 17 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 70.6% |
| Bird Opening: Dutch Variation | 15 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 73.3% |
| Nimzo-Larsen Attack | 15 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 60.0% |
| French Defense | 15 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 26.7% |
| Rapid Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amar Gambit | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 66.7% |
| Scandinavian Defense | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 50.0% |
| French Defense | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 66.7% |
| Caro-Kann Defense | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.0% |
| Amazon Attack | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| French Defense: Exchange Variation | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Nimzo-Larsen Attack | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Australian Defense | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Caro-Kann Defense: Exchange Variation | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Barnes Defense | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Blitz Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scandinavian Defense | 646 | 296 | 314 | 36 | 45.8% |
| Scotch Game | 162 | 93 | 65 | 4 | 57.4% |
| Sicilian Defense | 95 | 51 | 40 | 4 | 53.7% |
| Bird Opening: Dutch Variation | 95 | 45 | 43 | 7 | 47.4% |
| French Defense | 88 | 43 | 42 | 3 | 48.9% |
| Philidor Defense | 85 | 45 | 38 | 2 | 52.9% |
| Benoni Defense: Benoni Gambit Accepted | 83 | 41 | 36 | 6 | 49.4% |
| Dutch Defense | 82 | 39 | 40 | 3 | 47.6% |
| Bird Opening | 82 | 46 | 36 | 0 | 56.1% |
| Sicilian Defense: Closed | 73 | 34 | 34 | 5 | 46.6% |
🔥 Streaks
| Streak | Longest | Current |
|---|---|---|
| Winning | 12 | 0 |
| Losing | 7 | 1 |