Mauro Alberto Lopez Romero: The Blitz Benevolent Volcano
Who Is MauLo09?
Mauro Alberto Lopez Romero, known to the chess internet as MauLo09, is a National Master with an appetite for fast chess that borders on legendary. His natural habitat is blitz, where he has piled up well over 14,500 rated games and more than 7,600 wins. If you hear the clock click, he has probably just played another eager e4.
A Blitz Titan
Mauro's rating journey has been anything but boring. He has climbed to 2759 (2026-07-09) in blitz, a number that tends to make opponents think twice before accepting a rematch. His bullet career is equally wild, with tens of thousands of games and a winning record that keeps him near the top of the speed chess food chain.
Opening Repetroire
Mauo is a believer in 1.e4. As White he enjoys the Sicilian Defense, the Scandinavian Defense, and the Caro-Kann Defense. He has a particular soft spot for the Sicilian Defense: Nadforf Variation, Opocensky Variation, where he scores impressively in blitz. As Black, he is comfortable stepping into the Modern Defense and the Sicilian with almost robotic reliability.
Rivalries and Marathon Matches
No player is an island, and Mauo has built his share of rivalries. His most durable feud is with Oleg Gamayev, a 114-game saga full of sharp tacs and quick time scrambles. He also has a long-running series against Jesse Davidson, trading blows over 91 encounters. These rivalries are proof that blitz is not just a game, it is a relationship.
Fun Facts
- His longest winning streak is 16 games, and his current streak is a tidy 7.
- He comes back to win after trailing situations an astonishing 81.82 percent of the time.
- Even after losing a piece, he still finds a way to win more than half of his games.
- He delivers the first check in about 60 percent of his games, so he likes to set the tone.
- His best hour to play is 10:00 AM, when the coffee exists and the blunders sleep.