Maria Jose Ramirez Gonzalez (MerryRam) - Woman FIDE Master
Meet Maria Jose Ramirez Gonzalez, affectionately known in the chess world as MerryRam. A proud holder of the Woman FIDE Master title, Maria Jose is the kind of player who doesn’t just move pieces—she orchestrates symphonies on the chessboard.
Rating Journey & Playing Style
Starting her competitive blitz journey with a modest rating in the low 1200s back in 2012, Maria Jose has demonstrated relentless determination and growth, surging past the 2000 mark by 2025! At her peak, she achieved a formidable Blitz rating of 2044, a Rapid rating of 1935, and an impressive Bullet rating peaking at 1862. While her Daily rating stakes remain modest, it’s in the faster formats where her tactical genius truly shines.
Her playing style is a mix of resilience and patience with a keen eye for the endgame—she plays roughly 63 moves per win on average, calmly pushing advantages and snatching opportunities. Despite a tilt factor of 11 (chess can be emotionally messy, even for titlists!), her comeback rate is a stellar 83.55%, proving she’s never out until the final move.
Opening Repertoire & Quirks
Dominating mostly with the Unknown Opening (which is chess-speak for "my secret weapon"), Maria Jose’s strongest known opening is the King's Indian Defense Alekhine Anti-Grunfeld Neo-Grunfeld Defense Goglidze Attack — yes, it’s a mouthful, but she’s got a perfect 100% win record in the rare games she’s played it! The Ruy Lopez Opening Fianchetto Defense is another personal favorite boasting a flawless record.
Interestingly, her win rates fluctuate by time-of-day, with early mornings around 2 AM being her golden hour — a perfect time for deep, devious maneuvers when the world is asleep. Conversely, afternoons and sharp morning hours seem a little more challenging, but every grandmaster has their quirks!
Match Records & Rivalries
Maria Jose’s blitz record proudly sports 395 wins against 346 losses with 18 draws, showing sheer grit on the fast-paced battlefield. Her bullet realm is nearly as fierce, with an almost even number of wins and losses, proving she thrives even when the clock is merciless.
She’s faced opponents from all corners, including some she’s crushed repeatedly with flawless 100% win rates (take that, chessnagar and ethanguy!), and others who’ve had her number, keeping her forever humble and hungry for improvement.
Highlight Reel
One of Maria Jose’s most recent victories was a dazzling display of the King's Indian Defense Alekhine Anti-Grunfeld Neo-Grunfeld Goglidze Attack where she forced her opponent to concede by resignation after 44 moves of calculated pressure—truly a masterclass in strategic play and psychological warfare.
Fun Facts
- Often dubbed the “Midnight Maestro” for her peak performance at odd hours.
- She has a surprisingly low Early Resignation Rate of 4.64%, meaning she fights till the very end.
- Her tactics after losing a piece are almost 50% effective, showing calm under fire.
- MerryRam’s longest winning streak is an impressive 12 games — who says titlists don’t have hot streaks?
Maria Jose Ramirez Gonzalez is chess with a dash of tenacity, a sprinkle of genius, and a hint of midnight mojo. Keep an eye out—this Woman FIDE Master might just be plotting her next dazzling combination while the rest of us dream.
Feedback for Maria Jose Ramirez Gonzalez
First off, congratulations on your recent games and the steady improvement you've been showing! Here's some constructive feedback based on your recent performance:
Strengths
- Opening Preparation: You handle the King's Indian Defense and related openings confidently, with active and thematic moves such as 3.f3 and 7.Be3 establishing a solid pawn center. Your choice to play aggressive pawn breaks like g4 and h4 in the Kingside attack shows good understanding of attacking plans.
- Tactical Awareness: You demonstrated sharp calculation and piece activity, especially in your recent wins where you combined piece pressure effectively (e.g., the sequence involving Nxg7 and Qh6+). Your ability to exploit weak squares and deliver forcing moves stands out.
- Endgame Technique: In several wins, you smoothly transitioned into advantageous endgames and converted material edges without hesitation. Combining piece activity with pawn pushes (like your rook maneuvers on open files) highlights solid technique.
Areas to Improve
- Time Management: In some games, critical moves were made under significant time pressure, such as with less than 20 seconds left on your clock in complex positions. Improving how you allocate your time, especially in the middlegame, will help avoid rushed decisions.
- Handling Counterattacks: In your losses, opponents managed to generate counterplay by exploiting your pawn advances on the flank (for example, your queenside expansion in some Sicilian-ish lines). Be mindful of weakening squares behind aggressive pawn pushes, and consider bolstering your defense before overextending.
- Positional Awareness: Occasionally, subtle positional weaknesses such as backward pawns or weak dark squares emerged after exchanges (like in your losses against strong positional players). Working on recognizing these positional elements early can prevent your opponent from grabbing long-term initiative.
Recommendations
- Continue refining your opening repertoire, focusing on the follow-up plans and typical pawn structures in your chosen systems. Study model games in your preferred openings, including defensive ideas against common counters.
- Practice time scrambles and consider using increment wisely to manage complicated positions comfortably.
- Spend more time analyzing your lost games to detect recurring motifs in your opponent’s strategy that give them leverage.
- Try positional training exercises—such as evaluating imbalances and learning key strategic concepts—to improve your overall board understanding.
Keep up the good work, Maria Jose! Your attitude and progress are impressive, and with focused training on these areas, your playing strength will continue to rise.
🆚 Opponent Insights
| Most Played Opponents | ||
|---|---|---|
| heimmc | 15W / 3L / 0D | |
| guidodarezzo | 4W / 3L / 0D | |
| gumurill | 2W / 4L / 1D | |
| landlordxxxx | 5W / 1L / 0D | |
| tigergutt | 0W / 5L / 0D | |
Rating
| Year | Bullet | Blitz | Rapid | Daily |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1626 | 2032 | 1935 | |
| 2024 | 1935 | |||
| 2023 | 1673 | 1832 | ||
| 2022 | 1661 | |||
| 2021 | 1594 | 1641 | 1832 | |
| 2020 | 1694 | 1724 | 1804 | |
| 2017 | 944 | 1632 | ||
| 2015 | 1141 | 1409 | ||
| 2014 | 1284 | 1434 | ||
| 2013 | 1327 | 1477 | ||
| 2012 | 1243 | 1461 | 1161 | 1200 |
Stats by Year
| Year | White | Black | Moves |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 19W / 25L / 4D | 23W / 26L / 0D | 75.3 |
| 2024 | 0W / 0L / 0D | 1W / 0L / 0D | 52.0 |
| 2023 | 1W / 0L / 1D | 0W / 0L / 0D | 135.5 |
| 2022 | 1W / 0L / 0D | 0W / 0L / 0D | 109.0 |
| 2021 | 10W / 10L / 1D | 8W / 13L / 0D | 60.0 |
| 2020 | 107W / 96L / 8D | 94W / 110L / 8D | 66.5 |
| 2017 | 53W / 29L / 4D | 47W / 34L / 2D | 61.9 |
| 2015 | 10W / 2L / 1D | 5W / 12L / 0D | 61.9 |
| 2014 | 2W / 5L / 0D | 5W / 2L / 0D | 63.1 |
| 2013 | 14W / 14L / 1D | 12W / 18L / 0D | 58.5 |
| 2012 | 127W / 79L / 3D | 90W / 115L / 4D | 65.0 |
Openings: Most Played
| Rapid Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Italian Game: Two Knights Defense | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 33.3% |
| Amazon Attack: Siberian Attack | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 33.3% |
| London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.0% |
| Rapport-Jobava System | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.0% |
| Ruy Lopez | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.0% |
| Four Knights Game | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| QGA: 3.Nf3 Bg4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Barnes Opening: Walkerling | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| French Defense: Alekhine-Chatard Attack | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Bullet Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Attack | 36 | 15 | 19 | 2 | 41.7% |
| Australian Defense | 35 | 19 | 15 | 1 | 54.3% |
| London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation | 31 | 12 | 19 | 0 | 38.7% |
| Amazon Attack: Siberian Attack | 28 | 16 | 11 | 1 | 57.1% |
| Italian Game: Two Knights Defense | 18 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 44.4% |
| Scotch Game | 17 | 4 | 13 | 0 | 23.5% |
| Benoni Defense: Benoni Gambit Accepted | 15 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 60.0% |
| Ruy Lopez | 13 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 46.1% |
| East Indian Defense | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 66.7% |
| Slav Defense | 11 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 18.2% |
| Blitz Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation | 80 | 51 | 29 | 0 | 63.8% |
| Australian Defense | 36 | 19 | 16 | 1 | 52.8% |
| Colle: 3...e6 4.Bd3 c5 | 32 | 21 | 10 | 1 | 65.6% |
| Amazon Attack | 30 | 14 | 15 | 1 | 46.7% |
| Italian Game: Two Knights Defense | 25 | 13 | 12 | 0 | 52.0% |
| Scandinavian Defense | 24 | 11 | 12 | 1 | 45.8% |
| Scotch Game | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 50.0% |
| Colle: 3...Bf5, Alekhine Variation | 22 | 8 | 13 | 1 | 36.4% |
| Amazon Attack: Siberian Attack | 20 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 50.0% |
| Barnes Defense | 17 | 3 | 13 | 1 | 17.6% |
| Daily Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Opening: Agincourt Defense | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
🔥 Streaks
| Streak | Longest | Current |
|---|---|---|
| Winning | 12 | 0 |
| Losing | 11 | 2 |