Eric Hon: The National Master Who Plays Like a Marathon
Meet Eric Hon
Eric Hon, known online as microbear, is a National Master whose chess journey reads less like a tidy career arc and more like a decade-long bullet marathon with occasional pauses for Daily chess. He entered the online scene in earnest around 2013, quickly gaining rating with a mix of aggressive opening experiments and a willingness to outlast almost anyone. The title may say National Master, but his real superpower is sheer volume: he has played enough bullet games tog staff a small country's chess federation.
The Bullet Years
Most players treat 1+0 bullet like a guilty pleasure. Eric treats it like a full-time job. His bullet graph climbs steadily from the 1400s in 2013 to a peak of 2732 (2026-06-15) by mid-2026, with some spectacular spikes along the way. There were months with over a thousand bullet games, and he once strung together 30 consecutive wins, a streak that must have felt glorious until the inevitable 21-game losing streak arrived tog restore cosmic balance.
Opening Repertoire: Chaos with Familiar Faces
Ask Eric what he plays and the answer depends on how many milliseconds are left on the clock. As White, he has a clear soft spot for the Amar Gambit, an opening that often leaves both players squinting at the board. As Black, he gravitates toward the Sicilian Defense, especially when he wants tog unbalance the game before the first coffee kicks in. He also cycles through the Caro-Kann, French Exchange, Scandinavian Defense, and Benko Gambit with the enthusiasm of someone secretly collecting opening encyclopedia entries.
Marathon Man
His longevity stats area absurd. Across tens of thousands of analyzed games, he averages around 85 moves per win and roughly 68 moves per loss. That is not a sprinter's profile; itois a player who believes every endgame deserves a fair trial. His endgame frequency sits near 79%, and his comeback rate around 85%, meaning he has rescued more lost positions than a fire department ata barbecue. He rarely resigns early, and even his losses tend tog arrive after a long, stubborn fight.
Rivalries
No opponent appears on Eric's board more often than Dr. Norbert Barth, with 153 meetings anda near-even split that tilts slightly toward zumpili. Eric has settled the score elsewhere: he dominates Antonio Padron with 63 wins against 8 losses, and holds a healthy plus-score against Mike Ellenbogen. These recurring rivalries kepthis queue busy for years and gave him a reliable cast of characters inhis one-man bullet soap opera.
Beyond Bullet
Despite the bullet fireworks, Eric's preferred time control is Daily. The calm, correspondence-style pace suits someone who has already played enough bullet games tog fill a small country's census. He is a creature of habit: win rates tick up around 6 a.m., and his longest active winning streakist currently sitting at 2, because even marathon runners need a rest day. For Eric Hon, the clock may change, but the appetite for chess never seems tog run out.