Mika Karttunen
Mika Karttunen is an International Master, a streamer, and one of the most prolific blitz players on the platform. Under the username MikaKarttunen, he has built a towering career out of lightning-fast time controls, an almost religious devotion to 1.e4, and a genuinely absurd ability to bounce back from disaster.
A Blitz Machine
Make no mistake, MikaKarttunen lives in the blitz pool. His rating history shows a player who started modestly and then simply refused to stop improving, climbing all the way to a peak blitz rating of 2865 (2026-05-19). At his best he has rattled off 21 straight wins, and even his longest losing streak, a painful 13 game slide, only seemed to make him hungrier. The graph below tells the story of a late bloomer who turned volume into velocity.
Opening Repertoire: All Roads Lead to e4
When MikaKarttunen has the White pieces, he almost always reaches for 1.e4. He has faced the Caro-Kann Defense more than 600 times and scores a healthy 58.7 percent, while the Sicilian Defense takes up an enormous share of his board life. As Black, he is a devoted student of the Najdorf Variation, playing it hundreds of times and trusting its sharp lines even under severe clock pressure. Add the Alekhine Defense and the Queen's Gambit Declined Ragozin to the mix, and you get the portrait of a player who wants the fight, not the handshake.
Rivalries and Rematches
MikaKarttunen never dodges a repeat. His most frequent rival is Vjacheslav Weetik, who has taken the lead in their 56 game marathon with 28 wins against 21, a series that feels like a personal soap opera. Against Nebojsa Djordjevic, the story flips, with MikaKarttunen holding a commanding 30 to 18 edge. These long running feuds show a player who would rather battle the same tough opponent 50 times than farm easy points.
The Art of the Grind
Despite the chaotic pace of blitz, MikaKarttunen plays deep, grinding games. His endgame frequency is extremely high, his decisive games routinely stretch past 80 moves, and his comeback rate sits at a ridiculous 88.87 percent. Even after losing a piece, he still wins more than half of the time, which makes closing him out a genuinely stressful experience for opponents. His White win rate of 57.2 percent and Black win rate of 53.2 percent show a player who is dangerous from both colors. According to the data, his best time to play is 03:00, when the rest of the world is asleep and the rating points are defenseless.
Why He Matters
MikaKarttunen is more than a rating number. He is proof that in online chess, consistency and resilience can turn an International Master into a true blitz phenomenon. Whether he is streaming for an audience or grinding quietly at three in the morning, this is a player who always comes back for one more game.