Mike Sailer: National Master and Online Chess Warrior
Mike Sailer, known online as MikeSailer, is a National Master with a serious appetite for online battle. With tens of thousands of rated games across bullet, blitz, rapid, and daily chess, his true home is the blitz lobby, where he has ground out an impressive career one quick move at a time. He reached a blitz peak of 2325 (2022-10-05) and a bullet peak of 2372 (2022-12-11), proof that his fast hands match his fast mind.
Style and Stamina
Mike is an endgame grinder with a touch of chaos. His decisive games average around 75 moves, which is remarkably deep for online play, and he wins 52.74% of his games with the white pieces. Even after losing a piece, he still finds a way to win 47.57% of the time, and his comeback rate sits at a stunning 82.42%. He wins by timeout almost as often as by checkmate, which suggests he enjoys watching the clock run out while his opponent is lost.
He has a habit of playing on forever, but he also knows how to suffer. His longest winning streak reached 26 games, and his longest losing streak stretched to 24, so he is equally familiar with glory and punishment. His tilt factor of 24 is high, but his best hours come at 3 a.m., when the queue is quiet and the pieces whisper.
Rivals and Repeated Battles
No chess career is complete without recurring rivals, and Mike has a few. He has faced gmcanty 513 times, a marathon rivalry that leans heavily toward gmcanty, who holds 439 wins against Mike's 58. Mike has also traded blows with GM Ben Finegold, playing Ben Finegold 98 times and managing to take four wins off the famously talkative grandmaster. Against gmcanty, James Canty remains the boss, but Mike keeps coming back for more.
Repertoire and Openings
Mike's opening taste is both loyal and eccentric. He has played the Scandinavian Defense thousands of times, and he is one of the great champions of the Amar Gambit, a tricky line that catches many opponents off guard. In rapid play, he scores a blistering 64.42% with the Scandinavian and 72.6% with the Amazon Attack. A typical Mike Sailer game might start with
, and from there he is ready to outlast almost anyone.Fun Facts and Longevity
- Most played opponent: gmcanty, with 513 games
- Longest winning streak: 26 games
- Longest losing streak: 24 games
- Comeback rate after falling behind: 82.42%
- Rapid record: 1,257 wins against only 432 losses
Mike's rating journey has been a long and winding road, with steady climbs, spectacular spikes, and the occasional cliff dive.
tells the story of a player who never stops playing and never stops believing the next game is the one where everything clicks.