Milovan Ratkovic: The Blitz Amazon of the Online Board
From Grandmaster Norms to Midnight Marathons
GM Milovan Ratkovic, who plays online as milovanratkovic, is not your average titled grandmaster. On the digital board he is a relentless blitz warrior, a loyal 1.d4 soldier, and a man who has decided that 3:00 a.m. is the optimal hour to find a game. His online chess life reads like a spreadsheet that drank too much espresso: a blitz peak of 2769 (2019-02-04), a bullet peak of 2788 (2024-12-10), and a longest winning streak of 25 straight games.
Preferred time control? Blitz, and it is not even close. His blitz archive alone includes more than 10,000 games, with wins and losses piled up across a decade of late night battles. If the clock has increment, Milovan probably has an opinion about it.
Opening Lab: All Roads Lead to the Amazon
Ask Milovan what he plays with white and the answer is usually 1.d4, followed by whatever chaos the position allows. His most faithful companion is the Amazon Attack: Siberian Attack, a sharp and unusual line he has wheeled out nearly a thousand times in blitz. Opponents who try the Sicilian Defense or a surprise Nimzo-Larsen Attack quickly learn that Milovan would rather outcompute you than outbook you.
As black, he has built a fortress around the Caro-Kann Defense, playing it hundreds of times and defending its many variations with the stubbornness of someone who enjoys long endgames. The result is a repertoire that favors the middlegame and punishes players who want a quiet life.
A Marathon Man with a Comeback Gene
Milovan's games are seldom sprints. His average win stretches nearly 80 moves, and his endgame frequency sits above 85 percent, meaning he will happily grind until the last pawn is a memory. His comeback rate, near 89 percent, means losing a piece is not losing the game. When he lands the first check, his win rate jumps to roughly 55 percent, and his opponents tend to notice.
White is his slightly stronger side, with a 51 percent win rate compared to 47 percent with black. Combined with a 25 game winning streak and a 15 game losing streak, Milovan's profile is a rollercoaster in the best possible way.
Foes, Frenemies, and a Debt to stollenmonster
No rival has faced Milovan more often than Egor Baskakov, who has shown up 67 times and walked away with 49 wins. We are not calling it a rivalry, we are calling it a tax. On the friendlier side of the scoreboard, Ralf Steinbrecht has supplied Milovan with 43 wins in 64 meetings, which is the kind of statistical comfort every competitive player dreams about.
Beyond those two, his match history is full of familiar online regulars and rotating challengers. At 3 a.m., when the pool is quiet and the coffee is strong, Milovan is usually there, checking his pieces and looking for the next Amazonian adventure.
Curious Habits and Spreadsheet Oddities
- His best time of day to play, according to the data, is 03:00. Whether that is productivity or insomnia remains unclear.
- He delivers the first check in 54.5 percent of his games. Offense is his favorite defense.
- His longest losing streak hit 15 games. Even Amazonians have rainy seasons.
- His peak blitz rating 2769 (2019-02-04) and peak bullet rating 2788 (2024-12-10) prove that speed chess is not a casual hobby for him. It is a lifestyle.
- He will happily play deep into the endgame, with average decisive games lasting around 80 moves. Patience, it turns out, is also a tactical weapon.