Avatar of Nataliya Buksa

Nataliya Buksa IM

Username: Natalya_Buksa

Location: Львів

Playing Since: 2015-07-28 (Active)

Wow Factor: ♟♟♟♟♟

Chess.com

Rapid: 2254
25W / 25L / 17D
Blitz: 2654
1233W / 1034L / 248D
Bullet: 2574
83W / 62L / 20D

Nataliya Buksa - International Master of Chess

Nataliya Buksa is a fierce chess competitor whose skills have earned her the prestigious title of International Master from FIDE. Known on the virtual battlefield as Natalya_Buksa, she has captivated the chess world with an intriguing blend of tactical precision, resilience, and a dash of psychological warfare.

Playing Style & Strengths

With an average of 84 moves per win, Nataliya's games tend to be battles of endurance, not quick skirmishes—though she can certainly strike fast when needed. Her extremely low early resignation rate (0.98%) combined with a come back rate of 94.6% and a flawless win rate after losing a piece (100%) prove she's the kind of player who never throws in the towel without a fight. You might say she's the chess equivalent of the last kid standing at a dodgeball game.

Rating & Performance

Over the years, Nataliya's Blitz ratings soared, peaking impressively at over 2600 points in 2022 and 2024—a number that would make most grandmasters sit up and take notice. Her dominance is equally noticeable in Bullet chess, where her peak rating reached 2648, showing lightning-fast instincts and execution.

While Rapid hasn't been her absolute strongest suit, Nataliya still maintains sturdy performance with a respectable top rating above 2200. Whether it’s Rapid, Blitz, or Bullet, Nataliya keeps her win rates buoyed around or above the 50% mark, holding her own against tough competition.

Psychological & Tactical Prowess

Equipped with a tilt factor of 8 (which in chess terms might mean she occasionally gets slightly bothered by bad luck—but we all do!), Nataliya transforms challenges on the board into creative solutions, often salvaging games others would have long abandoned. Her resilience shines especially when she loses material but turns it into victories.

Known Rivals & Memorable Opponents

Nataliya has sparred against numerous opponents with varying results — some proving to be worthy adversaries and others falling victim to her keen intuition and strategic prowess. Her best win percentages border the perfect score against many players (like a clean sweep of 100% wins against several!), proving she's not just playing chess, she’s putting on a chess clinic.

Fun Fact

Whether it's playing at the crack of dawn (5 AM win rate: 100%) or battling through the evening hours (with a stellar 50.98% victory rate at 21:00), Nataliya's passion for chess clearly knows no time zone. If you ever find yourself playing her late on a Friday night, be prepared: her winning streak can be as unpredictable as a blitz game.

In summary, Nataliya Buksa is the kind of player who doesn’t just move pieces on the board—she tells a story with every game. A chess warrior armed with stamina, resilience, and a killer instinct, Natalya_Buksa's games should always be on your watchlist, whether you like to study brilliant endgames or just enjoy a great comeback saga.


Coach's Avatar

Hi Nataliya, great job on your recent streak!

Your current form at a glance

  • Peak Blitz rating: 2673 (2025-03-29)
  • Most active hours  
    57891011121314151617181920212223100%0%Hour of Day
  • Weekly consistency  
    MonTueWedThuFriSatSun100%0%Day of Week

What you’re already doing well

  1. Fast piece activity in Chess960. You regularly hit the centre quickly and coordinate rooks after castling. Good examples: wins vs. Kalyani Sirin and Eyal Noy.
  2. Practical time handling. Even with 180 + 1 you keep ~20-30 s in reserve for tactical complications, which paid off in your 56-move grind against SayonaraPonytail.
  3. Pressure with pawn wedges. The thematic …h5/h4 push netted space and created mating nets (game vs. BillCoe).

Key improvement themes

1. Early-game risk management

  • Loss to Eytan Rozen ended on move 4 after Qa3-xf8. Before pushing a wing pawn (…a5) or fianchettoing, run a quick “loose piece & loose square” scan.
  • Tip: add the “blunder check” step to your move routine—ask “what changed?” after every candidate.

2. King safety once the queens stay on

  • Games against Safin_Safar and Gareth-Bale11 show attacks crashing through dark squares. Castling itself is not enough in Chess960; follow up with minor-piece defenders and consider prophylactic pawn moves (g3, h3, f3) only when they don’t weaken adjacent squares.
  • Study classic patterns like weak-back-rank and exchange-sacrifice to decide when to “give the king luft” vs. keep the structure intact.

3. Conversion in favourable endgames

  • You outplayed SayonaraPonytail but needed 25 more moves than necessary. When material up, trade only the opponent’s active pieces first, then simplify.
  • Drill technical rook endings (Lucena, Philidor) 10 min/day; they occur frequently in 180 + 1.

4. Tactical sharpness under 15 s

  • Several lost positions (e.g. final sequence vs. Safin_Safar) were still drawable but time pressure led to missed perpetuals. Add “bullet-calculation” sprints: 3-minute puzzles with 20-second limit.

Action plan for the next week

  1. Play 10 training games with focus on no unforced pawn moves before move 6.
  2. Solve 50 mixed tactics featuring discovered attacks and queen forks.
  3. Analyse every loss for one critical decision; annotate with candidate-moves.
  4. Review the first 12 moves of five elite Chess960 games; copy their development schemes.

Keep up the fighting spirit, Nataliya—sharpen these few areas and your next rating jump is around the corner!



🆚 Opponent Insights

Recent Opponents
Dobre Claudiu Cristian 2W / 0L / 0D
Arman Mikaelyan 2W / 2L / 1D
Hikaru Nakamura 0W / 2L / 0D
Viktor Parfenov 2W / 0L / 0D
chesniu 1W / 1L / 1D
gedizov 0W / 1L / 0D
granatomet552 0W / 1L / 0D
liusia 2W / 1L / 0D
weshallwin 2W / 0L / 0D
Witold Klepek 2W / 0L / 0D
Most Played Opponents
Mohamed Anis Achour 12W / 12L / 6D
Anastasia Bodnaruk 9W / 7L / 1D
Vjacheslav Weetik 4W / 6L / 3D
Тисевич Роман 2W / 9L / 2D
Yuliia Osmak 4W / 8L / 0D

Rating

Year Bullet Blitz Rapid Daily
2025 2317 2254
2024 2594
2023 2574 2538 2267
2022 2535
2021 2518 2558 2181
2020 2423 2544 2125
2019 2460 2045
2017 1196
2015 1156 1602
Rating by Year20152017201920202021202220232024202525941156YearRatingBulletBlitzRapid

Stats by Year

Year White Black Moves
2025 183W / 154L / 25D 157W / 178L / 29D 88.0
2024 16W / 10L / 2D 12W / 14L / 0D 96.6
2023 30W / 24L / 8D 20W / 31L / 11D 105.7
2022 18W / 13L / 5D 21W / 13L / 4D 102.5
2021 153W / 101L / 37D 133W / 117L / 41D 93.5
2020 332W / 233L / 66D 287W / 280L / 73D 93.5
2019 93W / 70L / 11D 84W / 77L / 11D 79.8
2017 0W / 2L / 0D 1W / 0L / 0D 94.7
2015 2W / 0L / 1D 0W / 1L / 2D 91.3

Openings: Most Played

Blitz Opening Games Wins Losses Draws Win Rate
Amazon Attack 407 214 152 41 52.6%
Amazon Attack: Siberian Attack 128 71 46 11 55.5%
Sicilian Defense: Four Knights Variation, Cobra Variation 117 56 51 10 47.9%
Sicilian Defense: Nyezhmetdinov-Rossolimo Attack, Fianchetto Variation 115 57 47 11 49.6%
English Opening: Agincourt Defense 106 42 52 12 39.6%
Sicilian Defense: Closed 100 32 58 10 32.0%
Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation 92 40 40 12 43.5%
Amar Gambit 86 39 40 7 45.4%
Sicilian Defense 73 40 27 6 54.8%
QGD: 4.Nf3 63 29 25 9 46.0%
Rapid Opening Games Wins Losses Draws Win Rate
Amazon Attack 18 6 9 3 33.3%
Amar Gambit 11 3 8 0 27.3%
Sicilian Defense: Nyezhmetdinov-Rossolimo Attack, Fianchetto Variation 8 3 4 1 37.5%
Sicilian Defense 7 2 4 1 28.6%
Barnes Defense 5 1 4 0 20.0%
English Opening: Agincourt Defense 4 1 2 1 25.0%
Ruy Lopez: Schliemann Defense 4 1 0 3 25.0%
QGD: 4.Nf3 3 1 2 0 33.3%
Amazon Attack: Siberian Attack 3 3 0 0 100.0%
Blackburne Shilling Gambit 3 0 1 2 0.0%
Bullet Opening Games Wins Losses Draws Win Rate
Amazon Attack 34 22 9 3 64.7%
Amazon Attack: Siberian Attack 13 6 6 1 46.1%
Modern 9 3 5 1 33.3%
Czech Defense 9 6 2 1 66.7%
Sicilian Defense 7 6 1 0 85.7%
Sicilian Defense: Closed 7 4 3 0 57.1%
English Opening: Agincourt Defense 7 1 5 1 14.3%
Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon 6 3 2 1 50.0%
Sicilian Defense: Nyezhmetdinov-Rossolimo Attack, Fianchetto Variation 5 2 1 2 40.0%
Barnes Defense 4 4 0 0 100.0%

🔥 Streaks

Streak Longest Current
Winning 10 0
Losing 8 1