Nicola Altini: International Master of Online Blitz
Nicola Altini, known to online chess fans as Nicolik, is a FIDE International Master who has turned online chess into a marathon. His preferred battlefield is blitz, and his rating graph
shows a player who has climbed relentlessly since 2019. From a blitz floor of 1,963 in April 2019 to a peak of 2865 (2026-08-20) in August 2026, Altini has collected more than 6,300 wins in blitz alone. He is the kind of player who treats every time scramble as an invitation.A Tactical Firefighter
Altini's style is built on resilience. His comeback rate is 87.94 percent, and he still wins more than half of his games after losing a piece. That stubbornness makes him dangerous in sharp lines. With black he happily enters the Sicilian Defense, while with white he leans on the Amazon Attack and a steady Caro-Kann Defense. His opening chart
reveals a broad repertoire rather than a one-trick pony.- Longest winning streak: 23 games
- Best time of day to play: 16:00
- Bullet Caro-Kann record: 12 wins in 13 games
Rivalries and Reliable Repertoire
No account has shaped Altini's online career quite like his series against AlExpress94. They have played 88 blitz battles, and Altini has won 78 of them, a matchup he clearly owns. The opposite is true against Francesco Sonis, who has taken 26 wins from their meetings and left Altini chasing a negative score.
Altini is not just a blitz specialist. His rapid rating peaked at 2669 (2022-03-17), and his bullet peak of 2672 (2024-11-30) shows he can survive even the most chaotic time controls. Add a stubborn King's Indian Defense repertoire and a willingness to play 80 move games, and you get an online IM who simply refuses to make things easy.