Evgenios Ioannidis (Nuvas): A Grandmaster Built for Speed
Who Is Evgenios Ioannidis?
Evgenios Ioannidis, known on the online board as Nuvas, is a FIDE Grandmaster who has turned fast chess into an art form. He is most at home in bullet, where his quick hands and even quicker mind have produced a mountain of games and a rating that has touched the stratosphere. By August 2026, Nuvas had played more than 9,500 rated online games, with bullet as his preferred time control.
Online Career Highlights
Nuvas first appeared on the rated ladder in 2020 and climbed with remarkable speed. His blitz rating soared past 2,500 in late 2020, and he kept pushing until he reached a peak of 3083 (2026-07-18). In bullet, he matched that achievement with a peak of 3080 (2026-06-29). His rapid game also crossed the 2,500 mark, peaking at 2564 in September 2024.
Volume has never been a problem. In June 2024 alone, he played more than 2,000 bullet games, and in June 2022 he packed 574 blitz games into a single month. That kind of workload helped him develop a feel for almost every situation the clock can create.
Playing Style and Opening Repertoire
Nuvas is a 1.d4 player through and through. His repertoire leans heavily on the Queen's Gambit Declined, the Slav Defense, and the Nimzo-Indian Defense. In rapid play, his Nimzo-Indian results with White are flawless: seven wins from seven games. As Black, he is especially dangerous in the Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, where he won six of seven rapid games.
His style is less about flashy sacrifices and more about grinding opponents down. His endgame frequency sits at 84.03 percent, and his decisive games often stretch to 82 or 88 moves. He delivers the first check just over half the time, and when he does, his win rate climbs to nearly 56 percent. Even after losing a piece, Nuvas still finds a way to win 47.61 percent of the time.
Rivalries and Streaks
No online career is complete without rivals. Nuvas has faced Arash Tahbaz 86 times, more than any other player, and that rivalry has been a tough one. Against Konstantinos Samaridis, the story is very different: 59 wins and only 5 losses in 69 meetings. Another regular opponent, Teodor-Cosmin Nedelcu, has also struggled, losing 41 of their 64 games.
Nuvas can be streaky. His longest winning streak is 20 games, but his longest losing streak is 18. The losses never seem to break him, though. His comeback rate of 83.93 percent and his 55.76 percent win rate when he lands the first check show a fighter who always believes the next move can turn the game around.
Key Numbers
- Longest winning streak: 20 games
- Longest losing streak: 18 games
- Comeback rate: 83.93 percent
- Endgame frequency: 84.03 percent
- White win rate: 54.56 percent, Black win rate: 46.40 percent
- Best results after midnight, with peak performance around 02:00