Tom Piceu - International Master Extraordinaire
Meet Tom Piceu, also known in the chess universe as Picev, an International Master bestowed by FIDE and a connoisseur of the sixty-four squares. Tom’s journey through the ranks has been a rollercoaster of tactical brilliance, strategic depth, and a sprinkle of quirky resilience (tilt factor rated modestly at 5, because even masters have their off days!).
Starting from humble beginnings with rapid ratings barely breaking past the 1300 mark back in 2015, Tom’s grit and wit saw their rapid performance skyrocket to an impressive 2165 by 2023, coupled with a blitz peak of 2365 and a bullet high of 2299 – the kind of speed that would make even a caffeinated grandmaster blink twice. Despite these impressive numbers, Tom is no one-trick pony; they have conquered multiple formats, boasting a perfect Daily win record and a formidable comeback rate of over 90% after setbacks.
When it comes to openings, Tom embraces a bit of mystery – their favored repertoire is cunningly labeled as "Top Secret," winning relentlessly about 58-68% of the time across various time controls. This covert style has baffled opponents including numerous undefeated matchups against some familiar rival usernames like chesskieee and vicenterocha, who now probably wonder if Tom’s pieces have a secret hotline to a grandmaster's brain.
Tom’s style is a blend of patience and precision: they tend to push endgames frequently (over 77% of the time) and average around 65 moves per victory – clearly someone who prefers a marathon match over a quick blitzkrieg, except when in bullet mode where lightning-fast intuition reigns supreme. The psychological battle is where Tom shines even brighter, maintaining a perfect 100% win rate after losing a piece – practicing calm under fire akin to a chessboard Zen master.
Off the board, Tom's longest winning streak of 14 games hints at a relentless drive and perhaps a good luck charm hidden somewhere near their chess set. Currently riding a 3-game winning streak, the horizon looks bright for this strategic stalwart.
Whether it’s a Sunday afternoon duel or a late-night blitz frenzy, Tom’s win rates remain robust – peek hours around 10am reflect an impressive 83% success rate. So if you catch Tom online at odd hours, be ready for a challenging game that tests patience, nerves, and your tactical flair.
In sum, Tom Piceu is not just another player; they are a fascinating mixture of an intrepid tactician, a calm endgame specialist, and perhaps a bit of a chess magician whose “Top Secret” moves keep the chess world guessing – sometimes laughing, always impressed.
Hi Tom, here is some tailored feedback based on your most-recent streak of Bullet games.
What you already do very well
- Consistent Opening Menu. As White you almost always reach a King’s-Indian-Attack set-up (Nf3, g3, d3, e4, Re1, e5). That keeps prep time low and produces the pawn-storm positions you like.
- Sharp Tactical Vision. In three of the last five wins you finished with mating nets in under 30 moves – a clear sign that you spot forcing continuations quickly.
- Clock Handling. You rarely dip below fifteen seconds and you are comfortable flagging opponents when the position is equal. Your confirms that most of your wins come late at night when others are tired – good practical choice.
Biggest improvement themes
1. Dark-square discipline as Black.In the loss to double_debiased (A01 Larsen attack) you played …b5 & …c4 without your dark-squared bishop, leaving squares like e6 & g6 undefended.
• After 19…b5 the engine already prefers
19…dxe4 or even the calm 19…c4.
• Try delaying pawn storms until the c8-bishop is on b7 or a6. 2. Premature central pawn breaks.
In several French structures (both colours) you pushed …d4 or …e5 early, fixing pawns on the colour of your un-developed bishop. Before locking the centre, ask “Which minor piece is still sleeping?” If it’s your light-squared bishop, keep the centre fluid. 3. Kingside safety when you are ahead on the board but behind on the clock.
Your opponents often panic against your initiative; in the game you lost to masterpeter1970 you were up material but allowed …g5-g4 and a rook lift to g8. A single luft move (h3/Kf1) would have forced them to spend extra tempi and probably flagged.
Concrete study plan for the next week
- 10 minutes/day – “Single-bishop” puzzles
Filter tactics where one side is missing the dark-squared bishop and the critical theme is weak dark squares. This directly targets point (1). - Load & analyse this critical fragment:
Stop after each Black move, ask, “What’s my next threat as White?” This teaches you to sense danger on your own move. - Replace one Bullet session by a 5|0 blitz set.
Your tactical strength will still score, but the extra time forces you to calculate whether a pawn thrust really works.
Quick repertoire suggestion vs 1.b3
Instead of the double-edged …e6/…d5/…c5 triangle, test the easy set-up…g6 …Bg7 …c5 …Nc6 …e6 …Nge7.
• Your king stays safe on g8.
• The fianchettoed bishop covers the critical dark squares that caused trouble in the last loss.
Motivational stat
Your peak rating in Bullet so far: 2404 (2025-06-21).Let’s make the next peak arrive after you iron out these two small structural issues!
Good luck, and feel free to send over any games you are unsure about.
– Your Chess Coach
🆚 Opponent Insights
| Most Played Opponents | ||
|---|---|---|
| inshinyarmor | 9W / 11L / 1D | |
| Coach-David | 9W / 8L / 3D | |
| luis-garcia | 4W / 3L / 0D | |
| theklute | 6W / 1L / 0D | |
| yeouda06 | 2W / 3L / 1D | |
Rating
| Year | Bullet | Blitz | Rapid | Daily |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2395 | 2174 | 2165 | |
| 2023 | 2165 | |||
| 2021 | 2234 | 2364 | 1275 | |
| 2020 | 2179 | 1976 | ||
| 2019 | 2155 | 2259 | ||
| 2018 | 1530 | |||
| 2017 | 1919 | 1886 | 1807 | |
| 2016 | 2025 | 2061 | ||
| 2015 | 1831 | 2024 | 1274 | |
| 2014 | 1837 | 1849 | ||
| 2013 | 1818 |
Stats by Year
| Year | White | Black | Moves |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 14W / 10L / 3D | 6W / 2L / 0D | 69.6 |
| 2023 | 2W / 0L / 0D | 3W / 2L / 0D | 79.1 |
| 2021 | 6W / 2L / 1D | 4W / 3L / 1D | 71.3 |
| 2020 | 3W / 0L / 1D | 3W / 1L / 1D | 69.2 |
| 2019 | 12W / 16L / 1D | 16W / 16L / 0D | 63.0 |
| 2018 | 0W / 0L / 0D | 0W / 2L / 0D | 37.0 |
| 2017 | 7W / 5L / 0D | 7W / 5L / 0D | 60.1 |
| 2016 | 50W / 27L / 4D | 45W / 39L / 0D | 67.8 |
| 2015 | 11W / 11L / 0D | 14W / 7L / 0D | 64.5 |
| 2014 | 14W / 4L / 1D | 9W / 8L / 1D | 75.8 |
| 2013 | 11W / 2L / 0D | 10W / 3L / 1D | 72.5 |
Openings: Most Played
| Daily Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amar Gambit | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 20.0% |
| Bird Opening | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 33.3% |
| Australian Defense | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 66.7% |
| French Defense | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Barnes Opening: Walkerling | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0% |
| English Opening | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Unknown | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| QGD: 2...Bf5 3.cxd5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| English Opening: Drill Variation | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Dutch Defense: Queen's Knight Variation | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Bullet Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amar Gambit | 28 | 18 | 10 | 0 | 64.3% |
| Hungarian Opening: Wiedenhagen-Beta Gambit | 20 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 45.0% |
| French Defense | 17 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 41.2% |
| Australian Defense | 17 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 52.9% |
| Nimzo-Larsen Attack | 15 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 46.7% |
| French Defense: Exchange Variation | 11 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 54.5% |
| Colle System: Rhamphorhynchus Variation | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 60.0% |
| King's Indian Attack: French Variation | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 66.7% |
| London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 66.7% |
| Sicilian Defense | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 57.1% |
| Rapid Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Australian Defense | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 66.7% |
| French Defense: Exchange Variation | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Elephant Gambit | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| French Defense | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Caro-Kann Defense: Exchange Variation | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Gruenfeld: 5.e3 O-O | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Modern | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0% |
| London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0% |
| Blitz Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slav Defense: Alekhine Variation | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 60.0% |
| French Defense: Advance Variation | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 75.0% |
| Scandinavian Defense | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 50.0% |
| Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 66.7% |
| Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, Opocensky Variation | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 33.3% |
| Döry Defense | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 33.3% |
| Benoni Defense: Old Benoni | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 33.3% |
| Benko Gambit Accepted: Central Storming Variation | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 66.7% |
| French Defense | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| East Indian Defense | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.0% |
🔥 Streaks
| Streak | Longest | Current |
|---|---|---|
| Winning | 14 | 5 |
| Losing | 5 | 0 |