Profile: Rafa Ibarra (Rafa77CRE)
Rafa Ibarra, known in the chess world as Rafa77CRE, is a resilient and gritty player who has been navigating the checkered battlefield since at least 2018. Starting with a modest Blitz rating of 295, Rafa has steadily improved, showcasing remarkable persistence and tenacity.
Playing Style & Strengths
Rafa’s style is a unique blend of patience and tactical brilliance. Despite a tilt factor of 13% — proves even grandmasters get frustrated — Rafa’s come-back rate is an astonishing 59.19%, and shockingly, their win rate after losing a piece is a perfect 100%. That’s right, Rafa turns disaster into triumph more reliably than a soap opera plot twist.
When it comes to endgames, Rafa is not one to back down, engaging in over half (50.23%) of their games in this gritty phase. Even if the match drags on, Rafa’s average moves per win clock in around 48 moves, but loss games slightly longer, over 55 moves, proving Rafa fights ‘til the bitter end.
Performance Highlights
- Rapid rating peaked at 1173 in 2024, showing continuous improvement over several years.
- Blitz enjoyed great success with nearly 1400 wins out of 2777 games, maintaining a near 50% win rate despite a very high volume of games.
- Daily chess games are rare but effective, winning 4 out of 6, and bullet chess is Rafa’s lightning-fast playground with a 100% win rate from the limited games played.
Opening Strategy
Rafa prefers the mysterious and secretive Top Secret openings across all time controls—probably keeping opponents guessing and slightly paranoid. The win rate here is consistently at or near 50%, which suggests the strategy is effective, or at least unpredictably entertaining.
Notable Quirks
Rafa’s best win streak was an impressive 11 games in a row—a feat worthy of applause and probably a lot of coffee. However, currently Rafa is out of the streak groove, proving even chess warriors have their off days.
If you catch Rafa online, beware: their peak activity is surprisingly early in the morning and late afternoon hours — a prime time for brilliant moves or spectacular blunders. Notably, Rafa has a near 64% win rate at 9 AM and almost 66% at 3 PM, suggesting peak brainpower strikes mid-day.
Summary
Rafa Ibarra is the kind of player who embodies the spirit of the game: determined, always learning, and never afraid to grind it out. With a psychological resilience rivalling chess legends, Rafa77CRE turns setbacks into stepping stones and keeps the chessboard truly entertaining for us all. So, next time you see Rafa across the board, brace yourself for a roller-coaster ride of moves, mind games, and unexpected comebacks!
