NM Rodrigo de Mello: The Comeback King
NM Rodrigo de Mello, better known online as RdgMx, is a National Master, a streamer, and quite possibly the most stubborn chess player on the platform. He prefers bullet when the clock is cruel, but his true home is the blitz pool: more than 18,500 blitz games, over 11,600 wins, and no sign of slowing down. When he is not live on stream, he is probably queueing up at sunrise, because that is apparently when the magic happens.
The Comeback King
Rodrigo's numbers read like a survival manual. He comes back to score in 81.49% of games after falling behind, and he still wins 58.85% of the time even after losing a piece. Early resignation? Almost never, with a rate of just 0.63%. Four out of five of his battles reach the endgame, where he does his best work.
His games are marathons, averaging around 75 moves per win. He also loves the initiative, delivering the first check in 59% of his games and winning 68% of those. He has rattled off 33 wins in a row, and he has also survived a 20-game losing streak, which is the chess equivalent of getting hit by a bus and asking for a rematch.
Opening Toolkit
With the white pieces, Rodrigo is a lifelong devotee of the London System, a setup he has played thousands of times with scary consistency. When he has the black pieces, he leans on the French Defense, especially the Exchange and Advance variations, where he scores above 60%. He also enjoys offbeat weapons like the Amazon Attack and the Australian Defense, keeping both his opponents and his chat guessing.
Rivals and Rituals
Nobody has shared more boards with Rodrigo than Gilson da Silva Costa. Their 730-game rivalry is the stuff of legend, and Rodrigo holds a healthy 471-210 edge. The one true thorn in his side is Hyoukami, who actually leads their 191-game series 97 to 83. If you see Rodrigo grinding late at night against hyoukami, bring popcorn.
He is also a creature of habit. His best time to play is 6 AM, when he wins a staggering 80% of his games, and Thursdays are his lucky day. Fridays are a different story: only 57.56% wins. So challenge him on a Friday afternoon if you dare, but do not expect a rematch.
A Decade of Grinding
Rodrigo's climb started in April 2011 with a 1367 blitz rating. Fifteen years later, he has pushed his rating to a peak of 2423 (2025-10-13) and earned the National Master title. The chart below shows the long, beautiful grind of a player who never stops clicking.