The Swindler from the Low Countries
Ger Janssen, known to the online chess world as Schwindelaar, is a FIDE Candidate Master who plays like his username suggests he might pull the rug out from under you. Based in the Low Countries, Ger has built a reputation as a relentless, high-volume battler. He prefers rapid chess above all, but he is equally happy to spend a bullet lunch break firing through twenty games. If there is a clock ticking, Ger probably wants a piece of it.
His career is a story of late nights, long winning streaks, and occasional spectacular self-destruction. At his best he rattled off 20 consecutive wins. At his worst he lost 15 in a row, which is the kind of honesty that keeps the rest of us queuing up for another game.
Repertoire of the Evergreen English
Ask Ger what he plays with White and the answer is almost always the same: 1.c4. His relationship with the English Opening borders on devotion. He has steered tens of thousands of games into English lines, with particular success in the Anglo-Indian Defense and the Symmetrical Variation, Botvinnik System. As Black he feels at home in the Modern Defense, where he can let his opponent overextend and then calmly remind them that pawns cannot move backward. He even has a soft spot for the Amar Gambit in bullet, which is either adventurous or an elaborate cry for help.
Ger is not afraid to play on into the endgame. His endgame frequency sits near 87%, and his games tend to be long, grinding affairs rather than quick draws. He also has a comeback rate above 85%, meaning that when things look hopeless, he has not read the script.
For a visual summary of where his wins come from:
A Marathon Man With Familiar Rivals
Ger's volume is astonishing. He has played thousands of games, and along the way he has developed a few rivalries that deserve their own documentary. His most frequent dance partner is kalmandufne, with 251 meetings and counting. That rivalry has not been kind to Ger, who trails 89 wins to 146 losses, with 16 draws. It is the kind of head-to-head that keeps him refreshing the matchmaking button at midnight.
Against fetenn, however, Ger is the one holding the remote: 61 wins, 30 losses, and 2 draws from 93 games. And Bukovyna has tested him often, 108 games, with Ger on the wrong side of a 42-63 scoreline. No matter the opponent, the games are almost always decisive. Ger draws about as often as a Dutch winter is sunny, but when he wins, he wins hard.
- Longest winning streak: 20 games
- Longest losing streak: 15 games, probably played between 3 and 4 AM
- Win rate after losing a piece: over 51%, which should not be possible
- Best time of day: midnight, with a 61% win rate. Schwindelaar is a night owl.
The Long Grind
Ger's rapid chess journey has been anything but flat. He started modestly, then spent years climbing, dipping, and climbing again. The rating line looks like a mountain range drawn by someone with a mild tremor. For a quick look at the ride:
What makes Ger genuinely dangerous is his psychological resilience. He rarely resigns early, he fights in the endgame, and he has a comeback rate of nearly 86%. He also knows when to stop, though he presumably ignores that knowledge at least once a night. Whether he is swindling a draw from a lost position or blundering into a mate in one, Ger Janssen plays with a joy that makes online chess feel like a backyard barbecue.