Enter Sharkarton
Tom Decuigniere, known to the chess world as sharkarton, is an International Master with a name that promises a bite. He arrived on Chess.com in 2016 with a 1406 blitz rating and plenty of appetite. It took a few seasons to build the jaws, but by 2021 his blitz rating was pushing toward the mid 2300s, and by 2025 he touched 2689 (2026-09-24) territory. FIDE saw what the internet already knew and awarded him the International Master title.
His early games are a small funny slide: he once jumped from 1406 to 1856 in a single summer month, then lost it and found it again. The blitz curve is the full theme park ride, from 1900 in 2018 to a 20125 peak around 2670. For a good visual on all those highs and lows, see
.Shark Opens: The English and the Almost Modern
Tom is comfortable hunting on opposite coasts. With white, he spends much of his time finding every tiny variation of the English Opening: Drill Variation. It is not a flashy line, but it is a deep trap: in daily games he scores 82.35% with that variation, and in blitz that jumps through the ceiling at 65.31%. He has also found a lot of success with the ordinary Modern Defense: Pterodactyl Variation from the black side, a radical setup he uses to punish careless e4 players.
There is no better way to smell those patterns than to look at
. The chart is long enough that even his opponents could study it for a year.The Most Repeated Table: inbugwetrust
Some rivalries are built on great games. Yours is built on one particular repeating name. The same opponent, inbugwetrust, has faced Tom 47 times, and Tom has won 44. The remaining three were draws. That is not a rivalry, that is a life sentence for the shark's favorite fish. The result is probably not in the player's mental stats, but the pattern is undeniable.
The Shark Doesn't Die Easily
Tom has a longest winning streak of 24 games and a longest losing streak of 13 games, which means even when the shark sees its own tail, it will come back over the next lunch. His comeback rate throughout his playing career is 81.29%, so if you think you have defeated him, he probably has a plan to take your drawer when you get home.
For time trial enjoyers, his fast blitz path may not match his overall opening taste. That is because the title of the shark belongs to all time controls. Still, he rates himself best at the 4 a.m. hour, which is a good reason not to take him too heavily in the morning.