About Donald Schmidt
Donald Schmidt is a determined chess player known for his steady climb through the rapid chess rankings. With a peak rating of 962 in rapid chess and steadily improving results in recent years, Donald is a true competitor on the digital chessboard.
Playing Style & Strengths
Donald prefers rapid games, where his tactical awareness shines through a remarkable 70.42% comeback rate and a respectable 50%+ strength adjusted win rate in both rapid and blitz formats. His average game length suggests a balanced approach between strategic play and timely aggression.
- Early resignation rate: modest, showing fighting spirit
- Endgame frequency: plays deep into the game with strong endgame knowledge (53.87% of games reach the endgame)
- Average moves per win: 57 moves — patience is a virtue!
- Comback rate: over 70%, proving resilience under pressure
Favorite Openings
Donald has a diverse repertoire but favors a blend of classic and aggressive openings:
- Sicilian Defense: The bread and butter of his rapid matches, played nearly 400 times with close to 48% win rate.
- French Defense: A solid choice with about 45% success rate, showing positional savvy.
- Scandinavian Defense: Slightly more successful, with nearly 53% wins — expect an early queen adventure!
- Amar Gambit and Elephant Gambit: Donald spices his games up with these daring gambits in blitz, shining with nearly 60% win rate.
- English and Barnes Defenses: Reliable staples for both rapid and blitz.
Performance Highlights & Trends
Donald’s chess journey is full of ups and downs, but the overall trend is promising:
- Peak rapid rating of 962 in early 2021, steadily working back up after some fluctuations.
- Best performance hours include quite a few surprises: from early morning (3 AM) showing a 52.83% win rate to evening hours near 10-11 PM with solid success.
- Favors playing on Fridays and Saturdays, with winning chances creeping near 50%.
- Adopts an aggressive stance after losing pieces, trying to claw back with a 40% win success post losing material.
- Shows a notably higher win rate when rated below the opponent, suggesting a knack for punching above his weight and causing upsets.
Notable Opponents & Records
Donald has battled many fellow enthusiasts, with interesting head-to-head records:
- Some rivals bring out the best in him (e.g. swimmingfish08, tuan_muda_galang, ahmad-supendi) where he holds perfect records.
- He's faced tough matches against players like slaybaefpv and thatnameinuse2, showing mixed but improving results.
- Keeps on learning and regrouping, with a highest winning streak of 8 games and a longest losing streak of 11 games — every grandmaster has been there!
About the Person
Off the board, Donald Schmidt is known for his calm demeanor and a good sense of humor – a critical combo for surviving the mental rollercoaster that is competitive chess. Always eager to improve, he's never afraid to experiment with unconventional openings — like tossing the Elephant Gambit on the board and watching his opponent’s eyebrows raise.
General Performance Overview
Donald, your current strength adjusted win rate stands at approximately 50%, which is a solid baseline. While your rating has held steady over the past month, there has been a slight decline over the last three and six months. However, the rating trend slopes suggest recent upward momentum, especially in the last month and over the last year, indicating improvement in your play.
Recent Game Analysis
Reviewing your recent rapid games provides useful insights into your strengths and areas for improvement.
- Opening Choices: You handle a variety of openings confidently, including the French Defense, Sicilian Defense, and Ruy Lopez. Your victories show good understanding of these lines, especially the French and Sicilian.
- Middle Game: In your wins, you demonstrate effective piece activity and tactical awareness, often capitalizing on opponent's inaccuracies. For example, in the game against zinrs, you successfully conducted an attack culminating in a checkmate.
- Endgame Technique: Some games show effective endgame play and simplifying to winning positions, leading to either resignation or checkmate.
- Losses Analysis: Your losses involve strong counterplay from opponents exploiting opportunities in challenging moments. For example, in a recent game against rohitraj0000, timely attacks on your king led to checkmate.
Areas for Improvement
To continue your progress and reduce losses, consider focusing on the following:
- King Safety: Several losses involved opponent attacks targeting your king. Increasing vigilance in king safety during the middle game will help.
- Opening Consistency: While you play many openings well, narrowing down to a couple of core openings and deepening understanding can improve your early game stability.
- Tactical Awareness: Continue working on spotting tactics, especially defensive resources when under pressure to avoid quick losses.
- Time Management: Maintain steady time usage throughout games, as your clock management appears solid but can always be optimized.
Next Steps and Recommendations
Here’s a plan to help you build on your strengths and address challenges:
- Review your recent losses carefully, especially the critical positions leading to checkmate, to understand what went wrong.
- Practice tactical puzzles daily focusing on defense and counterattack patterns.
- Study your preferred openings and their typical middle game plans in more depth.
- Analyze your endgames to sharpen technique and convert advantages more reliably.
- Maintain your consistent playstyle but look for opportunities to increase aggression and initiative when appropriate.
With your positive trend slopes, confidence and steady work, your rating is likely to improve steadily. Keep up the good work!
🆚 Opponent Insights
| Recent Opponents | ||
|---|---|---|
| canandad | 1W / 0L / 0D | |
| shafinsharif | 0W / 1L / 0D | |
| chris_ron5 | 1W / 0L / 0D | |
| bigbosshog4000 | 0W / 1L / 0D | |
| sks616 | 1W / 0L / 0D | |
| descio | 0W / 1L / 0D | |
| nexlity | 0W / 1L / 0D | |
| omaraisha1984 | 0W / 1L / 0D | |
| puffyandblackie1 | 0W / 1L / 0D | |
| sanjulawaniya | 0W / 1L / 0D | |
Rating
| Year | Bullet | Blitz | Rapid | Daily |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 436 | 575 | 824 | |
| 2024 | 436 | 535 | 812 | 926 |
| 2023 | 451 | 497 | 738 | |
| 2021 | 602 |
Stats by Year
| Year | White | Black | Moves |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 386W / 381L / 39D | 379W / 389L / 37D | 64.5 |
| 2024 | 897W / 929L / 74D | 888W / 957L / 68D | 58.2 |
| 2023 | 225W / 259L / 22D | 213W / 272L / 23D | 47.5 |
| 2021 | 0W / 3L / 0D | 2W / 2L / 0D | 26.1 |
Openings: Most Played
| Blitz Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| French Defense | 189 | 79 | 100 | 10 | 41.8% |
| Sicilian Defense | 169 | 76 | 89 | 4 | 45.0% |
| Scandinavian Defense | 137 | 71 | 58 | 8 | 51.8% |
| Barnes Defense | 132 | 57 | 72 | 3 | 43.2% |
| Sicilian Defense: Closed, Anti-Sveshnikov Variation, Kharlov-Kramnik Line | 112 | 47 | 61 | 4 | 42.0% |
| Elephant Gambit | 91 | 52 | 38 | 1 | 57.1% |
| Amar Gambit | 88 | 52 | 35 | 1 | 59.1% |
| Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense | 76 | 35 | 37 | 4 | 46.0% |
| Amazon Attack: Siberian Attack | 73 | 42 | 27 | 4 | 57.5% |
| Amazon Attack | 72 | 40 | 31 | 1 | 55.6% |
| Rapid Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sicilian Defense | 402 | 189 | 194 | 19 | 47.0% |
| French Defense | 256 | 116 | 131 | 9 | 45.3% |
| Amazon Attack | 179 | 83 | 87 | 9 | 46.4% |
| Scandinavian Defense | 155 | 82 | 65 | 8 | 52.9% |
| Amar Gambit | 149 | 71 | 68 | 10 | 47.6% |
| Elephant Gambit | 141 | 57 | 76 | 8 | 40.4% |
| Sicilian Defense: Closed, Anti-Sveshnikov Variation, Kharlov-Kramnik Line | 115 | 62 | 48 | 5 | 53.9% |
| Barnes Defense | 111 | 54 | 53 | 4 | 48.6% |
| English Opening | 99 | 56 | 38 | 5 | 56.6% |
| Petrov's Defense | 89 | 44 | 42 | 3 | 49.4% |
| Bullet Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scandinavian Defense | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 40.0% |
| French Defense | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 40.0% |
| Sicilian Defense: Closed, Anti-Sveshnikov Variation, Kharlov-Kramnik Line | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Sicilian Defense: Closed | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.0% |
| Sicilian Defense | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.0% |
| Amar Gambit | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.0% |
| Ruy Lopez: Schliemann Defense | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Australian Defense | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Dutch Defense | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Daily Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sicilian Defense | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Elephant Gambit | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Ruy Lopez | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Sicilian Defense: Closed, Anti-Sveshnikov Variation, Kharlov-Kramnik Line | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Philidor Defense | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Modern | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Anderssen Variation | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Colle System: Rhamphorhynchus Variation | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Caro-Kann Defense | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
🔥 Streaks
| Streak | Longest | Current |
|---|---|---|
| Winning | 8 | 1 |
| Losing | 11 | 0 |