The Equalizer
Anders Backlundt is a FIDE Master who calls himself TheEqualizer, but if you go through his online games record, you will find that he very rarely lets things stay level. He has been scoring and slashing on these boards since 2011, when he was a solid 2000s blitzer. Back then the nickname might have fit. Since then, Backlund has gone from hanging around to grinding through the nose of dangerous masters, and one thing is certain: when the rating points are at stake, the Equalizer turns into the (a) "Item" no longer an issue.
Backlund's profile says his preferred time control is Rapid, which is either modesty or a flexible definition of "preferred" after something like thirty thousand blitz battles. He has played massive marathons in blitz, compiled a 17-game winning streak, and also survived a ten-game losing streak, which is the kind of experience that gives a player stories. He doesn't even mind long endgames: he gets to an endgame in over 80% of his games, and he will happily shuffle to move 70 or 80 to find you hunt down the result.
Opening fingerprints
The engine of Backlund's repertoire is not a big secret. If you want him to feel at peace, give him play around the e6 pawn as black and reach the French Defense. He loves that opening like a favorite pair of slippers, with heavy line experience in the Winawer Variation and the Advance lines, and his black records show where he hurts you. As white, he works out a bit wider, scoring well in the Slav Defense and against the Caro-Kann Defense, and he has shown he can pull out unusual systems and gambit ideas when the mood takes him.
In rapid, his opening form gets even more dangerous. He tests above 85% against the Caro-Kann and has scored perfect or near-perfect results in the French Exchange and Advance lines. If you let him land his favorite preparation, the "Equalizer" rarely gives you that peace.
Career path
From a 2000s blitz player in 2011 to a FIDE Master with a blitz peak of 2693 (2025-05-27), Backlund has taken the long and bumpy road seriously. His rating chart is less "overnight success" and more "sleep-deprived success", with steady dreams in the 2400s and the twenty-to-2600s with a hero.
shows the upward grind that made November and December of 2025 unusually tasty. In rapid he has reached [[Stat::PeakRating|Rapid]], and his peak bullet rating of 2505 (2025-04-17) adds "fast lane Equalizer" to his resume.He is also one of those warriors who try to rise after losing a piece. If it looks like chalk, he doesn't feel it; his comeback rate of around 81% and a near 50% win rate after dropping a piece suggest he has learned to call a losing a broad claim.
Favorite rivals
No one knows Backlund's style better than the names on his most-played list. He has met Jovan Miletic 74 times over the years, making it a real online rivalry, with a razor-thin score that could have been n-generation: 37 wins to 33 losses. FastFaun has also spent 51 games with him, and each one is a lesson in "he's going to try to sneak us anyway." Those battle flags help explain why his opening databases are as deep as a very grandmaster's memory: at some point, you stop playing and simply "deal with the rematches".
At a glance
- Title: FIDE Master
- Handle: TheEqualizer
- Preferred time control per profile: Rapid
- Blitz peak: 2693 (2025-05-27)
- Rapid peak: 2558 (2025-06-10)
- Bullet peak: 2505 (2025-04-17)
- Longest winning streak: 17
- Longest losing streak: 10
- Favorite comfort zone: French Defense