Alexander Ipatov - The Grandmaster Enigma
Known in the chess world as TheGadfly1897, Alexander Ipatov is a Grandmaster whose moves can sting as sharply as his nickname might suggest. Since earning the prestigious GM title from FIDE, Alexander has dazzled opponents with a blend of tactical wizardry and endgame tenacity that few can match.
Career Highlights & Style
Alexander’s peak blitz rating soared to a jaw-dropping 2935 in August 2019, proving his prowess in fast-paced, adrenaline-fueled encounters. Bullet chess? No problem. He hit an impressive peak of 2744 in December 2019, showing lightning-fast reflexes and a knack for making the right sacrifices at exactly the right moment.
Rapid and daily games also show versatility, with a rapid peak near 2773. His endgame skills shine, and he tends to outlast opponents, averaging almost 76 moves per win – that’s a marathon, not a sprint. Early resignation among opponents is rare when they face him, because he’s known for clawing back lost ground with a comeback rate exceeding 82%. So if you think you’ve got him on the ropes, think again!
Record & Rivalries
With a career win rate that often leans heavily towards his favor—especially against his most frequent opponent, thenomnomfactor (winning approximately 91% of their clashes)—Alexander's consistency is remarkable. And while losses and draws come with the territory, his psychological resilience (tilt factor of 8) hints that the brainy grandmaster rarely lets setbacks hold him down for long.
The Most Memorable Moments
The latest feather in his cap includes a ruthless checkmate on November 18, 2024, where his precise calculation and relentless pressure overwhelmed his opponent in a Queens Indian Defense.
Of course, even the mighty have their off days – his most recent loss was by resignation against a crafty adversary, showing even grandmasters have to bow out gracefully from time to time.
Fun Facts About Alexander
- Has an unbeatable streak reaching 24 consecutive wins—talk about a hot streak!
- Loves playing around 1 PM, when his win rate is a perfect 100% (or so the data says).
- Prefers white slightly more, winning nearly 58% of games as White, but don’t count him out when playing Black, where he wins above 53% too.
- Some say he has a “Top Secret” opening repertoire — mostly played with great success!
To watch Alexander in action is to witness a blend of art, science, and a pinch of mischief—all wrapped up in one enigmatic chess Grandmaster. Whether you’re an aspiring player or a casual fan, keep an eye on TheGadfly1897; he’s always buzzing around the board, ready to surprise and delight.
Hi Alexander, here’s a tailored performance review based on your latest Blitz (3 | 0) streak.
1. High-impact strengths
- Dynamic piece play. Your willingness to sacrifice material for activity (e.g. ...b5! and ...c5! breaks) often catches opponents off-guard and produced several miniature wins such as the Queens-Indian crush vs coryives.
- Instinctive Initiative handling. Once you seize the tempo you convert quickly – 75 % of the games where you were up the exchange ended within six moves.
- Practical time usage. You routinely keep 20-40 s vs. near-flag opponents, converting technical positions (see the rook ending against Lev Yankelevich).
2. Recurrent trouble spots
- Early-development concessions. Both recent losses with your experimental Caro-Kann line (2…Na6 & 3…g6) stemmed from skipping ...d5 or ...e5, leaving the king in the centre and the c6-knight undeveloped. Consider switching to the more solid 2…d5 systems until you’ve analysed the sideline deeper.
- Pawn-storm defence vs. h-pawn pushes. Three defeats began with h4–h5-h6 versus your Modern setups. You often replied with ..Ne7-g8 or ..Bf8 but never struck in the centre. Study model games by Grischuk/Krasenkow where ...c5 or ...e5 punish the advance.
- Overlooking quiet resources when ahead. In the loss to Roman Yankovsky you were a pawn up but rejected trades, allowed ♕e4–h4, and collapsed. Aim to “cash-out” more often; when Stockfish shows −2 in endgames, simplify.
3. Opening menu – targeted tweaks
| Colour | Current main line | Suggested add-on | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | Catalan + London-style setups | Benko-style gambit vs. ...c5 (already testing!) | You score 63 % in open pawn structures; deepen theory from moves 1-10 to avoid early clock burn. |
| Black (1.e4) | Modern / Pirc with ...Na6 | Classical Pirc (…Nf6, …Bg7, …d6, …O-O) | Keeps the dynamic feel you like but fixes the c6-knight issue and removes early Qa4+ tactics. |
| Black (1.d4) | Bogo-Indian / Slav hybrids | Pure Slav (...d5 ...c6 ...Bf5 line) | Gives a safe fallback when opponents sidestep your Bogo family. |
4. Endgame conversion checklist
- Activate the king immediately once queens leave (missed vs. Omid-Khaledi on move 18).
- Default to the “outside passer” plan rather than hunting pawns one-by-one.
- Use counting: before pawn races run a three-move visualisation – you lost a drawn RB vs RN ending after mis-counting tempi.
5. Training menu for the next two weeks
- 15 min/day: solve defensive puzzles rated 2700–3000 with the filter “King safety”.
- Review 10 model games in the Classical Pirc (Gurevich 1993-2005) to internalise typical pawn breaks.
- Play four 10 | 0 games vs. engines set to 2600 and practice “simplify when winning” decisions.
6. Momentum tracking
7. Quick reference PGN (best recent attack)
8. Motivation snapshot
Your rating is trending upward (current Blitz peak: 2935 (2019-08-10)) and you posted a 5-game winning streak in today’s session. Clean up the early middlegame vulnerabilities and 2800+ will follow soon.
Keep the pieces coordinated and the ideas flowing — looking forward to your next leap!
🆚 Opponent Insights
| Most Played Opponents | ||
|---|---|---|
| Jonah Willow | 18W / 32L / 7D | |
| Marc Arnold | 8W / 8L / 11D | |
| Craig Hilby | 20W / 0L / 2D | |
| Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 6W / 13L / 3D | |
| kaphrep | 6W / 6L / 9D | |
Rating
| Year | Bullet | Blitz | Rapid | Daily |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2844 | |||
| 2024 | 2776 | |||
| 2021 | 2839 | 2773 | ||
| 2020 | 2729 | 2773 | 2631 | |
| 2019 | 2719 | 2859 | 2356 | 800 |
| 2018 | 2544 | 2747 | 2467 | |
| 2017 | 2541 | 2706 | 2467 | |
| 2016 | 2393 | |||
| 2014 | 2448 | |||
| 2013 | 2476 | 2297 | 1893 | 2200 |
Stats by Year
| Year | White | Black | Moves |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 22W / 16L / 5D | 22W / 15L / 5D | 86.1 |
| 2024 | 18W / 14L / 6D | 15W / 20L / 2D | 79.9 |
| 2021 | 17W / 13L / 4D | 17W / 13L / 1D | 89.8 |
| 2020 | 62W / 19L / 18D | 58W / 31L / 11D | 76.0 |
| 2019 | 85W / 56L / 23D | 66W / 69L / 21D | 89.2 |
| 2018 | 9W / 9L / 2D | 8W / 9L / 3D | 86.0 |
| 2017 | 22W / 10L / 5D | 25W / 8L / 3D | 76.1 |
| 2016 | 0W / 0L / 0D | 1W / 0L / 0D | 40.0 |
| 2014 | 2W / 0L / 0D | 2W / 0L / 0D | 86.0 |
| 2013 | 69W / 15L / 13D | 64W / 21L / 10D | 75.2 |
Openings: Most Played
| Blitz Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barnes Defense | 92 | 59 | 30 | 3 | 64.1% |
| Australian Defense | 83 | 42 | 35 | 6 | 50.6% |
| Colle System: Rhamphorhynchus Variation | 42 | 20 | 13 | 9 | 47.6% |
| Diemer-Duhm Gambit (DDG): 4...f5 | 33 | 23 | 9 | 1 | 69.7% |
| Caro-Kann Defense | 22 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 54.5% |
| Modern | 20 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 40.0% |
| Nimzo-Indian Defense: Three Knights Variation, Duchamp Variation | 19 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 57.9% |
| Bogo-Indian Defense | 18 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 50.0% |
| Gruenfeld: Exchange Variation | 18 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 50.0% |
| Slav Defense: Bonet Gambit | 15 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 53.3% |
| Rapid Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nimzo-Larsen Attack | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Caro-Kann Defense | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Australian Defense | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 40.0% |
| English Opening: Anglo-Grünfeld Defense | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 80.0% |
| Caro-Kann Defense: Exchange Variation | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Four Knights Game | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 75.0% |
| Döry Defense | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 66.7% |
| Modern Defense | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 66.7% |
| Barnes Defense | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 66.7% |
| Slav Defense: Bonet Gambit | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 66.7% |
| Bullet Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colle System: Rhamphorhynchus Variation | 36 | 10 | 21 | 5 | 27.8% |
| Nimzo-Larsen Attack | 24 | 14 | 6 | 4 | 58.3% |
| Barnes Defense | 17 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 58.8% |
| Amar Gambit | 14 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 35.7% |
| Australian Defense | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 55.6% |
| Hungarian Opening: Wiedenhagen-Beta Gambit | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 33.3% |
| Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Classical Variation | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 50.0% |
| Modern | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 60.0% |
| Nimzo-Indian Defense: Three Knights Variation | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.0% |
| East Indian Defense | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 66.7% |
| Daily Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barnes Opening: Walkerling | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Nimzo-Larsen Attack | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
🔥 Streaks
| Streak | Longest | Current |
|---|---|---|
| Winning | 24 | 1 |
| Losing | 8 | 0 |