Juan Carlos Obregon Rivero: The Red King of Online Blitz
A Grandmaster on the Digital Throne
Juan Carlos Obregon Rivero, known to friends and rivals as theredking89, is a FIDE Grandmaster who treats the online blitz board like his personal court. Since 2014 he has played tens of thousands of rapid-fire games, climbing from a modest 1363 rating to a peak of 3096 (2026-08-18). His preferred time control is blitz, and he has made it look like an art form. This chart captures the long climb:
.An Opening Laboratory With a Gambit Habit
The Red King has a deep and wonderfully quirky repertoire. He has spent more than 1,500 blitz games inside the Bird Opening's Batavo Gambit, proving he is not afraid to test unusual lines. He also regularly reaches the Sicilian Defense, using the Alapin Variation as a practical weapon:
. When playing Black he favors the Accelerated Dragon and the Maróczy Bind, and against 1.e4 he trusts the Caro-Kann Defense to battle for the center. His first capture tends to arrive around move 7, roughly the moment opponents realize they are in for a long evening.Where the spice works best shows up in the opening data:
.Marathon Battles and Miraculous Rescues
This is not a player who wins in 20 moves. His average winning game lasts more than 82 moves, and his average loss stretches even longer. He reaches the endgame in nearly nine out of ten games and rescues lost positions at an absurd rate. After losing a piece, he still wins about 45 percent of the time, and his overall comeback rate is an incredible 88 percent. He has also strung together 21 straight wins, which is a useful reminder that theredking89 is a dangerous matchup when he gets rolling.
Known Rivals
No king rules alone. Juan Carlos has built one of the busiest online rivalries in the game, facing Levi Kalani Alexander Fogo Esquivel 158 times and even holding a plus score against him. He has also traded long battles with Daniel Naroditsky, one of the toughest obstacles on his path. Against some of the strongest names in the lobby, the Red King keeps showing up, keeps grinding, and keeps reminding everyone that blitz belongs to the bold.