Anastasia Bodnaruk: The Blitz Brawler Behind Vesper2018
Welcome to the Board
Anastasia Bodnaruk, known online as Vesper2018, is a FIDE International Master who treats the chessboard like a lightning storm. She has spent years carving up online opponents with aggressive opening play and a refusal to surrender. Her 2,278 analyzed games on Chess.com paint the picture of a player who is most at home when the clock is loud and the pieces are flying.
While she is solid in rapid and daily formats, her heart belongs to bullet chess, with blitz a close second. Her Blitz rating soared to a peak of 2760 during a scorching run in January 2025, and her Bullet rating reached 2698. She loves to strike early and keep the pressure on until the final flag falls.
Playing Style
Bodnaruk is a natural attacker with an engine-like sense of initiative. As White she plays 1.e4 in the overwhelming majority of her games, marching straight into mainline battles. She scores a sterling 57.64% with the white pieces, while her black win rate of 47.07% is still a nightmare for opponents.
Her numbers reveal a fighter's mentality. She has a comeback rate of 86.68%, meaning she rarely fades after a setback. She also wins 50.15% of her games even after losing a piece, a trait that frustrates counter-attackers to no end. Her early resignation rate is a microscopic 0.82%, so do not expect her to fold before the fat lady sings.
Opening Repertoire
Bodnaruk's opening knowledge runs deep, especially in the Sicilian Defense. She has played the Closed Sicilian as White 248 times and won 61.69% of those games, and she is equally comfortable handling the Najdorf Variation with Black. Her record in the Ruy Lopez: Closed is even more eye-popping, with a 68.57% win rate across 35 games.
If you want proof of her edge in sharp positions, look at her handling of the Blackburne Shilling Gambit and the French Defense: Advance Variation. She punishes early deviations with cold precision. Her median preparation depth has climbed from 4 moves in 2020 to 7 moves by 2026, showing a player who constantly evolves.
Favorite Battlegrounds
No rival has faced Bodnaruk more often than champkb, who has crossed swords with her 45 times. Bodnaruk holds a commanding 28-9 lead with 8 draws in that series. She also has lively rivalries with nissou-ach and Meri Arabidze, both of whom have kept her honest over dozens of games. You can study her clashes against ChampKB to see how she dismantles a familiar opponent.
Fast Chess and Faster Comebacks
The data says it all: Bodnaruk plays her best chess on weekends and in the late afternoon. Her winning percentage jumps above 64% in the 21:00 hour. She also has a nine game winning streak on record, balanced by a longest losing streak of 11. That kind of bounceback ability defines a career marked by relentless grinding.
Her Blitz rating graph reads like a roller coaster ride:
. From a modest 1764 peak in March 2020, she exploded to 2760 in January 2025, proving that online ratings can be conquered with volume, study, and a stubborn streak.