Xeniya Balabayeva, Woman Grandmaster (WGM)
Meet Xeniya Balabayeva, also known in the online chess realm as Xeniya2005, a formidable Woman Grandmaster who dances through the 64 squares with a blend of tactical brilliance and gritty resilience. Starting her recorded journey with modest blitz ratings just above 1000 in 2018, Xeniya has skyrocketed to a blitz peak rating of 2539 by 2024 – quite the chess metamorphosis from fledgling to fierce competitor!
Known as the queen of quick decisions, her blitz games are nothing short of a rollercoaster, boasting over 800 wins out of approximately 1,300 games. For someone who may sometimes bid early farewells with a humble 2.57% early resignation rate, her endgames tell a story of perseverance and precision, occurring in nearly 83% of her matches. With an average of just over 73 moves per win, patience and strategic depth truly define her play.
Xeniya’s tactical awareness borders on superhero level — a 100% win rate after losing a piece means she’s not just fighting back; she’s often turning setbacks into spectacular victories. She's capable of staging comebacks 88% of the time, proving her opponents better pack snacks and stay for the long haul.
With a playful streak in timing, she’s most deadly when the clock strikes between 9 AM and noon, crushing opponents with win rates peaking at nearly 83%. She even achieves a perfect 100% win rate at 4 AM—either a nocturnal chess genius or a sleep-deprived chess wizard casting spells on pawns.
A fierce competitor for both white and black pieces (White win rate: 64.07%, Black win rate: 62.44%), Xeniya loves blitz but also dabbles seriously in rapid and bullet formats, exhibiting solid win rates in these as well. Her longest winning streak? An impressive 29 games! That’s like winning almost a whole tournament without breaking a sweat.
Against friends and foes alike, she’s battled many opponents, with varying success against frequent rivals such as liya265 with a 53% win rate and karinachess1 at 16.67% — showing that even grandmasters have their nemeses.
Off the board, one can only imagine Xeniya's humor: perhaps she jokes that her chess style is “equal parts grandmaster grit and blitz ninja reflexes,” or that her favorite opening is "Top Secret" because, well, it keeps everyone guessing — including herself!
In a world of kings and queens, Xeniya Balabayeva rules her own kingdom with poise, brains, and a bit of cheeky charm.