Zacarias M Ruben D
Zacarias M Ruben D, known online as zacachess, is a FIDE Master who treats the clock as just another piece on the board. While many titled players treat bullet chess as a guilty pleasure, Zacarias made it his home. With more than 7,700 rated games played online, he has built a monument to fast, sharp, fighting chess.
A FIDE Master Built for Speed
Zacarias earned his FIDE Master title and then kept climbing. In blitz, he reached a peak rating of 2569 in July 2024, a number that would make many International Masters nervous. 2569 (2024-07-22) His blitz record stands at 3,580 wins against 3,231 losses, a testament to someone who simply refuses to stop pressing.
Sharpest Openings
Zacarias is a devoted 1.e4 player. His favorite battleground is the Sicilian Defense, especially the Najdorf Variation, which appears in nearly 700 of his blitz games. He also leans heavily on the French Defense, the Scotch Game, and the Caro-Kann Defense. Against 1.e4, he answers with the Sicilian without fear of the mountains of theory that follow.
A classic Najdorf starting point from his repertoire:
Fierce Rivalries
No online career is complete without rivals, and Zacarias has plenty. Against frankpy he has been a nightmare, winning 34 of their 46 meetings. Against Jura Ochkoos it is a dead heat at 14 wins apiece, while Alan Stein holds a narrow edge in their 28 encounters. These repeat pairings are the spice of his daily chess diet.
Resilience and Fighting Spirit
Zacarias plays with remarkable bounce. His longest winning streak was 26 consecutive games, and his comeback rate sits at an absurd 89.44%. Even after losing a piece, he still wins nearly half of his games. His one weakness is tilt: he once lost 21 in a row, proving that even FIDE Masters can have rough nights. He plays his best chess at 9am, when his win rate spikes to 66.67%.
One quirk stands out in his stats: his games almost never end by checkmate. Opponents resign long before the final blow, or the clock simply runs out. For zacachess, victory usually comes from pure pressure.