IM Polina Shuvalova set a new all-time Chess.com blitz rating record by a woman, surpassing the previous mark shared by IM Eline Roebers and WGM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya from last year. The 24-year-old climbed to 2941, edging closer than ever to reaching the 3000 milestone.
Playing as Flawless_Fighter, Shuvalova initially matched the 2932 record rating on Monday. She then claimed the record outright when she won the following game, counter-attacking from a lost position to checkmate her Indian opponent.
The mark rose again when she flagged her opponent in a marathon 106-move game, adding two more points to reach 2941. She has since dropped to a rating below 2900.
Round of applause for Polina!! 👏 pic.twitter.com/Z3tET9uXgv
— Chess.com (@chesscom) February 4, 2026
Shuvalova joins a pretty exclusive list of women who have hit the 2900 mark on Chess.com. Roebers set the previous record of 2932 in June last year, and it was later matched by Maltsevskaya in the end of December. Previously, the record for the highest-rated women on Chess.com was held by GM Kateryna Lagno at 2928. It is worth noting that IM Alice Lee, the 16-year-old U.S. prodigy, set a new personal high on Wednesday with 2912, and could already target Shuvalova’s record.
GM Hikaru Nakamura continues to break the overall blitz record, as he last did on January 29, hitting 3454.
Shuvalova’s skills in speed chess have been well documented. She won the 2023 I’M Not A GM Speed Chess Championship, becoming the first woman to ever win the event. She defeated none other than IM Levy Rozman in the Final. She also reached the Final of the 2024 Women’s Speed Chess Championship and, in the 2025 Women’s Speed Chess Championship, was only knocked out by the winner GM Ju Wenjun, in the Semifinals. Last year, she was a part of Team FIDE that won the 2025 Women’s World Team Championship in Spain.
Now one question remains: Who will become the first woman to hit 3000 in blitz?
