Chess: from early challenges to 2000 Rapid

MontyMagnus and SuperMontyMonty: nickname and account

Marco Montemagno plays on Chess.com as SuperMontyMonty; the account records a joining date of 3 January 2023. MontyMagnus is his chess nickname: the profile, checked on 12 October 2026, introduces him as “Marco Montemagno in arte MontyMagnus”. Chess.com also uses the name at the end of its interview updated in 2026.

The profile and archive continue to change. Figures quoted on this page refer to the sources’ dates and to activity recorded on that account.

January 2023: ten challenges and three champions

On 20 January 2023, Montemagno published “Scacchi: 7 giorni, 3 Campioni, 10 Sfide. È andata così” on YouTube; the project also appeared on his social channels and podcast. Episodes refer to an Italian champion, a three-time Italian women’s champion and a Grandmaster. The primary feed and episode indexes document the content project.

The project combines exhibition games and learning. The sources reviewed do not reconstruct all ten challenges with opponents, moves, time controls and results; it is not presented here as a FIDE tournament.

The proposed identification of Maria De Rosa

The initial research suggests Maria De Rosa as a possible opponent in the January 2023 challenge against a “three-time Italian women’s champion”. The suggestion comes from a social post attributed to Chess.com Italia describing De Rosa with the same honours.

Matching the descriptions is not enough to identify her. The name remains a hypothesis until an explicit reference or a full review of the video confirms it.

March 2023: a PogChampsIT 2 finalist

Chess.com’s official programme places PogChampsIT 2 on 20–26 March 2023, with eight participants and double elimination. Those are the dates used here. It is an online tournament for creators.

Montemagno reaches the final and loses to Blur, as recorded in the text and caption of the Chess.com interview updated in 2026. Looking back at the tournament, he recalls a platform rating of around 1100.

Schedule and results: what can be reconstructed

The published schedule lists Montemagno against Marcello Ascani on 20 March, Fraffrog on 22 March and Tumblurr on 23 March; on 26 March it lists Fraffrog in the lower-bracket final and Tumblurr in the grand final. These are provisionally scheduled dates, not complete match records.

The initial research also notes the usernames FAZZONEBAUBAU and FraffrogTheFrog, and a 2–0 result for SuperMontyMonty against FraffrogTheFrog. The bracket was difficult to interpret, and a later check did not establish which round the score belonged to. These details remain unverified.

The overall outcome has clearer support: Chess.com’s later interview describes him as the finalist defeated by Blur. The sources reviewed do not establish the final’s score.

MontyROADTO2000: the public challenge with Piscopo

MontyROADTO2000 refers to the public challenge of reaching a 2000 Rapid rating on Chess.com. Lessons with International Master Pierluigi Piscopo began in January 2024; the initial goal was to get there within a year. The journey was shared through videos and lessons: the chess channel linked by Chess.com uses the address @MontyMagnus.

Episode titles also document variations of the name: the 9 February 2024 episode about MontyMagnus’s games of the week uses #roadto2000sperem; the 3 March episode on critical squares uses #MONTYROADTO2000SPEREM and introduces a new lesson with Piscopo. These refer to the series and its goal, separately from the SuperMontyMonty username used to play.

In the episode “7 regole semplici per raggiungere ogni obiettivo”, published on 2 October 2025, Marco describes studying with Piscopo: they met roughly once a week, when their schedules allowed, to review games and work on concepts. The lessons were shared publicly. He also says Piscopo coached him free of charge.

From a study project to 2000 Rapid

Chess.com traces his progress from a rating of 1475 to lessons with Pierluigi Piscopo, starting in January 2024. A year later, Montemagno is still moving between 1700 and 1800; he later reaches 2000 Rapid. He discusses the result in the episode published on 2 October 2025, before the Chess.com interview’s update on 11 February 2026. The exact date of the decisive game remains unidentified.

The Chess.com article reports 11,640 games in fewer than three years before the milestone. The count refers to that period: it is not a live total, and the source does not present it as a count of Rapid games alone.

Playing volume and its limitations

In the interview, he rounds the total to about 12,000 games and describes playing between work commitments, while travelling and in his spare time. He also recalls long sessions, resignations and games lost because he fell asleep.

He distinguishes reaching 2000 from being able to maintain it. The result remains a milestone even when his rating changes in later games.

2000 on Chess.com is not a FIDE title

The 2000 figure belongs to Chess.com’s Rapid rating system. It does not automatically equal a 2000 FIDE rating and does not confer a Master title. Online platform ratings, federation ratings and titles are separate systems; the number alone does not provide a reliable conversion between them.

In February 2026, he says he may have played over the board four times and considers obtaining a FIDE rating as a possible future goal. The initial research, updated to 16 September 2026, did not find a profile reliably attributable to him in indexed FIDE and FSI pages. That limited search cannot rule out every tournament appearance.

Private games and the archive’s boundaries

In the interview updated in 2026, he also recalls ten games against his eldest son, played about twenty days earlier: nine wins and one clear defeat. This is his account of a private challenge; the moves are not available to reconstruct it.

Chess.com’s public archive lets readers explore games recorded on the account. To report a correction, the most useful reference is a link to the game, its date and, if available, the PGN move file.