The Best UNational Players Today, Part 3

Chess. It's a world of wonders and a world of strategy. Everyone knows this. Certainly UNational's top 15, no? Yes, they do.

The other day I went over my personal UNational top 6-10. The days prior I went through 1-5. Today is the final part of this series, going over ranks 11-15.

11. Ryder Mako

This guy has a main character name, just saying. Anytime someone in UNational hears the name 'Mako', they know they're in for the long run. Mako drives his opponents crazy during the games, sometimes having made them forfeit within 20 lines.

This guy is extremely aggressive, both over the board and interactively with others. He makes those around him uncomfortable, and over the board he makes people question everything.

This guy also earned the nickname 'Board Shark'. One, for his name, two, for his aggressiveness during the games. Think of the Mittens bot. He's about that aggressive. However, he is also thoughtful of his moves. Basically take Stockfish and Mittens, then mash them together. Stockmittens is basically what this guy is.

Even players like Mason Wright and Naomi Hayward will have a difficult time against this man. He makes them doubt themselves. Playing him is essentially playing Stockfish. He doesn't double back on his moves. He does them and has no second thought.

Though he only has 2241 UNE, everyone has been calling him the goat of UNational. In the December Snow Tournament of 2025, he has a chance to prove this, assuming he makes it to round 4 of the tournament (where he will be pitted against Rudy Tillmann, 2352 UNE).

Despite a playing UNE of 2241, he has a performance well above that. 2975 performance UNE, placing him 4th by performance.

In this game below, he ravages Naomi into an embarrassing checkmate. He forces a drive of unimaginable force, until she's defeated. He, as seen, chokes her on the board.

12. Richard Hutch

Richard Hutch is underestimated. Many who face him think it will be an easy win. This is simply because he looks different. The explanation behind that is that he has down syndrome. However, it doesn't make him weird. He is extremely intelligent.

Hutch has a UNE of 2222. He worked hard to obtain this, advancing 18 rounds in the Elo set. By performance, he goes from 17th to 5th, with a performance UNE of 2970, just shy of Mako.

Not only is he incredibly good at the game, but he also is nice as a person altogether. I played him once, and needless to say I got destroyed. However, during the game, he kept looking at moves I should play (I did not ask for it). He does not do this during tournaments.

Also, against many peoples' beliefs, he is not loud during tournaments. He's quieter than Mason Wright (remember, Mason is 11), even though he is younger (at 10 years of age).

Amongst the UNational players, he is by far one of the most popular. Though he does not have social media (yet).

In this game below, you can see he simply overshadows his opponent's moves. He makes it difficult to play against him. Like it's actually difficult.

13. Hayden Morales

He would be higher, but those above are simply better by most standards.

Hayden used to be low rated like myself (now, though). He participated in the Elo set and now is higher rated than me (cry). He has a new UNE of 2189. This UNE places him 20th by standardized UNE. However, by performance he places 6th, with a performance UNE of 2950.

He is a strong threat over the board, even being able to beat Rudy Tillmann (as seen in the 2025 5th Annual Autzen Stadium Classical Tournament). To this day (though its hardly been 3 weeks) I don't know how I beat Hayden.

Hayden not only is able to beat Rudy, he has a chance to make it to the top 3 in the December Snow Tournament. Everyone is speculating he will play Rudy in round 3, assuming he beats Naomi Hayward in round 2, and Ryder Mako in round 1.

Below is Hayden's game against Rudy Tillmann from the Autzen Stadium Tournament, where he had a long game against him in a back-and-forth battle. What do you notice in the late endgame? Specifically lines 60-61?

14. Marcel Hailey

She's a brilliant mind, and the youngest female player in the UNational top 25. No, I am not saying her age.

With a UNE of 2165, she ranks 22nd in all of UNational, though by performance she places 10th with 2790 performance UNE. And her rating certainly shows.

She has yet to play in any official UNational Tournaments, though she commonly played in events, such as the 2018 Neon Nights Open at Pinger's Arcade. She also performed in the most recent event, which is the 2025 Arizona Dry Open, Grand Canyon, Arizona.

She's made a small name for herself, usually coming out in first in many of those non-tournament events. Also, she has a crazy record. That record being that she has won the most non-tournament events, at 36 of those events. Second place win count of non-tournament events is 15. She has more than double that record (she claimed the record for herself back in 2021, when she won her 16th at the 2021 Neon Nights Open at Chuck-E-Cheese).

This is the second longest game in UNational history. Travis Jensen was not much of a challenge, but when put into an engine, they both played the top moves most of the time. However, Marcel is simply better than Travis.

Also if you didn't notice, the queen that Marcel starts with is the exact same one as the one from the beginning of the game. I find this a feat that can't be crowned. I have never seen this in a game of this length (93 lines, ~6.5 hours of playtime).

15. Devon D'Ambrosi

I feel like I should have mentioned him earlier, but there's a reason I didn't. Though his UNE is extremely high, at a staggering 2279, his performance UNE is exactly the same, ranking him very low by performance.

Some people think he should have a higher performance rating, and I am one of those who agrees. Devon has shown potential before, so why can't he do it now?

One thing about Devon is that he is commonly late for tournaments, even before 2023, when he started tournaments, he was late to events. He usually makes up for it, but lately he has not. He has been late, left a minute on his timer, and won. But now he is being late, a minute on his timer, and losing within 5 seconds.

Many players argue that he should not be in the top 50 at all, but he got his spot here fair and square. At the UNational Quarters during the Elo set, he wasn't late. In fact, he made it all the way to round 23 without being late for a single one. So, that said, below is his round 23 game, where he did end up losing the game, however it is still a good game.

And that's it! All those 15 are the best players in my opinion, and some directors agree. As a representative of UNational, though, I have to know my players. This proves it well. If a director were to read this, he wouldn't know the difference between me and a director.

Thank you for staying with me to the end! The whole series of the top 15 took me hours to make, especially with that weekly puzzle in the middle of it all.

Thank you for reading this post, and I hope you enjoyed it! Read back my other posts, especially if you haven't read the first two of this.

Consider dropping a follow and a comment if you have questions or concerns, or just something to say! I love the support you guys give me, and I wouldn't keep posting without it.

Stay tuned for my next post!