Kerem Sarp Yekeler is a formidable Candidate Master known for his love of fast-paced chess battles, especially blitz games. With a dynamic and tactical approach, Kerem has made a name on the digital chessboards by combining sharp opening preparation and impressive endgame prowess.
Playing Style & Strengths
Kerem's style is marked by a healthy mix of aggression and resilience. He demonstrates a remarkable comeback rate of 87%, showing he doesn't give up easily once behind—his opponents better beware!
Prefers Blitz time controls, where his skill shines brightest.
Exhibits high tactical awareness with nearly half of games won after losing a piece.
Known for relatively long, strategic games averaging over 70 moves before victory or defeat.
White pieces bring a slightly higher win rate, just edging 50%.
Opening Repertoire Highlights
Kerem's opening choices reflect both classical and adventurous tastes:
Blitz Favorites: A master of the Sicilian Defense, especially the Closed and O’Kelly variations.
Bullet Repertoire: Frequently employs the Caro-Kann Defense and the tricky Amar Gambit, boasting a win rate of over 56% with the latter.
Over 1,400 Blitz wins with a winning percentage just above 50% — not bad at all!
A remarkably long winning streak of 16 games, proving he can polish off opponents in style.
Fun Facts
Kerem’s best time of day to conquer chess opponents is ironically at 5 AM — talk about the early bird catching the queen!
His games feature some serious stamina: on average, he plays over 70 moves in both wins and losses, showing no rush to call it.
Despite being a tough opponent, Kerem knows how to keep calm with a low tilt factor of 12; losing a piece? No sweat, almost half the time he still bounces back to win.
Kerem, reviewing your recent blitz games, several strengths stand out:
Opening Knowledge: Your choice and handling of openings like the Sicilian Defense: Closed and the Caro-Kann Defense show good preparation and understanding, reflected in your win rates above 50% in these lines.
Tactical Awareness: In your wins, you effectively use tactical themes such as controlling key squares and initiating exchanges at the right times, which pressures opponents into resigning or flagging.
Time Management: You generally keep a healthy amount of time in your games, allowing you to make considered decisions even in blitz, which is crucial.
Endgame Technique: When winning, you demonstrate confidence converting advantages — such as dominant control of open files and creating threats with passed pawns.
Areas for Improvement
To enhance your play and rating further, consider focusing on these areas:
Handling Pressure in Complex Positions: Your recent losses indicate moments where defensive technique can improve, especially against active opponent counterplay. Reviewing how to simplify or hold difficult positions could help reduce losses.
Opening Variety and Adaptation: While you excel in specific Sicilian and Caro-Kann lines, exploring more variations might catch opponents off-guard and increase your win rate. Also, pay attention to less successful openings where your win rate dips under 40% to shore up weaknesses.
Draw Management: With relatively few draws, sometimes games can be lost trying too hard for the win. Knowing when to settle for a draw in balanced positions can prevent rating drops and preserve energy over many blitz games.
Consistency Under Time Pressure: Even though your time management is solid, some losses on time indicate room to streamline moves in critical moments to avoid flagging.
Rating and Performance Trends
Your general rating trend over the past year shows positive growth with recent minor fluctuations:
Overall you have maintained a solid performance with a strength adjusted win rate of about 50.7%, which is quite competitive in blitz.
Recent months show some rating decrease (-58 in 1 month, -16 in 3 months), but the trend slopes demonstrate that you continue to improve your skills steadily on a longer time scale.
Your average performance in popular openings is strong, but tightening your play in some subvariations can help convert more games into wins, boosting your rating.
Practical Suggestions
Analyze Critical Moments: Use your recent loss games to identify turning points. Look for moves that shifted momentum and explore alternatives through engine analysis or coach feedback.
Expand Opening Repertoire: Integrate a few new lines or variations to keep your opponents guessing, especially against those who successfully navigate your main lines.
Endgame Training: Drill key endgame patterns relevant to blitz (e.g., rook and pawn vs rook) to improve your confidence in closing games.
Practice Time Pressure Scenarios: Engage in timed puzzles or blitz games with reduced time to get better at quick decision-making without blunders.
Maintain Physical and Mental Focus: Blitz demands alertness. Short breaks and focus exercises between sessions can reduce fatigue-driven errors.
Final Thoughts
Keep building on your strong opening foundations and take advantage of your good tactical instincts. With attention to defensive play and time management, you can reduce losses significantly. As your rating trend suggests, steady improvement is ongoing — maintain this trajectory and continue analyzing your games deeply to keep climbing.
