Ilja Zaragatski
Ilja Zaragatski, known online as IljaZaragatski, is a FIDE Grandmaster with a serious love for the blitz clock. His rating path reads like a mountain climb, from around 1300 in 2012 to a peak of 2713 (2026-01-10) in early 2026, proof that volume, patience, and a good opening repertoire can take a player very far.
Career Snapshot
Zarargatski has played more than 2,100 blitz games in the tracked dataset, winning 1,174, losing 848, and drawing 100. He also has 327 bullet wins and 21 rapid wins, for a grand total of 2,690 analyzed games. He is not afraid of volume.
His longest winning streak is 25 games. His longest losing streak is 9. The 25 game streak shows what happens when this Grandmaster gets into a flow state.
Playing Style
Zarargatski is not a player who gives up quietly. His comeback rate is 84.23%, and he still wins 54.76% of games after losing a piece. He almost never resigns early, with an early resignation rate of only 3.18%, and his one-sided loss rate is 3.85%, meaning opponents rarely get to relax.
He is slightly more dangerous with the white pieces, winning 59.03% of those games, versus 54.17% with black. He is also happy to play long endgames; endgames appear in about 80% of his games.
Opening Repertoire
As black, Zarargatski leans heavily on the Philidor Defense, playing it 196 times in blitz with a 56.63% score. He also enjoys the French Defense, particularly the Classical Svenonius Variation, and the Döry Defense. When he has white, the English Opening is a frequent companion, especially the Anglo-Indian, Agincourt, and Symmetrical lines. His English Opening Symmetrical Variation win rate is a stout 68.29%.
A typical Philidor setup for context:
Rivalries and Regular Foes
No online career is complete without regular rivals. Zarargatski's most frequent opponent is Julio Cesar Diaz Rosas, with 36 meetings. Rogelio Jr Antonio is close behind at 33, and Weng Pogi has faced him 22 times.
His most one-sided rivalry is with aldi_05tk, where he holds a perfect 20 wins and 0 losses. He also has dominant records against HumbleSpaceMan and dead-arena, both 14 wins to 2 losses.
Career Highlights
- Peak blitz rating: 2713 (2026-01-10)
- Peak bullet rating: 2438 (2019-08-01)
- Peak rapid rating: 2598 (2022-01-22)
- Longest winning streak: 25 games
- Total tracked games: 2,690
Charts
His blitz journey at a glance:
His best scoring openings:
The Midnight Menace
If you want a quiet game, do not queue up against Ilja Zaragatski around midnight. His sampled win rate at hour 0 hits 90%, and Wednesday is his most successful day at 61.99%. In other words, he is dangerous, consistent, and always ready to grind out another blitz war.