Kirill Klukin IM

Meet the Player

Kirill Klukin, who competes online as Kirill_Klukin, is a FIDE International Master with a serious appetite for speed chess. Since 2016 he has played more than 17,000 rated online games, with a preferred time control that leans unmistakably toward bullet. His career is less a conventional tournament biography and more an epic online marathon with checkmate sprinkled in.

From 1200s to Elite

Kirill's growth curve is a reminder that online ratings can move like rocket ships. In August 2016, his blitz rating sat near 1394 and his bullet rating near 1279. By 2026, he had registered peak ratings of 3113 (2026-05-19) in blitz, 3155 (2026-05-05) in bullet, and 2503 (2026-09-04) in rapid. That kind of climb requires volume, consistency, and a willingness to play at 4 a.m., a time slot where his win rate once reached 80%.

The Grind Behind the Numbers

• Blitz record: 5,992 wins, 4,396 losses, 1,339 draws.
• Bullet record: 2,514 wins, 2,074 losses, 357 draws.
• Rapid record: 528 wins, 22 losses, 59 draws.
• Longest winning streak: 29 games. Longest losing streak: 13 games.
• Comeback rate: 89.45%.

These numbers reflect a player who does not panic. He reaches endgames in over 86% of his games, and his average decisive game runs close to 90 moves. In other words, Kirill will happily outlast you.

Opening DNA

Kirill has built his repertoire around unusual and hypermodern setups. He has played the Döry Defense hundreds of times, often with a positive score, and he is deeply familiar with the Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon, both as a sharp weapon and with the Maróczy Bind. The King's Indian Defense also appears frequently in his games, especially when he wants rich, imbalanced play. The chart below gives a visual snapshot of how his openings have performed.

In rapid, his opening results are especially absurd. He has perfect or near-perfect scores against the Australian Defense, the French Defense: Exchange Variation, and the Modern Defense: Pterodactyl Variation. At bullet speed, he still favors practical and aggressive lines like the Nimzo-Larsen Attack, proving that even the weirder parts of the opening tree can thrive under time pressure.

A Rivalry for the Ages

Every great player needs a worthy foe, and Kirill found one in pultineviciuspaulius. Their head-to-head series stands at 97 games, with Kirill winning 45, losing 45, and drawing 7. That is as close to a coin flip as elite online chess gets. The rivalry is tense, balanced, and probably responsible for a few sleepless nights. Another opponent, Matthias Bluebaum, has caused trouble too, taking 40 wins from their 57 meetings and establishing himself as a genuine thorn.

Fun Facts

• Kirill delivers more checks with rooks than with any other piece, which suggests he loves heavy pieces and open files.
• His best hour of the day is 04:00, with an 80% win rate. Coffee is presumably involved.
• He prefers bullet, ideal for fitting several thousand extra games into an already packed schedule.
• After losing a piece, he still wins about 50.56% of the time, so resigning early is rarely his style.
• His longest streak of 29 consecutive wins is the kind of run that makes opponents check for a supercomputer.