Meet Leonid Starozhilov
Leonid Starozhilov, known online as Leonid_Starozhilov, is a FIDE Master who treats the virtual chessboard like a personal proving ground. After earning the FIDE Master title, he spent years showing that online Blitz is where the real grind happens. With tens of thousands of games played, Leonid is not just a player. He is a marathon runner in a world of sprinters.
From Amateur to Online Force
In early 2017, Leonid's Blitz rating sat near 1610. That number looks almost cute next to his later peak of 2934 (2026-09-15). Through absurd volume, sometimes more than 800 games in a single month, he transformed from a promising amateur into a 2900 level online powerhouse. The chart below tells the story of a player who simply refused to stop improving.
By 2026, he had pushed his Blitz ceiling to 2934, while his Bullet rating touched 2996. His preferred time control? Blitz, without question.
Style and Opening Repertoire
Leonid plays with the kind of energy that makes you check your clock twice. His white win rate is 52.77%, his black win rate is 50.49%, and he reaches the endgame in nearly every battle. He also makes his first capture around move 7.6, which suggests he is always looking for a fight.
He is comfortable steering the game into the Nimzo-Larsen Attack as White or defending the Modern Defense and Caro-Kann Defense as Black. The King's Indian Defense also appears heavily in his black repertoire, especially the Kazakh Variation. It is a mix of solid foundations and offbeat spice.
Rivalries
Every great grinder needs a mirror, and for Leonid that mirror is caliban112. The two have played 607 Blitz games against each other, a number that sounds more like a career than a rivalry. Leonid holds the edge with 429 wins, but the scoreboard only tells part of the story. Those matches shaped his ability to adapt, survive, and keep coming back.
The Marathon Mentality
Leonid once won 26 games in a row. He also lost 15 straight at another point, which is almost impressive in its own way. What matters is the comeback. His comeback rate sits at 87.44%, and even after losing a piece he still wins nearly half of his games. He rarely resigns early, delivers the first check in most games, and uses the queen as his favorite checking piece.
- Longest winning streak: 26 games
- Longest losing streak: 15 games
- Comeback rate: 87.44%
- Best time to play: 01:00
His best hour is 01:00, so if you meet him in a late night Blitz lobby, bring coffee and a thick skin. This is a player who has fully internalized the beautiful chaos of online chess.