Gleb Vasyliev: Online Chess's Midnight Blitz Machine
Known on the leaderboard as lsam197, Gleb Vasyliev plays blitz chess the way other people scroll their phones: constantly, quickly, and often at three in the morning. Since his first online games in December 2024 he has stacked up more than 18,000 rated games, roughly 12,500 of them blitz, which works out to about 27 games a day, every day. The data officially names 03:00 as his best hour to play. The sample size at that hour is small. The devotion is not.
The Great Climb: From 278 to the 2000 Club
It did not start pretty. His rapid rating nose-dived to 278 in January 2025, a number usually reserved for players who think the horsey jumps over pawns. Then the grind began. He cracked 1000 blitz by June 2025, 1500 by December, blew past 2000 in May 2026, and peaked at 2162 that October. Over in bullet chess the numbers are even sillier, with a peak of 2318. That is a climb of more than 1,500 blitz points in about a year and a half, powered by volume, stubbornness, and median opening prep that grew from 2 moves deep to 5.
Repertoire Report: 1.e4, Scotch Games, and Trap Immunity
As White, Gleb has opened 1.e4 over 5,000 times in 2026 alone (he also tried 1.f3 four times, and those games have been sealed for everyone's protection). The Scotch Game is his workhorse with 1,187 blitz appearances, backed by steady servings of Caro-Kann and French Exchange positions. On the black side he is a certified specialist in the Blackburne Shilling Gambit, a trap he has played or defended against in nearly a thousand blitz games, and opponents have served him the Amar Gambit 345 times hoping he has not seen the cheese. He has seen the cheese. He also survives the Scandinavian Defense 682 times deep into his 1.e4 career.
- Scotch Game: 1,187 blitz games and counting, his most trusted weapon
- Blackburne Shilling Gambit: 939 blitz games, played from both sides of the board
- Amar Gambit: faced 345 times in blitz and still above water
- London Poisoned Pawn line: his one admitted weakness, winning under 39%
The house specialty, for the connoisseurs:
Rivals, Victims, and a Very Familiar Username
Every grinder needs a dance card, and Gleb's is colorful. jerskrew has faced him 61 times and lost 53, which is less a rivalry and more a subscription. NovChess_GM offers a more honest fight at 36-16-5 in Gleb's favor. Then there is Maxim Govorukha, the wall, the villain, the nemesis: 30 meetings and 20 wins for Max. jameslebron12 is a perfect 0-for-17 against him, Coach David has been outcoached 14-2-1, and polina_nesteruk16 stands at a perfectly balanced 5-5-4, the Switzerland of his schedule. The crown jewel is vasylievv, a username suspiciously close to his own surname, sitting at 9-0-1. Family game night at the Vasyliev household must be an event.
Relive the archives: View Game
Clock Flags, Comebacks, and Other Quirks
When Gleb wins, the executioner is often the clock: 2,738 wins by timeout against only 262 timeout losses. When he loses, it is usually violence: 3,847 checkmates received, often by rook, the piece that has checked him a staggering 26,330 times. He is not a delicate player. He is a weather system.
- Longest winning streak: 14 games. Longest losing streak: 13. He has survived both seasons.
- Comeback rate of 87%: drop a piece against him at your own peril.
- One-sided losses in just 1.7% of games: he does not do quiet beatdowns.
- Early resignation rate of 66%: when it is lost, the king gets tipped and a new victim is queued immediately.
- Endgames appear in 74% of his games and the average win runs 76 moves: a grinder wearing a gambler's outfit.
- Stronger with White (51%) than Black (46%), and nearly untouchable at 76% against lower-rated opponents.
- Daily chess record of 19-4-3, because occasionally even he allows 24 hours per move.
- Performs about 21 points better in casual games than rated ones, proving 18,000 games cannot fully kill the fear of a number.
The Bottom Line
In under two years, Gleb Vasyliev went from a 278-rated newcomer to a 2318 bullet player with a 2162 blitz peak, nearly 9,000 wins, and a nemesis list as long as his prep. If you find yourself paired against lsam197 at 2:45 in the morning, play fast, play solid, and whatever you do, skip the Amar Gambit. He has seen it 345 times. He is still here.