GM Mikhail Golubev: The Online Attacker
Who He Is
Mikhail Golubev, known on the platform as Mikhail_Golubev, is a FIDE Grandmaster with a passion for open, attacking chess. Although he plays plenty of blitz and bullet, his preferred time control is Rapid, where he has posted an extraordinary record of 629 wins, 93 losses, and 56 draws. His Rapid peak of 2487 (2026-08-31) and blitz peak of 2814 (2024-12-24) show a player who can dominate at almost any speed.
Career Snapshot
Golubev's online rating journey has been a steady climb filled with uncompromising chess.
traces his path from a strong online competitor into the 2700-plus stratosphere. Along the way he built a reputation for refusing to go quietly. His longest winning streak is 20 games, his comeback rate is 85.68%, and he still wins more than half of his games even after losing a piece.Signature Openings
When Golubev gets the white pieces, he almost always reaches for 1.e4. His opening identity is built around the Sicilian Defense, both as a specialist with White and as a committed Dragon player with Black. The Yugoslav Attack is a recurring theme, and he scores heavily in sharp Sozin lines. He also handles the Scandinavian Defense and Caro-Kann Defense with excellent results.
- In Rapid play, his win rate with the Sicilian Defense is 85.19%, and with the Scandinavian Defense it jumps to 89.47%.
- His black repertoire includes the Blackburne Shilling Gambit, a crowd pleaser that wins 91.67% of his Rapid games.
- Against the Four Knights Game, he mixes sound development with timely aggression.
Rivalries
No profile is complete without a few familiar foes. Golubev has faced notagm974 126 times and turned that rivalry into a lopsided 116 wins, 4 losses, and 6 draws. Against Alexander Rustemov the story is different, with 9 wins, 23 losses, and 2 draws. It is a reminder that even the sharpest attackers meet a tough opponent now and then.
Final Thoughts
GM Mikhail Golubev plays chess the way the old attacking school intended. He is first to give check in 60% of his games, and when he lands that first check he wins 58.66% of the time. His queen is his favorite checking piece, and his white win rate sits at 55.31%. For fans of fearless, forward-moving chess, his games are always worth watching.