Yasel Borges: The Bulletproof International Master
Yasel Borges, who battles online as YaselBorges86, holds the FIDE title of International Master. If his online stats are any clue, he may have sold his soul to the chess clock. He has played more bullet games than most players have played total games, and he did it while barely losing. Actually, he lost plenty, but only after making his opponents sweat.
A Blitz Devotee With a Bullet Habit
Borges prefers blitz, but bullet is where his numbers get absurd. His blitz rating peaked at 2958 (2025-07-01), while his bullet rating touched 2993 (2025-08-12), numbers that would make most titled players uncomfortable. He has also rattled off 26 straight wins, and his longest losing streak of 10 is, for a man who plays hundreds of games a month, basically a coffee break.
His English Opening and Nimzo-Larsen Attack repertoires are backed by a stubborn endgame. He lands in endgames in 88.4 percent of games and wins at a decent clip even after dropping a piece. The man simply refuses to make things easy for himself or his opponents.
Openings and Style
Borges is a pathological 1.Nf3 player who somehow keeps reaching the weird and wonderful Colle Rhamphorhynchus Variation. As Black he leans on the Caro-Kann Defense and the Sicilian Defense, especially the Najdorf, where his blitz win rate is a scorching 82 percent. When he wants to confuse people, he pulls out the Scandinavian Defense and wins anyway.
Games last a long time for bullet. His wins average nearly 94 moves. That is not a typo.
Rivalries
Every hero needs a foil. Borges has built a rivalry with alfilerudito, facing them 249 times and winning 222 of those battles. Then there is TaeKwondoKing, who somehow holds a winning record against the IM. Some threats cannot be prepared for.
The Wee Hours Warrior
According to his numbers, Borges plays best at 4:00 AM, when his win rate climbs toward 68 percent and normal humans are dreaming of pawns. He also has a tilt factor of 10, meaning when he loses, he may stare into the abyss for a while. The abyss, in his case, is usually the next bullet game.
Quick Facts
- Online handle: YaselBorges86
- Total bullet games: over 8,300
- Longest winning streak: 26
- Favorite weapons: the English Opening and the Caro-Kann Defense
- Best time to play: 4:00 AM