Meet Yury Garifulin, FIDE Master
Yury Garifulin, known on the board as YuryGarifulin, is a FIDE Master with a serious online chess habit. He lives on the blitz clock, where thinking is optional and clicking is a survival skill. His online story runs from a modest 1425 blitz rating in the summer of 2022 to a blistering peak of 2796, a climb that looks less like a career and more like a space launch. His raw blitz win rate sits near 54 percent, while his strength-adjusted win rate is closer to 49.6 percent, which is a polite way of saying he sometimes feasts on the unprepared.
The Great Blitz Ascent
Yury opened his blitz account in July 2022 at 1425 and ended the month at 1859 after 73 games. He crossed 2000 in early 2023, touched 2200 territory in late 2024, and then hit the ignition in 2025. In February 2025 he played 189 blitz games in a single month. In August 2025 he played 421. In September 2025 he played 601 games and reached a peak rating of 2796. That is roughly 20 rated blitz games a day, every day, which is either dedication or an intervention waiting to happen.
His bullet rating also climbed to 2679, and his rapid game quietly reached 2219. The gap between his blitz and rapid numbers suggests he likes his decisions fast and his regrets faster.
The Opening Lab
Yury's opening repertoire is a treasure chest of chess.com specials. As White he happily plays the Amazon Attack, the Amar Gambit, and a healthy dose of the Caro-Kann Defense. As Black he answers 1.e4 with the Scandinavian Defense, has logged hundreds of games in the Australian Defense, and will play the Barnes Defense into the middle game with a perfectly straight face.
The Amazon Attack alone has appeared 305 times in his blitz games, and the Amazon Attack: Siberian Attack variation has delivered a 67 percent win rate with the white pieces. Opponents who prepared the main lines are often surprised to find themselves facing something their database files under "experimental nonsense." The nonsense, apparently, is on them.
Friends, Rivals, and a Dragon
Nobody has shared more blitz battles with Yury than volimsicilijanku. They have faced each other 272 times, which is less a rivalry and more a long-term relationship. Against jaksa452 he is practically a final boss, leading 31 wins to 1 loss. Against kuzm1cch he holds a fearsome 51 to 3 advantage.
Every hero needs a nemesis, and Yury's is Dragon84. The dragon leads their personal series 18 wins to 12, which explains why Yury may keep a fire extinguisher next to his keyboard.
By the Numbers
- Longest winning streak: 20 games. Longest losing streak: 11 games. He does nothing by halves.
- Best win rate by hour of day: 4 AM at 83 percent. Worst: 2 AM at 27 percent. The lesson: go to bed, Yury.
- He wins 52.75 percent of games after losing a piece. The position may be lost, but Yury never got the memo.
- His losses average 85 moves while his wins average 67. When he loses, he makes you sit through the whole movie.
- He delivers the first check in 56 percent of games and converts those games at a 61.58 percent clip.
- Endgame frequency: 74.91 percent. He has seen more rook endgames than most players have had hot dinners.
- Tilt factor: 11. Researchers are still debating whether that is brave or just a bowling score.
- Peak blitz rating: 2796 (2025-09-20). Current mood: probably fine.