Format
ZN
Zhelev, Nikolay
🇧🇬FIDE 2928604· Male· Bulgaria· Born in 2008
Follow Nikolay ZhelevTrack his monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
Nikolay Zhelev, a 18-year-old Bulgarian player, is rated 1855 — just 3 short of his peak of 1858 (Aug 2025, age 17). He has held steady between 1850 and 1900 for 11 months. 20 rated games in the past year (≈23/year long-term). Recent standard appearances include DOP Men Open Classic 2025, European and World qualifications B-U18, Under the aegis of BSCF, and IV-th International Chess Festival"Georgi Rakovski", under the aegis of BSCF. Also played 2 rapid (including DOP Men Rapid 2025) and 1 blitz events (including DOP Men Blitz 2025) recently. He took a 13-month break between Jun 2024 and Aug 2025.
Competes for Bulgaria since Oct 2018. At junior level, he reached World #50 in U8 and #16, #9, #2, #2 and #2 nationally in U18, U16, U14, U12 and U10.
Current rating
1855
Standard
Rpd1968·Blz1869
All-time high
1858
−3 pts below
Aug 2025 · age 17
Aug 2025 · age 17
Activity
11
games / yr avg. · ≈1/mo
20 past 12 mo · ≈2/mo
classical only
Moderately active
classical only
Moderately active
Signature stat
#60,012
#60,012 · players worldwide · of 218,279
Career timeline
17 entries2025
All-time peak 1858
at age 17 · −3 from today
Aug 2025
16th Bulgarian U18 player
at age 17 · rated 1848
Jan 2025
2024
Inactive for 13 months
paused at 1848 → returned at 1858
Jun 2024
Re-crossed 1800
at age 16
Mar 2024
2023
9th Bulgarian U16 player
at age 15 · rated 1784
Jan 2023
2022
2nd Bulgarian U14 player
at age 14 · rated 1772
Jan 2022
Standard rating history
Peak
FIDE title
Threshold
First rated
Inactive period
COVID-19
FIDE recal.
Activity & highlights
Top opponent
Evolution
+7
1848 → 1855
Tournaments
3
20 games
Score
11/ 2055.0%
8W6D6L
Top 3 wins
Top 3 losses
Last 12 months — tournaments
3 events| Event | Date | Score | Rank | Perf | Δ Elo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Swiss | Sep 2025 | 2/4 | #25 | 1890 | -2.0 |
Round-Robin | Jul 2025 | 3.5/7 | #4 | 1826 | -3.2 |
Swiss | Jul 2025 | 5.5/9 | #18 | 1881 | +12.4 |
Most-Played Opponents
vsSimeon TodevCM
🇧🇬BUL·2091
+1 −4 =3
8 games·last met Aug 2023
View head-to-head →
vsMihail Marzakov
🇧🇬BUL·2119
+3 −2 =2
7 games·last met Sep 2025
View head-to-head →
vsNikola Velikov
🇧🇬BUL·2057
+4 −0 =3
7 games·last met Jul 2020
View head-to-head →
vsSimeon Trendafilov
🇧🇬BUL·2044
+1 −4 =1
6 games·last met Jul 2025
View head-to-head →
vsPetar Delchev
🇧🇬BUL·2091
+1 −4 =0
5 games·last met Feb 2026
View head-to-head →
Rankings
/
Bulgaria
#214
out of 1,136 players
Europe
#43,941
in continent
World
#60,011
out of 400,000+
National ranking
Europe & World
Europe
World
Bulgaria
| 1 | 🇧🇬Follow Veselin TopalovTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,695 |
| 2 | 🇧🇬Follow Ivan CheparinovTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,634 |
| 3 | 🇧🇬Follow Arkadij NaiditschTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,574 |
| 4 | 🇧🇬Follow Martin PetrovTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,547 |
| 5 | 🇧🇬Follow Kiril GeorgievTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,525 |
| 6 | 🇧🇬Follow Momchil PetkovTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,523 |
| 7 | 🇧🇬Follow Grigor GrigorovTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,496 |
| 8 | 🇧🇬Follow Radoslav DimitrovTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,482 |
| 9 | 🇧🇬Follow Tsvetan StoyanovTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,445 |
| 10 | 🇧🇬Follow Momchil NikolovTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,433 |
| ... | ||
| 214 | 1,855 | |
Europe
| 1 | 🇳🇴Follow Magnus CarlsenTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,841 |
| 2 | 🇩🇪Follow Vincent KeymerTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,767 |
| 3 | 🇳🇱Follow Anish GiriTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,764 |
| 4 | 🇫🇷Follow Alireza FirouzjaTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,744 |
| 5 | 🇵🇱Follow Jan-Krzysztof DudaTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,739 |
| 6 | 🇭🇺Follow Richard RapportTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,729 |
| 7 | 🇳🇱Follow Jorden Van ForeestTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,728 |
| 8 | 🇫🇷Follow Maxime Vachier-LagraveTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,721 |
| 9 | 🇦🇿Follow Shakhriyar MamedyarovTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,717 |
| 10 | 🇹🇷Follow Yagiz Kaan ErdogmusTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,713 |
| ... | ||
| 43941 | 1,855 | |
World
| 1 | 🇳🇴Follow Magnus CarlsenTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,841 |
| 2 | 🇺🇸Follow Hikaru NakamuraTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,792 |
| 2 | 🇺🇸Follow Fabiano CaruanaTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,792 |
| 4 | 🇺🇿Follow Nodirbek AbdusattorovTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,777 |
| 4 | 🇺🇿Follow Javokhir SindarovTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,777 |
| 6 | 🇩🇪Follow Vincent KeymerTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,767 |
| 7 | 🇳🇱Follow Anish GiriTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,764 |
| 8 | 🇮🇳Follow Erigaisi ArjunTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,761 |
| 9 | 🇺🇸Follow Wesley SoTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,753 |
| 9 | 🇨🇳Follow Yi WeiTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more. | 2,753 |
| ... | ||
| 60011 | 1,855 | |