Kerim Demirkol  ·  Website Launch  ·  March 2026
Now Live Every Move Counts  ·  One Move to Mastery ↗ Store Buy direct · Bandcamp
Music is out.  Two original chess songs — available to stream & own.

I am 16.
This is everything I have built — and everything I am building toward.

Oceanman Champion. FIDE International Chess Master. Certified Personal Trainer. Paralympic coaching assistant. Borlaug Scholar. Author. Aspiring doctor. Three words that hold it all together — and a website that finally shows the full picture.

All of it. At once. On purpose.
Who I Am

Six domains. One person. No backup lane.

Borlaug Scholar — January 2023
World Food Prize Foundation  ·  Wageningen University & Research
Named a Borlaug Scholar

Inaugural World Food Prize – Wageningen Youth Institute  ·  26 January 2023  ·  Wageningen University & Research, Netherlands

Awarded in recognition of research and presentation of scientific and policy recommendations — in the legacy of Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, father of the Green Revolution, 1970 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and founder of the World Food Prize, who saved more lives than any other person that has ever lived.
Read the full Borlaug page ↗
Certifications & Credentials
Sports Titles & Championships
Oceanman World Champs 10KM · Top 10 Age Category · Dec 2025 Oceanman Junior Champion · Ayia Napa, Cyprus · Oct 2025 Oceanman 10KM Champion · Aktau, Kazakhstan · Sep 2025 FIDE Arena International Chess Master · 2024 FIDE Arena Master (AFM) · 2022 FIDE Arena Candidate Master (ACM) · 2022
Professional Certifications — SIFA / Smart Gym Trading
Personal Trainer · EQF Level 4 · EREPS/EuropeActive · Mar 2025 Fitness Instructor · REPs Endorsed · Mar 2025 Suspended Fitness Training · SIFA · Apr 2025 Functional Training Specialist · REPs Approved · Aug 2025
Academic & Scholarship
Borlaug Scholar · World Food Prize Foundation · Jan 2023 Wageningen Youth Institute · Inaugural Cohort Laurel Springs School · Grade 11 · Biology, Chemistry, English Pre-Medicine Pathway · Medical School Applicant
Work Experience
Fitness Instructor Assistant · Qatar National Paralympic Committee · Aug–Dec 2025
The Book
Memoir in Progress · 2026
The Grandmaster I Never Became

Written at 16. Lived from 12. A memoir about setting an ambitious goal young, falling short of it in public, and discovering what actually grows in the space where the goal used to be. Seven countries. Fifteen coaches. Three titles. One honest account of what ambition, failure, and rebuilding actually look like from the inside — and what they teach you about every other pursuit that follows.

Further Reading on Medium
01 I Set a Goal at 12 to Become a Chess Grandmaster by 16. I’m 16 Now. — The full essay on ambition, Budapest, and what the goal left behind. Calculate
02 My Rating Went Up 184 Points in One Tournament. Six Weeks Later I Understood Why That Was the Problem. — A photo essay on ceilings, floors, and the work between them. Commit
03 Chess Didn’t Make Me a Grandmaster. Here’s What It Made Me Instead. — Five lessons from four years of competitive chess, illustrated. Continue