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GM Hikaru Nakamura smashed records on Saturday when he scored 75 wins and 276 points to claim his fifth Bullet Brawl crown along with the $400 first prize. After falling short in the previous edition, he was nearly invincible in the two-hour, 106-player arena, conceding just three draws and five losses during the event.
GMs Daniel Naroditsky and Jose Martinez rounded out the podium with scores of 234 and 213 respectively but were unable to stifle a rampant Nakamura. WGM Meri Arabidze‘s 32nd-placed finish was enough to snag her the $100 best female prize, while NM Emilio Castellanos topped the Community Bullet Brawl tournament.
Thanks to the community’s excitement around Bullet Brawl, the event is now being held weekly and will take place next on Saturday, July 15, 2023, at 10.00 a.m. PT/19:00 CEST.
How to review games?
The games from July’s second Bullet Brawl can be found here.
Nakamura held an iron grip over the field after an indomitable start. Despite an early draw with Naroditsky, he was able to build a 29-game win streak, one of the most impressive in Bullet Brawl history. This early buffer meant that the eventual second-placed Naroditsky barely had a chance despite putting together a 68/78 score.
GMs Oleksandr Bortnyk, Dmitry Andreikin, and former world championship challenger GM Gata Kamsky were just some of the famous victims of Nakamura on Saturday, but his most impressive games often came at the expense of lower-rated titled players, where he was able to show off his ability to launch blistering attacks in the blink of an eye.
The battle for second place was a tighter affair. While Naroditsky was hampered by a late start, he steamed ahead of Martinez and fellow streamer Bortnyk. The American GM benefitted from a morale-boosting 78-move win over Nakamura in the second half of the event and consistently added points to his score courtesy of his world-class flagging ability.
Competition for the top female prize was at an all-time high in July’s second edition of Bullet Brawl, and Arabidze had to outlast IM Anna Sargsyan as well as multi-time winner IM Karina Ambartsumova; both finished within 20 arena points of the Georgian WGM. Arabidze proved to be clinical when attacking and made king-hunting a priority.
Standings
| Rank | Fed | Title | Name | Username | Rating | Score |
| 1 | GM | Hikaru Nakamura | Hikaru | 3269 | 276 | |
| 2 | GM | Daniel Naroditsky | DanielNaroditsky | 3231 | 234 | |
| 3 | GM | Jose Martinez | Jospem | 3145 | 213 | |
| 4 | GM | Oleksandr Bortnyk | Oleksandr_Bortnyk | 3206 | 190 | |
| 5 | GM | Matthias Bluebaum | Msb2 | 3031 | 189 | |
| 6 | GM | Tuan Minh Le | wonderfultime | 3113 | 170 | |
| 7 | GM | Sergei Zhigalko | Zhigalko_Sergei | 3087 | 159 | |
| 8 | GM | Vasif Durarbayli | Durarbayli | 2939 | 153 | |
| 9 | NM | Dmitry Andreikin | FairChess_on_Youtube | 3010 | 150 | |
| 10 | GM | Rasmus Svane | rasmussvane | 2982 | 142 | |
| 11 | GM | Cristobal Henriquez | Villagra | 2970 | 137 | |
| 12 | FM | Arystan Isanzhulov | Arysya | 2932 | 125 | |
| 13 | FM | Faustino Oro | FaustinoOro | 2820 | 119 | |
| 14 | IM | Thomas Beerdsen | kleinebeer98 | 2877 | 112 | |
| 15 | CM | Nika Volkov | NikaVolkov | 2849 | 108 | |
| 16 | FM | Ruben Nunez | Rutricks | 2778 | 108 | |
| 17 | IM | Cem Kaan Gokerkan | ckgchess | 2881 | 107 | |
| 18 | GM | Jose Ibarra | jcibarra | 2850 | 107 | |
| 19 | CM | Eqor Baskakov | stollenmonster | 2821 | 107 | |
| 20 | FM | Goutham Krishna H | splendidkid | 2813 | 104 |
Bullet Brawl is an exciting new titled arena that features Chess.com’s top bullet specialists that now takes place weekly on Saturdays. The format is a two-hour arena with a 1+0 time control; the prize fund is $2,500.
Much like Titled Tuesday and Arena Kings, Bullet Brawl often features top GMs, including Hikaru Nakamura, Daniel Naroditsky, Andrew Tang, Tuan Minh Le, and many more!
Previous coverage:
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