Tiebreaks Favor Firouzja In Photo Finish With Nakamura
A dramatic showdown between GM Alireza Firouzja and GM Hikaru Nakamura during Saturday's Bullet Brawl culminated in Firouzja edging out Nakamura on tiebreaks, marking the first time in history that first has been decided this way.
Firouzja led for most of the event but was eventually caught by Nakamura on 165 points. However, one extra win secured his second Bullet Brawl title and the $400 first prize. Nakamura gained $250 for second place.
GMs Ediz Gurel and Andrew Tang will receive $150 and $100 for third and fourth, while FM Anastasia Avramidou earned the $100 best women's prize after edging out IM Karina Ambartsumova on tiebreaks.
The next edition of Bullet Brawl will commence on Saturday, June 28, at noon ET/17:00 CEST.
Standings
| Rank | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score |
| 1 | GM | Firouzja2003 | Alireza Firouzja | 3276 | 165 | |
| 2 | GM | Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3323 | 165 | |
| 3 | GM | gurelediz | Ediz Gurel | 3168 | 140 | |
| 4 | GM | penguingm1 | Andrew Tang | 3208 | 132 | |
| 5 | GM | Konavets | Sam Sevian | 3122 | 129 | |
| 6 | GM | Parhamov | Parham Maghsoodloo | 3149 | 126 | |
| 7 | GM | Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3179 | 124 | |
| 8 | IM | PiliposyanRobertChess | Robert Piliposyan | 3080 | 122 | |
| 9 | IM | FaustinoOro | Faustino Oro | 3109 | 119 | |
| 10 | GM | OhanyanEminChess | Emin Ohanyan | 3095 | 119 | |
| 11 | GM | Jospem | Jose Martinez | 3152 | 118 | |
| 12 | GM | wonderfultime | Tuan Minh Le | 3111 | 116 | |
| 13 | IM | Mykola-Bortnyk | Mykola Bortnyk | 3044 | 115 | |
| 14 | GM | ckgchess | Cem Kaan Gokerkan | 3020 | 115 | |
| 15 | GM | FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3092 | 114 | |
| 16 | GM | Zhigalko_Sergei | Sergei Zhigalko | 3144 | 114 | |
| 17 | GM | Elsa167 | Leon Livaic | 3002 | 112 | |
| 18 | GM | rasmussvane | Rasmus Svane | 2990 | 110 | |
| 19 | GM | Salem-AR | Salem AR Saleh | 3041 | 108 | |
| 20 | GM | Twitch_ElhamBlitz05 | Elham Amar | 3024 | 108 | |
(Full final standings here.)
Saturday's Bullet Brawl featured more top-flight players than in any previous edition, and 19 of the top-20 places were acquired by players rated over 3000 in bullet time controls. The 41-time winner Nakamura and the five-time classical world champion GM Magnus Carlsen spearheaded the field, and they were joined by a host of other top players, including GMs Firouzja, Sam Sevian, Parham Maghsoodloo, and Dmitry Andreikin.
Bullet juggernauts such as GMs Tang, Oleksandr Bortnyk, and Jose Martinez also joined the fray alongside famed prodigies, Gurel and IM Faustino Oro. Saturday's lineup was so strong that amassing lengthy streaks became anomalous, and consequently, the winning score of 165 was a record low.
Losses to Carlsen and Tang cost Firouzja a fast start, but this was quickly forgotten thanks to a 12-game streak that followed. The French representative bowled over a host of illustrious GMs during this period including Aman Hambleton, Jose Cardoso, Sevian, Rasmus Svane, and Nakamura (twice).
Firouzja and Nakamura's second game was the cleaner of their games, and after both players castled queenside, Firouzja lured Nakamura into opening the c-file with 26.c4!?, leading to the exposure of his opponent's king.
Chessbrah's Hambleton put up firm resistance against Firouzja and found himself up a pawn. Nevertheless, he was soon stunned by a timely exchange sacrifice which soon ended the game.
By the end of the first half, Firouzja possessed a healthy lead, though a lack of streaks meant that the usual suspects like Nakamura and Tang were able to stay in touch. Carlsen proved to be a thorn in Firouzja's side and scored 2/3 against the eventual winner, although Firouzja's win was crucial in terms of the leaderboard.
Having been outplayed by Carlsen in a middlegame stemming from the Sicilian Defense: Nyezhmetdinov-Rossolimo Attack, Firouzja survived a brilliant move and defended valiantly until Carlsen slipped with 50...Re1??.
A patchy period at the start of the second half severely dented Nakamura's chance of claiming his 42nd title; however, the American once again proved that you can never count him out. While Firouzja faltered in the last quarter, Nakamura set up for a sprint finish after constructing back-to-back 17- and seven-game unbeaten streaks.
Martinez, Carlsen, Maghsoodloo, Sevian, Gurel, GM Tuan Minh Le, and Firouzja were put to the sword by Nakamura—his two wins against the latter helped him finish equal-first on points.
In the end, Firouzja's 49 wins compared to Nakamura's 48 resulted in the now-22-year-old being declared the winner of this week's brawl by the smallest possible margin. Firouzja now sits in shared seventh on the all-time leaderboard and will be a force to be reckoned with when he attempts to defend his title in the forthcoming 2025 Chess.com Bullet Chess Championship.
All-Time Leaderboard
| Player | All-Time Wins | 2025 Wins | 2024 Wins | 2023 Wins |
| Hikaru Nakamura | 41 | 7 | 19 | 15 |
| Daniel Naroditsky | 28 | 4 | 14 | 10 |
| Oleksandr Bortnyk | 12 | 2 | 7 | 3 |
| Andrew Tang | 11 | 7 | 4 | 0 |
| Jose Martinez | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Ediz Gurel | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Sam Sevian | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Yagiz Erdogmus | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Alireza Firouzja | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Nihal Sarin | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Reza Mahdavi | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Tuan Minh Le | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Yoseph Taher | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
How to review games?
The games from this week's Bullet Brawl can be found here.
Bullet Brawl is an exciting arena featuring Chess.com's top bullet specialists. It takes place weekly on Saturdays. The format is a two-hour arena with a 1+0 time control; the prize fund is $1,000. 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!
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