Firouzja, Nakamura, Naroditsky, Tang Among Bullet Qualifiers
GMs Alireza Firouzja, Hikaru Nakamura, Daniel Naroditsky, and Andrew Tang are the favorites to win the Chess.com Bullet Open Championship on Sunday. Among 12 qualifiers, these four grandmasters are directly seeded into the quarterfinals.
You can watch the knockout phase starting from Sunday, Dec. 20, at 10 a.m. Pacific / 19:00 Central Europe at Chess.com/tv and Twitch.tv/chess.
The live broadcast of the first day.
Nakamura and Naroditsky finished in first and second place in the first of two 21-round Swiss qualifier tournaments held on Saturday. Tang and Firouzja took first and second in the other qualifier. The other qualifiers are GMs Jeffery Xiong, Vladimir Fedoseev, Vladislav Artemiev, Arjun Erigaisi, Jose Martinez, and Brandon Jacobson as well as IMs Le Tuan Minh and Mykola Bortnyk.
Swiss qualifier 1 (Top 10)
| Place | Seed | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Score | SB |
| 1 | 3 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 19.5 | 251 | |
| 2 | 4 | GM | @DanielNaroditsky | Daniel Naroditsky | 18 | 239.5 | |
| 3 | 9 | GM | @jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 16 | 206 | |
| 4 | 14 | GM | @Bigfish1995 | Vladimir Fedoseev | 15.5 | 198 | |
| 5 | 6 | GM | @Sibelephant | Vladislav Artemiev | 14.5 | 184.25 | |
| 6 | 7 | IM | @wonderfultime | Le Tuan Minh | 14.5 | 175.25 | |
| 7 | 8 | GM | @ArjunErigaisi2003 | Arjun Erigaisi | 14.5 | 174.25 | |
| 8 | 13 | GM | @RaunakSadhwani2005 | Raunak Sadhwani | 14 | 165.5 | |
| 9 | 2 | GM | @penguingm1 | Andrew Tang | 14 | 155 | |
| 10 | 30 | FM | @KazakhFighter04 | Kazybek Nogerbek | 14 | 145.5 |
(Full final standings here.)
Swiss qualifier 2 (Top 10)
| Place | Seed | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Score | SB |
| 1 | 1 | GM | @penguingm1 | Andrew Tang | 18.5 | 229 | |
| 2 | 2 | GM | @Firouzja2003 | Alireza Firouzja | 17.5 | 222.75 | |
| 3 | 4 | GM | @ArjunErigaisi2003 | Arjun Erigaisi | 17 | 206.5 | |
| 4 | 12 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Martinez | 15.5 | 173 | |
| 5 | 8 | IM | @Mykola-Bortnyk | Mykola Bortnyk | 14 | 169.75 | |
| 6 | 22 | GM | @BrandonJacobson | Brandon Jacobson | 14 | 169 | |
| 7 | 10 | IM | @yosephtaher | Yoseph Taher | 14 | 148.5 | |
| 8 | 36 | GM | @dropstoneDP | David Paravyan | 14 | 146.25 | |
| 9 | 18 | GM | @platy3 | Alan Pichot | 13.5 | 159.75 | |
| 10 | 6 | GM | @nihalsarin | Nihal Sarin | 13.5 | 157.5 |
(Full final standings here.)
One player who unexpectedly didn't qualify is the Indian prodigy GM Nihal Sarin. He just missed out on qualification in the 21st and final round of the second qualifier in dramatic fashion:
The lucky one here was 17-year-old GM Jacobson of New Jersey who clinched sixth place, thanks to Nihal's mishap.
The Chess.com Bullet Open Championship is a two-day tournament on December 19-20 with the winner clinching a spot in next year's Bullet Chess Championship. With a $10,000 prize fund on the line, this event features a 1|0 time control in all games and is open to all titled players.
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