Naroditsky's 'Comeback Of The Century' Stops Nakamura From Winning 20th Title
GM Daniel Naroditsky secured his 13th Bullet Brawl title and $400 on Saturday ahead of 160 titled players with a score of 237 and, most importantly, outpacing his nemesis GM Hikaru Nakamura who finished on 236.
GM Jose Martinez's lofty score of 196 was enough to bag third place ahead of GM Oleksandr Bortnyk while IM Polina Shuvalova locked in the $100 top female prize after grappling with many of the tournament's juggernauts.
The next edition of Bullet Brawl will take place on Saturday, March 16, 2024, at noon ET/18:00 CEST.
Standings
| Rank | Fed | Title | Name | Username | Rating | Score |
| 1 | GM | Daniel Naroditsky | DanielNaroditsky | 3195 | 237 | |
| 2 | GM | Hikaru Nakamura | Hikaru | 3266 | 236 | |
| 3 | GM | Jose Martinez | Jospem | 3122 | 196 | |
| 4 | GM | Oleksandr Bortnyk | Oleksandr_Bortnyk | 3141 | 173 | |
| 5 | GM | S.L. Narayanan | IndianLad | 2958 | 167 | |
| 6 | GM | Andrew Tang | penguingm1 | 3060 | 161 | |
| 7 | GM | Emin Ohanyan | OhanyanEminChess | 3016 | 160 | |
| 8 | GM | Abhimanyu Mishra | PursuitOfHappyness2 | 2992 | 160 | |
| 9 | IM | Andy Woodward | Philippians46 | 3003 | 146 | |
| 10 | CM | Eqor Baskakov | stollenmonster | 2927 | 145 | |
| 11 | GM | Sergei Zhigalko | Zhigalko_Sergei | 3008 | 139 | |
| 12 | FM | Havard Haug | bubeliang | 2919 | 133 | |
| 13 | GM | Pranav Anand | adotand | 3002 | 129 | |
| 14 | FM | Faustino Oro | FaustinoOro | 2919 | 124 | |
| 15 | IM | Almas Rakhmatullaev | AlmasRakhmatullaev | 2925 | 122 | |
| 16 | GM | Denes Boros | BlueWizzard | 2929 | 115 | |
| 17 | FM | Tanitoluwa Adewumi | TanitoluaAps116 | 2832 | 112 | |
| 18 | NM | Qingyu Yuan | Abund | 2849 | 102 | |
| 19 | NM | Ethan Song | CuteSheepCloud | 2936 | 100 | |
| 20 | IM | Polina Shuvalova | Flawless_Fighter | 2730 | 98 |
🔥 DANYA WINS #BULLETBRAWL BY 1 POINT 🔥@GmNaroditsky won 67 games on his way to clinching the crown ahead of Hikaru! pic.twitter.com/lsM59ge9VO
— Chess.com (@chesscom) March 9, 2024
The battle for ascendancy between Nakamura and Naroditsky was exhilarating. While streaming live on Twitch, Nakamura gave a running commentary of the showdown between the pair. Each time the players clashed, one of their streaks was broken and after scoring 2/3 against his fast-moving opponent, Nakamura looked like he had gained the upper hand.
Facing a 10-point deficit with 20 minutes on the clock, Naroditsky switched gears and began dispatching challengers in record time. The average game length across Naroditsky's last 16 games was 27 moves, and his score in them was 14.5/16.
This sprint to the finish allowed him to leapfrog Nakamura who had barely put a foot wrong except for a few mishaps while moving too fast including a dirty trick played by FM Tanitolua Adewumi.
Playing against the Philippines' FM Deniel Causo, Naroditsky showcased the speed and tactics required to finish ahead of Bullet Brawl's 19-time winner Nakamura.
Also finishing inside the top 20 were several stars of the future including GM Abhimanyu Mishra and FM Faustino Oro. For Mishra, who became the youngest player ever to attain the GM title, an eighth-place finish showed how dangerous he will be in years to come.
Naroditsky's 13th Bullet Brawl victory places him second on the all-time leaderboard a few wins shy of Nakamura's record, while the third-placed Bortnyk is well behind with four wins. The bullet rivalry between Nakamura and Naroditsky will ensue!
How to review games?
The games from this week's Bullet Brawl can be found here.
Bullet Brawl is an exciting new titled arena that features Chess.com's top bullet specialists and takes place weekly on Saturdays. The format is a two-hour arena with a 1+0 time control; the prize fund is $1,000.
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!
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