Naroditsky scored 70 wins, four draws, and 10 losses en route to victory. Photo: Benjamin Robson.

Naroditsky Stuns In Photo Finish With Nakamura

FM JackRodgers

Updated: Oct 23, 2023, 1:55 PM | 51 | Chess Event Coverage

GM Daniel Naroditsky continued his domination of October's Bullet Brawls after finishing three points ahead of 10-time winner GM Hikaru Nakamura in a race to the finish on Saturday. In a tournament graced by the presence of top players such as GMs Magnus Carlsen, Andrew Tang, and Nihal Sarin, Naroditsky's 70-win run is his best yet and he is the deserving winner of the $400 first prize.

Behind the two bullet juggernauts, Tang claimed the $150 third prize while the newly crowned "I'M Not A GM" Speed Chess Champion, IM Polina Shuvalova, took the $100 top female prize. In the community event, "advancedrook" once again triumphed in the event with 69 wins, one draw, and eight losses.

The next edition of Bullet Brawl will take place on Saturday, October 28, 2023, at 1 p.m. ET/19:00 CEST.

How to review games?
The games from October's third Bullet Brawl can be found here.

In Saturday's two-hour titled arena, 125 players competed, and this week's tournament was the most top-heavy in recent times, courtesy of the 2023 Qatar Masters ending and relieving several of the world's top players who turned up and showed their bullet prowess.

For Naroditsky, winning his eighth Bullet Brawl title was more difficult than usual. However, having toppled Nakamura in the very first game, the American commentator showed he was up to the challenge.

Though Naroditsky's overall scores against Nakamura and Carlsen, arguably the world's best online speed chess players, were 2/6 and 1/3 respectively, it was his superiority over the rest of the field and trademark quick finishes that allowed him to take the title.

Finishing ahead of Nakamura in Bullet Brawl has been an impossible task for anyone but Naroditsky thus far, and doing so required several clutch moments.

With 10 minutes left on the arena clock and Nakamura ahead by a single win, it appeared as though he would storm home off the back of an eight-game winning streak. The world number-four found himself paired with the dangerous IM Kirill Klukin and was held to a draw after 45 moves, a result that would allow Naroditsky to tie things up.

The final minute of the event was quite possibly the most intense that Bullet Brawl has seen in its short history, and Nakamura, on the cusp of victory against CM Artem Bardyk, missed a timely rook sacrifice that led to a stalemate, while Naroditsky simultaneously flagged his opponent in the last moments.

Remarkably, Naroditsky and Nakamura have won 78% (or 18 out of 23) of Bullet Brawls events since its inception and are now locked in a battle for the most wins (currently Nakamura leads Naroditsky 10 to eight).

Player	Wins
Hikaru Nakamura	10
Daniel Naroditsky	7
Jose Martinez	2
Nihal Sarin	2
Oleksandr Bortnyk	1

Viewers can expect the rivals to up the ante over the next few weeks as the race becomes tighter and more top players show their faces.

Standings

Rank	Fed	Title	Name	Username	Rating	Score
1		GM	Daniel Naroditsky	DanielNaroditsky	3306	253
2		GM	Hikaru Nakamura	Hikaru	3276	250
3		GM	Andrew Tang	penguingm1	3174	217
4		GM	Jose Martinez	Jospem	3130	216
5		GM	Oleksandr Bortnyk	Oleksandr_Bortnyk	3122	188
6		GM	Vi Pranav	vi_pranav	3091	179
7		GM	Christopher Yoo	ChristopherYoo	3090	163
8		IM	Yoseph Taher	yosephtaher	3035	149
9		GM	Leon Livaic	Elsa167	2958	144
10		GM	Tuan Minh Le	wonderfultime	3060	139
11		FM	Goutham Krishna	splendidkid	2890	123
12		IM	Bojan Maksimovic	mbojan	2885	123
13		IM	Kirill Klukin	Kirill_Klukin	2850	121
14		CM	Nika Volkov	NikaVolkov	2912	118
15		GM	Sergei Zhigalko	Zhigalko_Sergei	3064	115
16		CM	Artem Bardyk	BardArtem	2798	114
17		FM	Robby Adamson	BLITZMASTER	2769	111
18		GM	Ronen Har-Zvi	OldweakGM	2821	102
19		CM	Eqor Baskakov	stollenmonster	2814	99
20		FM	Gabriel Arteaga	Gravity_Chess	2892	99

Bullet Brawl is an exciting new titled arena that features Chess.com's top bullet specialists and now 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!

Previous coverage:

Naroditsky Stuns In Photo Finish With Nakamura

Nakamura Outshines 8 Former Bullet Brawl Winners, Claims 34th Title

Martinez Captures 4th Bullet Brawl Title Ahead Of Nakamura, Naroditsky, Tang