Xiong Surprises Bullet Brawl Field With 'Orangutan' Opening

The former world junior champion GM Jeffery Xiong rocketed to his first Bullet Brawl title on Saturday ahead of 148 other titled players after playing the unorthodox Orangutan Opening in most of his games with White.

Xiong accrued a total score of 158 points en route to capturing the $400 first prize, eclipsing an illustrious lineup featuring GMs Haowen Xue, Daniel Naroditsky, and Oleksandr Bortnyk, who will receive $250, $150, and $100, respectively. The winner of the $100 best women's prize was FM Anastasia Avramidou.

The next edition of Bullet Brawl will commence on Saturday, October 18, at noon ET/17:00 CEST.

Standings

(Full final standings here.)

October's second Bullet Brawl was packed to the brim with talented titled players, so much so that several players with Chess.com ratings over 3000 didn't manage to finish inside the top 20.

Despite 48-time winner GM Hikaru Nakamura's notable absence, the all-time leaderboard was well represented, with Naroditsky, Bortnyk, IM Yoseph Taher, and IM Reza Mahdavi flying the flag on behalf of the short list of former victors.

With a peak FIDE classical rating of 2712 and 15 Titled Tuesday wins to his name, Xiong also had to be considered a contender. When he kicked off the event with a nine-game winning streak, it became clear he meant business.

In most of Xiong's 73 games, he played the Orangutan Opening, also known as the Polish or Sokolsky Opening. With Black, he played the corresponding Polish and St. George Defenses, depending on his opponent's first moves.

For those wondering about the origins of the opening name, the Orangutan was named so after a fateful "consultation" between GM Savielly Tartakower and a primate named "Susan" at the Bronx Zoo in 1904.

The decision to play the Orangutan paid dividends for Xiong—six of his first nine games finished in fewer than 21 moves due to his opponent's struggling to adapt to the opening. Xue was one such victim who was put to the sword in just 13 moves after he lost a bishop while pre-moving in the opening. 

Xiong's streak was eventually snapped by Mahdavi; however, a hat trick of wins over Xue, Paravyan, and Taher in the following games helped maintain the 24-year-old's lead.

Around the halfway mark, Xiong stamped his authority on the arena with an 11-game streak that included wins over GMs Sergei Zhigalko, Naroditsky, and a slew of IMs.

On a few occasions, when Xiong came face to face with his most threatening challengers, he steered away from the Orangutan and took on a more classical approach. After playing 1.e4 against Naroditsky, Xiong played aggressively through the central channels before settling for a draw by repetition when his attack dried up.

The key to Xiong's victory largely came down to his supreme score against the second-place Xue. Of their seven duels, Xiong won six, ensuring that his closest rival couldn't catch him at the top. Their third clash, which saw the American create dangerous connected passed pawns, was particularly instructive.

To credit Xue, a second-place finish was a personal best, and his positioning was earned off the back of enterprising attacking play. Against Taher, Xue unleashed no fewer than three brilliant moves en route to victory.

With this being Xiong's first Bullet Brawl victory, he has become just the second "new" winner after Mahdavi in 2025, due to the dominance of the event's most decorated players.

All-Time Leaderboard

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!

Previous coverage:

• • Announcing Chess.com Community Bullet Brawl Tournaments
  • Introducing Bullet Brawls And New Arena Options