Nakamura Breaks Bullet Brawl Record With 75 Wins

FM JackRodgers

Updated: Jul 9, 2023, 7:46 AM | 15 | Chess Event Coverage

GM Hikaru Nakamura smashed records on Saturday when he scored 75 wins and 276 points to claim his fifth Bullet Brawl crown along with the $400 first prize. After falling short in the previous edition, he was nearly invincible in the two-hour, 106-player arena, conceding just three draws and five losses during the event.

GMs Daniel Naroditsky and Jose Martinez rounded out the podium with scores of 234 and 213 respectively but were unable to stifle a rampant Nakamura. WGM Meri Arabidze's 32nd-placed finish was enough to snag her the $100 best female prize, while NM Emilio Castellanos topped the Community Bullet Brawl tournament.

Thanks to the community's excitement around Bullet Brawl, the event is now being held weekly and will take place next on Saturday, July 15, 2023, at 10.00 a.m. PT/19:00 CEST.

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

Nakamura held an iron grip over the field after an indomitable start. Despite an early draw with Naroditsky, he was able to build a 29-game win streak, one of the most impressive in Bullet Brawl history. This early buffer meant that the eventual second-placed Naroditsky barely had a chance despite putting together a 68/78 score.

Another week and another huge green streak for Nakamura!

GMs Oleksandr Bortnyk, Dmitry Andreikin, and former world championship challenger GM Gata Kamsky were just some of the famous victims of Nakamura on Saturday, but his most impressive games often came at the expense of lower-rated titled players, where he was able to show off his ability to launch blistering attacks in the blink of an eye.

The battle for second place was a tighter affair. While Naroditsky was hampered by a late start, he steamed ahead of Martinez and fellow streamer Bortnyk. The American GM benefitted from a morale-boosting 78-move win over Nakamura in the second half of the event and consistently added points to his score courtesy of his world-class flagging ability.

Competition for the top female prize was at an all-time high in July's second edition of Bullet Brawl, and Arabidze had to outlast IM Anna Sargsyan as well as multi-time winner IM Karina Ambartsumova; both finished within 20 arena points of the Georgian WGM. Arabidze proved to be clinical when attacking and made king-hunting a priority.

Standings

Rank	Fed	Title	Name	Username	Rating	Score
1		GM	Hikaru Nakamura	Hikaru	3269	276
2		GM	Daniel Naroditsky	DanielNaroditsky	3231	234
3		GM	Jose Martinez	Jospem	3145	213
4		GM	Oleksandr Bortnyk	Oleksandr_Bortnyk	3206	190
5		GM	Matthias Bluebaum	Msb2	3031	189
6		GM	Tuan Minh Le	wonderfultime	3113	170
7		GM	Sergei Zhigalko	Zhigalko_Sergei	3087	159
8		GM	Vasif Durarbayli	Durarbayli	2939	153
9		NM	Dmitry Andreikin	FairChess_on_Youtube	3010	150
10		GM	Rasmus Svane	rasmussvane	2982	142
11		GM	Cristobal Henriquez	Villagra	2970	137
12		FM	Arystan Isanzhulov	Arysya	2932	125
13		FM	Faustino Oro	FaustinoOro	2820	119
14		IM	Thomas Beerdsen	kleinebeer98	2877	112
15		CM	Nika Volkov	NikaVolkov	2849	108
16		FM	Ruben Nunez	Rutricks	2778	108
17		IM	Cem Kaan Gokerkan	ckgchess	2881	107
18		GM	Jose Ibarra	jcibarra	2850	107
19		CM	Eqor Baskakov	stollenmonster	2821	107
20		FM	Goutham Krishna H	splendidkid	2813	104

Bullet Brawl is an exciting new titled arena that features Chess.com's top bullet specialists that now takes place weekly on Saturdays. The format is a two-hour arena with a 1+0 time control; the prize fund is $2,500.

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:

Nakamura Breaks Bullet Brawl Record With 75 Wins

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

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