Naroditsky has won three out of four Bullet Brawl events in August. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

Naroditsky Claims 4th Bullet Brawl Title

FM JackRodgers

Updated: Aug 28, 2023, 8:55 AM | 9 | Chess Event Coverage

GM Daniel Naroditsky finished ahead of GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Andrew Tang in Saturday's Bullet Brawl after scoring 70 wins en route to amassing a 275 score. Following a loss to Nakamura in his first game, Naroditsky ran rampant and procured a 26-game unbeaten streak to assist him in winning the $400 first prize.

WGM Meri Arabidze won the $100 best female prize once again, with her score of 75 allowing her to finish leaps and bounds ahead of her competitors in the category. In the community event, user "advancedrook" finished atop the leaderboard after a close race with second and third placegetters, "PythonEng" and "KajusM."

The next edition of Bullet Brawl will take place next week on Saturday, September 2, 2023, at 1 p.m. ET/19:00 CEST.

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

Despite over 100 titled players entering each edition of Bullet Brawl over the last few weeks, two players have risen above the rest and won each of August's two-hour arenas, Naroditsky and Nakamura. On Saturday, a third contender in Tang entered the race, and the three duked it out to see who could rack up the most wins and claim first prize.

Nakamura, Naroditsky, and Tang are three of the world's best bullet chess players and finished first, second, and third.

Getting a good start has been a key component of every winning run in Bullet Brawl's short history. Nakamura's two losses to Naroditsky, and a loss to bullet juggernaut IM Anthony He, opened the floodgates for his American rivals to jump out to an early lead. Naroditsky's 17-move win in the Jobava London was the highlight of these.

A 35-win undefeated streak in the middle of the arena was the lynchpin of Naroditsky's winning run and the the American commentator's games during this period were marked by tactical artistry and blistering speed. Notable games in this streak included wins over GMs Amin Tabatabaei, Jose Martinez, Denes Boros, and Sergei Zhigalko.

Crossing paths with Naroditsky in the second half of the event effectively guaranteed doom.

See if you can find some of the tactical shots that Naroditsky found below.

Forks seemed to be on the menu for Naroditsky on Saturday...

Pins also helped the content creator win several games (finding the best move here is difficult).

One of Naroditsky's understated abilities is his mental fortitude. When several positions went awry on Saturday, the event's winner almost seemed casual in brilliantly turning them around. Shaking his head after missing a check against Turkey's GM Cem Kaan Gokerkan, Naroditsky responded with the queen sacrifice, 21.Qh5!?, and eventually won the game.

With Chess.com's 2023 Speed Chess Championship looming, Bullet Brawl may see an influx of super-GMs in the coming weeks as players try to find some form heading into one of online chess' most prestigious events. With only four unique winners across 15 editions of Bullet Brawl, it will be intriguing to see if the quartet will be able to maintain its monopoly in the coming months.

Standings

Rank	Fed	Title	Name	Username	Rating	Score
1		GM	Daniel Naroditsky	DanielNaroditsky	3260	257
2		GM	Hikaru Nakamura	Hikaru	3289	225
3		GM	Andrew Tang	penguingm1	3130	218
4		GM	Oleksandr Bortnyk	Oleksandr_Bortnyk	3153	196
5		GM	Rauf Mamedov	Baku_Boulevard	3103	181
6		NM	Janak Awatramani	12teen	2977	166
7		GM	Sergei Zhigalko	Zhigalko_Sergei	3095	160
8		GM	Jose Martinez	Jospem	3075	154
9		GM	Amin Tabatabaei	amintabatabaei	3064	153
10		GM	Tuan Minh Le	wonderfultime	3018	152
11		GM	Vi Pranav	vi_pranav	3013	139
12		GM	Aram Hakobyan	Njal28	3013	135
13		IM	Kacper Drozdowski	Kacparov	2940	126
14		GM	Guillermo Vasquez	gena217	2882	122
15		GM	S.L. Narayanan	IndianLad	2976	120
16		IM	Fiorito Joaquin	lamoniajunior	2823	117
17		IM	Deniz Ozen	denizozen	3002	116
18		GM	Denes Boros	BlueWizzard	2881	111
19		CM	Eqor Baskakov	stollenmonster	2864	108
20		FM	Vasily Volovich	BlackBoarder	2795	107

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 $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:

Naroditsky Claims 4th Bullet Brawl Title

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

Firouzja Posts 42-Game Streak, Outpaces Nakamura