Naroditsky's score of 275 is one of the highest scores posted in Bullet Brawl history. Photo: Benjamin Robson.

Naroditsky Runs Riot In Bullet Brawl

FM JackRodgers

Updated: Aug 6, 2023, 6:45 PM | 17 | Chess Event Coverage

GM Daniel Naroditsky won first place and $400 in August's first Bullet Brawl on Saturday after scoring 74 wins and amassing a score of 275 in the two-hour arena. Previous winners GMs Jose Martinez and Oleksandr Bortnyk, who finished in second and third places respectively, fought valiantly to keep up with Naroditsky, however, the American content creator was in punishing form.

An intense battle for the $100 best female prize took place between IM Karina Ambartsumova and WFM Leslie Carolin Torres Hernandez and was eventually claimed by the former in the dying minutes of the event while user "theopera" achieved a dominant victory in the community brawl.

The next edition of Bullet Brawl will take place next week on Saturday, August 12, 2023, at 1 p.m. ET/19:00 CEST.

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

For several years now, Naroditsky's name has been uttered in the same breath as the likes of GMs Hikaru Nakamura, Magnus Carlsen, Alireza Firouzja, and Andrew Tang as the foremost bullet chess players in the world. On Saturday, he reinforced his supremacy in the time control.

Naroditsky has often held the title of the highest-rated bullet chess player on Chess.com. Photo: Benjamin Robson.

Naroditsky proved to be an absolute "knight-mare" early on against every opponent he came across, and his early games were an exhibition of the power of the stallions. In an interview after the 2023 Chess.com Bullet Chess Championship, Naroditsky shared that winning at bullet chess boils down to "flash pattern recognition" and "who sees more short-term tactics." This certainly rang true during Saturday's arena.

With the top three players having scored over 60 wins, it is clear that the best bullet chess players are continuing to push the boundaries of what is possible inside a two-hour arena. In 2021, Nakamura set a new world record for the most victories against unique opponents in one hour in the 1+0 time control, and while repeat opponents are common in Bullet Brawl, recent results beg the question of what other records can be set in the near future.

In the speedrun, Nakamura was able to win every single game in an average of 68.5 seconds. Image: GMHikaru/Twitch.

Martinez was hot on the heels of Naroditsky for much of Saturday's event, but his first-place ambitions were marred by three straight losses to GM Jose Ibarra, FM Juan Cruz Arias, and Naroditsky himself, which allowed the latter to catapult himself ahead of the field.

A tough period for Martinez probably cost him a shot a first place.

The clashes between the Peruvian and Naroditsky throughout the rest of the event also heavily favored the American, with a 6/7 score being posted by the eventual winner. Many of the games were decided by lengthy tactical sequences, and the puzzle below shows just how hard players often work for a single-pawn advantage.

Ambartsumova needed every second to capture the top female prize in August's first Bullet Brawl as she faced a late challenge from Torres. With 15 minutes left on the arena clock, the six-time winner of the best female prize seemed to have the prize wrapped up, though she would concede four losses and two draws, allowing Torres to surpass her by a single point.

Going back to her roots, Ambartsumova launched a rapid queenside assault on FM Arman Geivondian and secured a crucial win to leapfrog Torres and followed this up with a quick draw in the final game to ensure she could not be caught.

As the FIDE World Cup progresses and more of the world's top players are eliminated from the tournament, Bullet Brawl's fields will continue to strengthen throughout August. Tune in next week to witness the speediest tacticians compete or consider going for glory in the community event.

Standings

Rank	Fed	Title	Name	Username	Rating	Score
1		GM	Daniel Naroditsky	DanielNaroditsky	3239	275
2		GM	Jose Martinez	Jospem	3014	236
3		GM	Oleksandr Bortnyk	Oleksandr_Bortnyk	3218	224
4		IM	Renato Terry	MITerryble	3034	194
5		IM	Mykola Bortnyk	Mykola-Bortnyk	2993	182
6		GM	Jose Ibarra	jcibarra	2951	164
7		FM	Ruben Nunez	Rutricks	2846	164
8		CM	Eqor Baskakov	stollenmonster	2880	152
9		FM	Vasily Volovich	BlackBoarder	2837	130
10		IM	Kirill Klukin	Kirill_Klukin	2855	119
11		FM	Arman Geivondian	Ramosha	2742	117
12		GM	Gata Kamsky	TigrVShlyape	2785	112
13		FM	Petros Trimitzios	TrimitziosP7	2909	112
14		NM	Vinesh Ravuri	AnonymousBread	2750	103
15		GM	Aman Hambleton	KNVB	2883	102
16		CM	Eqor Koshulyan	eqorchess95	2699	98
17		IM	Damiano Lew	DamianoLew95	2637	94
18		IM	Arash Tahbaz	Arash_Tahbaz	2869	94
19		FM	Juan Cruz Arias	juancruzarias	2753	84
20		CM	Koohsa Jaferian	MrKooshaChess	2759	80

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:

Naroditsky Runs Riot In Bullet Brawl

Bortnyk Snatches Victory From Turkish Prodigy After Dramatic Flagging

Sevian Wins 1st Bullet Brawl Title Ahead Of FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships