Nakamura Is Bullet Brawl GOAT After 74-Game Undefeated Run

GM Hikaru Nakamura has reaffirmed his status as the king of Bullet Brawl after going 74 games without a single loss during Saturday's arena. With 70 wins, four draws, no losses, and 269 points to his name, Nakamura was the deserving winner of the $400 first prize. Podium regulars GMs Daniel Naroditsky and Oleksandr Bortnyk had to settle for second and third respectively.

A 20th-place finish for IM Karina Ambartsumova allowed her to snap up the $100 top women's prize, while Cesar Frank Talledo Lagos scored 76/83 and accumulated 275 points to take the community event.

The next Bullet Brawl will commence on Saturday, June 1, 2024, at noon ET/18:00 CEST.

Standings

Since the inception of Bullet Brawl, Nakamura has dominated almost every edition he has played in, and the world number-three possesses records for the most wins (25) and the longest winning streak (59). Yet one achievement alluded him until Saturday... an undefeated run. 

In a field bristling with 3000-rated, bullet-playing GMs such as Naroditsky, Bortnyk, Jorden van Foreest, and Eric Hansen, Nakamura had his work cut out for him. However, after two hours of play, just four players—FM Gabriel Arteaga, NM Kent Slate, GM, Emin Ohanyan, and GM Ediz Gurel—were able to hold him to draws.

For his 72/74 score, Nakamura's rating performance was 3211 and even this lofty number didn't do justice to the level of consistency shown by the winner. To understand how deftly Nakamura handled his opponents, one needn't look further than several exchange sacrifices he executed at blistering speed during the arena.

Chessbrah's Hansen wasn't immune to Nakamura's wrath either. After building a seemingly promising position against his opponent's Modern Defense, the Canadian was stunned by a defensive brilliancy that Nakamura played in just two seconds.

Hansen recovered well from the loss and secured a sixth-place finish with 160 points. One of the highlights of his tournament is a classy conversion against Ambartsumova where he shows the power of passed pawns.

On a day when catching Nakamura was close to impossible, second-place finisher Naroditsky proved that perseverance pays and finished just 15 points (approximately four wins) shy of the lead after playing 15 games more than the winner.

After winning 25 editions of Bullet Brawl and snapping up every record possible, the only way that Nakamura can improve on Saturday's performance is by turning his few draws into wins and posting a perfect score. This feat may have to wait, though, as Nakamura will turn his attention to the 2024 Chess.com Bullet Chess Championship where he will enter as a dual-favorite alongside GM Magnus Carlsen. 

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

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