Nakamura Reigns Supreme In Bullet Brawl, Claims 6th Title

GM Hikaru Nakamura once again won Saturday's Bullet Brawl and claimed the $400 first prize after scoring 263 points in the two-hour arena. This victory follows his record-breaking 75-win run in the previous event.

In the most stacked edition yet, the likes of Nakamura, GMs Magnus Carlsen, Daniel Naroditsky, Andrew Tang, and Oleksandr Bortnyk battled for their spots on the podium, but Americans Naroditsky and Tang were the ones who claimed second and third respectively.

IM Karina Ambartsumova's 75-point score was enough to secure the $100 best female prize, while NM Emilio Castellanos again claimed the top spot in the community arena.

As always, the next edition of Bullet Brawl will take place next week on Saturday, July 22, 2023, at 10.00 a.m. PT/19:00 CEST.

Just @GMHikaru things 👏

Hikaru wins his SIXTH Bullet Brawl with a brilliant 263 points!! pic.twitter.com/2tmjNPBwJ6

— Chess.com (@chesscom) July 15, 2023

The ninth Bullet Brawl has driven home a fact that cannot be ignored: Nakamura is currently the top dog in bullet arenas. Of the nine, the U.S. superstar has bested the field on six occasions and on Saturday had to overcome four players rated over 3200 on Chess.com.

Although former world champion Carlsen was able to oust Nakamura in their two encounters in the event, immense streaks of 23 and 26 games allowed the five-time winner to surge ahead of the field. Nakamura's games were awash with brilliancies and for those looking for good chess puzzles, look no further!

And now for his dynamic finish against Tang...

Nakamura's lead was so vast that he was able to cease play with 10 minutes remaining on the arena clock and still finish well ahead of the second-placed Naroditsky, who finished strong with a 16-game win streak. A win against Carlsen out of Jobava London was a highlight for the popular content creator.

Aside from the classic rivalries at the top of world chess, a new rivalry in pursuit of the women's prize has been developing between multi-time winner Ambartsumova and WGM Meri Arabidze. Though Ambartsumova was able to win the two clashes against each other on Saturday, Arabidze finished just eight points behind her and continues to be a strong contender in this category.

Noting the increasing popularity of the event among the world's top players, Chess.com's Chief Chess Officer IM Danny Rensch took to Twitter and predicted that Bullet Brawl will be as popular as one of Chess.com's flagship events, Titled Tuesday, in just one year. 

Prediction? #BulletBrawls will be as popular as #TitledTuesday in one year...

PS -- This is happening now on https://t.co/EybVbSZCgc. pic.twitter.com/odVUhlVeCi

— Daniel Rensch (@DanielRensch) July 15, 2023

Now that Carlsen has shown his interest in Bullet Brawl, the event is expected to grow in terms of participants as it becomes more known. For now, the 118 titled players who signed up for July's third edition had a great chance to play some of the world's best players.

Standings 

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
• Naroditsky Collects First Bullet Brawl Title Ahead Of Nakamura, Carlsen
• Nakamura, The King Of Bullet Brawl, Strikes Again
• Bullet Brawl Is Going Weekly
• Martinez Slam-Dunks Second Bullet Brawl Title
• Announcing Chess.com Community Bullet Brawl Tournaments
• Nakamura Wins Bullet Brawl In Final 10 Seconds
• Martinez Scorches 59 Opponents In 2 Hours
• Nakamura Wins Second Bullet Brawl
• Introducing Bullet Brawls And New Arena Options