GM Hikaru Nakamura is one step closer to an unprecedented 50 Bullet Brawl titles after the speed chess titan won the event for the second week in a row and brought up his 46th victory.
Nakamura got off to a sensational 21.5/22 start in Saturday’s event and eventually finished on 175 points, 27 clear of the second-placed GM Oleksandr Bortynyk and a further seven points ahead of hyperbullet champion GM Andrew Tang.
Nakamura, Bortnyk, Tang, and FM Dincer Tasdogen will receive $400, $250, $150, and $100, respectively, while WIM Mitra Asgharzadeh will receive the $100 best women’s prize for her 16th-placed finish.
The next edition of Bullet Brawl will commence on Saturday, Aug 23, at noon ET/17:00 CEST.
Standings
| Number | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score |
| 1 | GM | Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3313 | 175 | |
| 2 | GM | Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3240 | 148 | |
| 3 | GM | penguingm1 | Andrew Tang | 3237 | 141 | |
| 4 | FM | yavrukurt40 | Dincer Tasdogen | 3118 | 134 | |
| 5 | GM | Micki-taryan | Haik Martirosyan | 3090 | 133 | |
| 6 | GM | wonderfultime | Tuan Minh Le | 3173 | 132 | |
| 7 | GM | dropstoneDP | David Paravyan | 3100 | 120 | |
| 8 | GM | mitrabhaa | Mitrabha Guha | 3008 | 113 | |
| 9 | IM | Zurability | Zurab Javakhadze | 2879 | 113 | |
| 10 | IM | Kacparov | Kacper Drozdowski | 2968 | 106 | |
| 11 | GM | Gareth-Bale11 | Mamikon Gharibyan | 2934 | 103 | |
| 12 | GM | Jospem | Jose Martinez | 3014 | 102 | |
| 13 | FM | BlunderMaster2335 | Serdar Murat Yildiz | 2828 | 97 | |
| 14 | GM | KNVB | Aman Hambleton | 2935 | 95 | |
| 15 | CM | Tassimo777 | Sadullo Azizov | 2858 | 91 | |
| 16 | WIM | mitraasz | Mitra Asgharzadeh | 2771 | 89 | |
| 17 | FM | EddieMarsalla | Ivan Vihor Krsnik Cohar | 2773 | 88 | |
| 18 | FM | Tactican_228 | Timur Kocharin | 2680 | 88 | |
| 19 | NM | RH152 | Ronak Hiwale | 2676 | 88 | |
| 20 | FM | BeneCyrill | Anselm Wagner | 2652 | 87 | |
(Full final standings here.)
Nakamura spearheaded a field of 121 players in Saturday’s arena and was joined by 12 fellow 3000+ rated players: GMs Bortnyk, Tang, Tuan Minh Le, David Paravyan, Haik Martirosyan, Daniel Naroditsky, Abhimanyu Mishra, Jose Martinez, and Guha Mitrabha, as well as IM Renato Terry, FM Tasdogen, and NM Kent Slate.
Top 10 Seeds
| Seed | Title | Name | Rating |
| 1 | GM | Hikaru Nakamura | 3313 |
| 2 | GM | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3240 |
| 3 | GM | Andrew Tang | 3237 |
| 4 | GM | Tuan Minh Le | 3173 |
| 5 | FM | Dincer Tasdogen | 3118 |
| 6 | GM | David Paravyan | 3100 |
| 7 | IM | Renato Terry | 3091 |
| 8 | GM | Haik Martirosyan | 3090 |
| 9 | GM | Daniel Naroditsky | 3079 |
| 10 | GM | Abhimanyu Mishra | 3071 |
One of chess’s most popular content creators and constituents of Chessbrah, GM Aman Hambleton, also joined the fray, finishing in 14th with a respectable score of 95.
However, all eyes were on Nakamura following the world number two’s near-perfect start. While streaming live on Kick, the world number two executed crushing tactical combinations at breakneck speed. Although long streaks are par for the course for Nakamura, he was particularly trenchant on Saturday.
Against four-time winner Martinez, Nakamura accrued an edge as early as move 10 with Black, and by move 18, he forced liquidation into a winning endgame off the back of a dazzling knight sacrifice. 12 seconds were all he needed to topple his 3100+ rated opponent.
Ironically, Nakamura was listening to Pop singer Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” while exhibiting masterful control in his game with Martinez.
Later on, Nakamura caused another “knightmare” for Greek FM Hristos Marinakis, leading to a 20-resignation move. See if you can spot the move played to secure the win below.
18-year-old U.S. NM Sounak Bagchi was the only player able to snatch a half-point off Nakamura during the first half of the arena. Had he resisted the temptation to force a threefold repetition, Bagchi may have found checkmate in three, which almost certainly would have altered the course of the event.
Nakamura’s streak was eventually snapped by Tang; however, he immediately bounced back with another 9.5/10 streak, leaving him with an insurmountable lead.
The surprise packet of the day was the performance of the Turkish FM Tasdogen, who finished in fourth on 134 points. One of the 24-year-old’s finest wins came against Tang, where he outplayed the 12-time winner from the inferior side of a rook and two pawn vs. rook and three pawn ending.
In such a field, Tasdogen’s score of 49/76 is impressive and shows that he is capable of an arena-winning performance. Should Tasdogen win a future edition of Bullet Brawl, he would become the first FM to do so.
All-Time Leaderboard
| Player | All-Time Wins | 2025 Wins | 2024 Wins | 2023 Wins |
| Hikaru Nakamura | 46 | 12 | 19 | 15 |
| Daniel Naroditsky | 29 | 5 | 14 | 10 |
| Andrew Tang | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 |
| Oleksandr Bortnyk | 12 | 2 | 7 | 3 |
|
Ediz Gurel
|
4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Jose Martinez | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Sam Sevian | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Yagiz Erdogmus | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Alireza Firouzja | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Nihal Sarin | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Reza Mahdavi | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Tuan Minh Le | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Yoseph Taher | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
How to review games?
The games from this week’s Bullet Brawl can be found here.
Bullet Brawl is an exciting arena featuring Chess.com’s top bullet specialists. It takes place weekly on Saturdays. The format is a two-hour arena with a 1+0 time control; the prize fund is $1,000. 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!
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