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Naroditsky Wins Bullet Brawl Ahead Of Turkish Prodigies
Naroditsky won his 22nd Bullet Brawl title and 11th in 2024. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club.

Naroditsky Wins Bullet Brawl Ahead Of Turkish Prodigies

JackRodgers
| 39 | Chess Event Coverage

Famed commentator and GM Daniel Naroditsky added a 22nd Bullet Brawl title to his resume on Saturday after outscoring Turkish prodigies GM Ediz Gurel and IM Yaqiz Erdogmus, whose combined age of 28 is the same as the winner's. A 23-game unbeaten streak for Naroditsky at the tail end of the event allowed him to pass Gurel on his way to the $400 first prize.

IM Polina Shuvalova won $100 as the best women's player. Her score of 98 gave her a 27-point buffer over her closest competitor, while Cesar Frank Talledo Lagos topped the community event.

The next Bullet Brawl will take place on Saturday, August 17, 2024, at noon ET/18:00 CEST.

Standings

Rank Fed Title Username Name Rating Score
1 GM DanielNaroditsky Daniel Naroditsky 3148 232
2 GM gurelediz Ediz Gurel 3177 213
3 IM legendisback1 Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus 3110 196
4 GM Jospem Jose Martinez 3058 189
5 GM wonderfultime Tuan Minh Le 3159 182
6 IM MITerryble Renato Terry 3115 182
7 GM OhanyanEminChess Emin Ohanyan 3050 182
8 GM LastGladiator1 Aydin Suleymanli 3069 171
9 GM Durarbayli Vasif Durarbayli 2971 164
10 GM Oleksandr_Bortnyk Oleksandr Bortnyk 3070 151
11 IM yosephtaher Yoseph Theolifus Taher 3003 151
12 GM ChessSharkz Kayden Troff 2932 150
13 IM Kacparov Kacper Drozdowski 2946 132
14 GM dropstoneDP David Paravyan 3068 132
15 GM AbasovN Nijat Abasov 2864 124
16 CM Jimonios Dimitrios Papaioannou 2846 107
17 CM calmberserk Vihaan Jammalamadaka 2689 106
18 GM LionTheLeon_06 Leon Luke Mendonca 2860 105
19 IM Flawless_Fighter Polina Shuvalova 2729 98
20 IM CarlosjPineror Carlos Pinero 2718 95
(Full final standings here)

Turkiye is brimming with chess talent and on Saturday, two players hailing from the country did their utmost to outshine the 22-time winner Naroditsky. Gurel announced himself as a contender by toppling the eventual winner in the first game and went on to score 2/4 in their other encounters.

Gurel is on a steady rise to the top. The top player from Turkiye crossed the 2600 FIDE rating mark in the most recent list. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

Of the 15-year-old's games with Naroditsky, the best featured an inspired knight sacrifice on move 25 of a Closed Sicilian Defense.

The 13-year-old Erdogmus also showed early signs of form and defeated prolific speed chess IMs Renato Terry and Yoseph Taher in 20 and 13 moves, respectively.

Despite the Turkish whiz kid's early success, the adage "form is temporary, class is permanent" coined by Greek philosopher Heraclitus presided over the event, and Naroditsky clutched up 14 straight wins to snatch victory from the emerging stars.

Naroditsky scored 14 wins in a row to secure first place.

The Jobava London was the secret ingredient to Naroditsky's success on Saturday. It seemed that in every second game, the U.S. GM was concocting another puzzle-worthy piece trapping or sneak-attack checkmate. See if you can find the moves Naroditsky spotted to secure his three shortest wins during his arena-winning streak.

Eight moves were all Naroditsky needed to ensnare one opponent's matriarch.

Naroditsky's combinations use a mix of forcing moves and temptation, making it difficult to discern between a bluff and a threat.

Naroditsky had notched 67 wins, four draws, and 13 losses when the two-hour timer expired. While his score of 232 was far from his highest, he did play more consistently than 15 other GMs and an array of talented IMs who comprised the field.

Naroditsky splits his time between playing, coaching, commentating, and content creation and is always sharp. Image: Daniel Naroditsky/YouTube.

Away from Bullet Brawl, Naroditsky achieved another ridiculous feat earlier in the week when he dispatched a 2600-rated player in a 30-second bullet game with a blindfold on! Naroditsky was streaming live on Twitch when this occurred so you can replay the stunt below.

Just four wins separate GM Hikaru Nakamura and Naroditsky on the all-time leaderboard and with 12 wins in 2024 for Naroditsky, the gap is closing.

All-Time Leaderboard

*Naroditsky's 22nd win will be added to the leaderboard shortly.

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



Bullet Brawl is an exciting 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:

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