Nakamura Wins Bullet Brawl, Tries New 'Alien Gambit'

GM Hikaru Nakamura secured $400 and his 17th Bullet Brawl title after putting on a tactical exhibition during Saturday's arena, adding to his Titled Tuesday win earlier in the week. Scoring 67.5/73, Nakamura accrued 246 points and was able to outlast the second and third-placed GMs Oleksandr Bortnyk (241) and Jose Martinez (226), who received $250 and $150 for their efforts, respectively.

FM Anastasia Avramidou finished in 15th place with 110 points and was the winner of the $100 best female prize, achieving one of the highest placements for a female player in the tournament's history, while Sundram Kumar once again topped the community event ahead of 350 untitled hopefuls.

The next edition of Bullet Brawl will take place on Saturday, February 3, 2024, at 12 p.m. ET/18:00 CEST. (Note: Bullet Brawl has been permanently brought forward by one hour).

Standings

(Full final standings here.)

just your weekly dose of @gmhikaru going 67.5/73 🎉 pic.twitter.com/uy9MzPMgtT

— Chess.com (@chesscom) January 27, 2024

Nakamura's dominance of 1+0 events has not diminished in the slightest in the new year. In his latest Bullet Brawl victory, the American streamer opted to play an eclectic mix of gambits and aggressive openings that helped him dispatch no fewer than 66 titled opponents.

Early in the event, the world number-three was challenged by Bortnyk and Martinez but stamped out his chaser's chances with a 44-game unbeaten streak in the second hour. During this time, Nakamura won a 10-move game with the "Two-Knights, Caro-Kane" variation of the Caro-Kann Defense (its chief developer and namesake is NM Jeremy Kane).

During the stream, Nakamura referred to the variation as the "Alien Gambit", which is a slightly different relative of the opening that has grown in popularity recently and will soon be added to the opening explorer! If you would like to learn how to play this extraterrestrial opening check out Dyulgerov's analysis of a recent game by IM Levy Rozman (aka GothamChess).

Nakamura also fashioned several stylistic checkmates during the event, most notably against NM Dmitry Korol following a devastating kingside assault.

While the five-time American champion's run is impressive, he did fall victim to Avramidou, who became the first female player to overcome Nakamura since WFM Lile Koridze in November 2023.

In 2009, the eloquently spoken GM Yasser Seirawan stated the following about Nakamura's bullet chess in the foreword to Nakamura's book Bullet Chess: One Minute to Mate (FM Bruce Harper is listed as a co-writer), and the words still ring true today:

"Hikaru (or "H-Bomb" as he is known) is a bullet legend on internet chess servers around the world. His bullet skills are simply extraordinary, and watching him play is a marvelous, and at times jaw-dropping, experience. He is that good." - Yasser Seirawan, 2009. 

Watching him play is a marvelous, and at times jaw-dropping, experience.

—Yasser Seirawan

Just three players, GMs Daniel Naroditsky, Nihal Sarin, and Tuan Minh Le, have managed to finish ahead of Nakamura in Bullet Brawl arenas when he has participated, and the worst position he has ever finished is in second place. Now 15 years after Seirawan's words, Nakamura's stranglehold in online bullet chess tournaments remains intact.

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