Nakamura Scores 69/79 To Claim Back-To-Back Bullet Brawl Titles
GM Hikaru Nakamura claimed first place in Bullet Brawl and won $400 for the second week in a row after accruing a winning score of 242.
During the two-hour arena, the 67 wins, four draws, and eight losses for Nakamura meant that he was able to finish with an 11-point buffer over the equal second-placed GMs Jose Martinez and Oleksandr Bortnyk. (Martinez won the $250 second prize on tiebreak.)
FM Anastasia Avramidou's 19th-placed finish made her the winner of the $100 best female player prize while user "Singam_Dance" dominated the community event, winning 73 games for a total score of 273 points.
November's final Bullet Brawl will take place on Saturday, November 25, 2023, at 1 pm ET/19:00 CEST.
Standings
| Rank | Fed | Title | Name | Username | Rating | Score |
| 1 | GM | Hikaru Nakamura | Hikaru | 3268 | 242 | |
| 2 | GM | Jose Martinez | Jospem | 3143 | 231 | |
| 3 | GM | Oleksandr Bortnyk | Oleksandr_Bortnyk | 3137 | 231 | |
| 4 | IM | Renato Terry | MITerryble | 3072 | 203 | |
| 5 | GM | Tuan Minh Le | wonderful time | 3113 | 201 | |
| 6 | GM | Nihal Sarin | nihalsarin | 3108 | 184 | |
| 7 | GM | Brandon Jacobson | BrandonJacobson | 2954 | 161 | |
| 8 | GM | David Paravyan | dropstoneDP | 3068 | 154 | |
| 9 | IM | Yoseph Taher | yosephtaher | 3029 | 153 | |
| 10 | GM | Sergei Zhigalko | Zhigalko_Sergei | 3027 | 138 | |
| 11 | GM | Christopher Yoo | Christopher Yoo | 3023 | 129 | |
| 12 | NM | Janak Awatramani | 12teen | 2877 | 128 | |
| 13 | CM | Eqor Baskakov | Stollenmonster | 2874 | 127 | |
| 14 | IM | Matthew Galckenko | MatthewG-p4p | 3020 | 124 | |
| 15 | GM | Giorgi Margvelashvili | TheSilmarils | 3001 | 123 | |
| 16 | CM | Artem Bardyk | BardArtem | 2850 | 112 | |
| 17 | GM | Srinath Narayanan | GMSrinath | 2854 | 110 | |
| 18 | IM | Vuk Damjanovic | mind1mover | 2877 | 107 | |
| 19 | FM | Anastasia Avramidou | anasta10 | 2693 | 105 | |
| 20 | FM | Duc Tri Ngo | realmadridfc123 | 2856 | 103 |
Congrats to @GMHikaru for dominating the arena and claiming back-to-back #BulletBrawl event wins! 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/eexafddBQg
— Chess.com (@chesscom) November 18, 2023
Saturday's Bullet Brawl was entered by 123 titled players, and the $1,000 prize fund also drew in the likes of GMs Nihal Sarin, David Paravyan, and Christopher Yoo. but none could stand up to the might of Nakamura over the course of the two-hour arena.
Of the American streamer's 67 wins, one against IM Karina Ambartsumova stands out. Having won two pawns out of the opening employing the Wahls Defense against White's Reti Opening: King's Indian Attack, Nakamura showed why sometimes when up material, the best thing to do is give it back.
Nakamura has now won 12 editions of Bullet Brawl since its inception in March, made all the more impressive when considering that he took a month-long hiatus from the arenas to play in international events.
For Martinez and Bortnyk, 65 wins apiece would generally be enough to win a Nakamura-less Bullet Brawl; however, their 1.5-3.5 and 0.5-2.5 results, respectively, against the eventual winner made it tough to catch him.
Martinez embraced the chaos against Nakamura late in the arena but came undone after an erroneous pawn capture.
A player who we've been watching with keen interest is the nine-year-old Argentinian prodigy FM Faustino Oro, and his 24th-place finish bodes well for his trajectory. Now closing in on a 3000 bullet rating, Oro is expected to defeat most titled players in bullet chess and on Saturday, he managed to topple the experienced GM Srinath Narayanan.
How to review games?
The games from November's third Bullet Brawl can be found here.
Bullet Brawl is an exciting new titled arena that features Chess.com's top bullet specialists and now 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!
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