Bortnyk Snatches Victory From Turkish Prodigy After Dramatic Flagging

GM Oleksandr Bortnyk became the third player to win 10 Bullet Brawl titles and the $400 first prize on Saturday after denying Turkish prodigy GM Ediz Gurel, courtesy of a dramatic flagging against GM Christopher Yoo in his final game.

Indonesian IM Yoseph Taher kept up his streak of podium finishes and claimed $150 for third place, while 13-year-old GM Yagiz Erdogmus finished fourth and will receive $100. WGM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya was the winner of the $100 best women's prize—her 13th-place finish is one of the highest by a woman in the event's history.

The final edition of Bullet Brawl in 2024 will take place on Saturday, December 29, at noon ET/18:00 CEST.

Standings

In Saturday's Bullet Brawl, 143 titled players played. The fewer players than usual was likely due to the concurrent running of the 2024 Champions Chess Tour grand finale. In this week's arena, the top-seed Bortnyk put on a clinic, but it wasn't all smooth sailing—six other players rated over 3000 filled the second to seventh spots, trying to keep him in check throughout.

Gurel was Bortnyk's main adversary, and a 17-game win streak in the middle of the event put the Turkish prodigy in prime position to cross the line in first place.

The 16-year-old played calmly and creatively throughout the arena, and his game against IM Seyed Poormosavi is a great example of this. He proved to be a "knightmare" for his Iranian opponent after moving his knights seven in the 11 moves of the game.

As the final minutes of the arena approached, Gurel's tournament was derailed by none other than his countryman Erdogmus, who held him to a draw and snapped his seven-game winning streak.

A second cruel twist then befell Gurel; he paired with the Chessbrah's GM Eric Hansen and blundered checkmate in a chaotic middlegame, opening the door for Bortnyk to skip past him.

While Gurel was coming unstuck, Bortnyk was fighting a monumental battle of his own. Playing against Yoo in a must-win game, Bortnyk spotted a brilliancy that forced a transition into a winning ending. However, Yoo's tenacious defense meant that Bortnyk had to play out a king and three pawns vs. king and rook ending.

After flagging Yoo, Bortnyk advanced three points clear of Gurel.

In retrospect, Bortnyk's 4/6 score against Gurel is one of the main reasons why the eventual winner was able to mount a comeback, though it must be said... the young talents from Turkiye are becoming increasingly difficult to overcome.

All-Time Leaderboard

*Bortnyk's 10th win will be added shortly.

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:

• • Announcing Chess.com Community Bullet Brawl Tournaments
  • Introducing Bullet Brawls And New Arena Options