Naroditsky Dominates Back-To-Back Bullet Brawls

GM Daniel Naroditsky netted $400 and his second Bullet Brawl victory in a row on Saturday after scoring 260 points ahead of 122 other titled players. Scoring 72 wins in 83 games, Naroditsky put a healthy buffer between himself and second and third places, GM Oleksandr Bortnyk (222) and IM Yoseph Taher (214), respectively.

Picking up the $100 best women's prize was WGM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya, who managed to eclipse IM Meri Arabidze's score for the second week in a row. The community event, which runs concurrently with the titled one was topped by "Macmasterr," who scored 77 wins and 11 losses.

The next edition of Bullet Brawl will take place on Saturday, April 13, 2024, at noon ET/18:00 CEST.

Standings

It's back-to-back #BulletBrawl wins for @GmNaroditsky after he dominated today's field with 72 wins! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/KDyH6BEvBf

— Chess.com (@chesscom) April 6, 2024

In a field crowded with bullet chess maestros such as GMs Tuan Minh Le, Matthias Bluebaum, Bortnyk, and S.L. Narayanan, Naroditsky had his work cut out for him on Saturday but once again proved that he, alongside GM Hikaru Nakamura, are the kings of Bullet Brawl.

The Charlotte-based commentator kicked off the arena in style, scoring nine wins in his first 10 games and, thanks to his mouse skills, was able to stave off a winning attempt by 13-year-old ChessKid prodigy FM Tanitoluwa Adewumi. 

In Naroditsky's games against the eventual second-place Bortnyk, each result was decided with mere seconds on the clock, and an average of 80 moves were played in the three games. In their second game, which was a Sicilian Defense: Slow Variation, the erroneous 40.Nxf5? cost Bortnyk a shot at closing the gap between the leaders.

Naroditsky's run home was the most impressive part of his performance, and if the Greek Gift sacrifices and a 14-move win against an IM were starting to make you think he was in a rush, you'd be right! Immediately after the arena had finished, Naroditsky joined commentators GM Peter Leko and IM Tania Sachdev on ChessTV for coverage of the 2024 FIDE Candidates Tournament.

The most picturesque finish of the day, though, occurred in Maltsevskaya-Yirik, where the Polish WGM found a clutch brilliancy to checkmate her opponent while down by a pawn. See if you can find the moves that helped Maltsevskaya win the $100 top women's prize.

Following April's first Bullet Brawl, Naroditsky is just six wins shy of overtaking Nakamura's 21 tournament victories, and with the latter preoccupied with his quest for Candidates' glory, Naroditsky will have every opportunity to reduce the deficit even more before his rival returns.

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