Naroditsky Outpaces Arjun, Nihal, Sevian, Wins 26th Bullet Brawl

GM Daniel Naroditsky picked up right where he left off in the previous edition of Bullet Brawl, scoring 233 points and winning Saturday's event in a field featuring the world number-four, GM Arjun Erigaisi, and 246 other titled players.

Starting the year with twin wins, Naroditsky has already netted $800 in prize money and taken his career wins to 26, closing in on GM Hikaru Nakamura's all-time record of 34.

GMs Andy Woodward and Andrew Tang rounded out the podium with scores of 211 and 208, respectively, while Turkish WCM Dila Baloglu won the $100 best women's prize for the first time.

The next edition of Bullet Brawl will commence on Saturday, January 18, at noon ET/18:00 CEST.

Standings

Naroditsky has stamped his authority on 2025's first two brawls, and despite numerous 2650+ FIDE-rated players participating in this week's event, the 26-time winner could not be stopped. In terms of FIDE ratings, Arjun, GM Dmitry Andreikin, Sam Sevian, and Nihal Sarin were the top seeds; however, Naroditsky once again proved that bullet chess is a different beast.

Back-to-back Bullet Brawl weekend wins for @GmNaroditsky 🔥 pic.twitter.com/c4tH0TEmKH

— Chess.com (@chesscom) January 11, 2025

Naroditsky kicked off the arena with consecutive miniatures—the first was a theoretical battle in the Alapin Sicilian, while in the second he whipped up a decisive Greek gift sacrifice against WCM Marianta Lampou, who coincidentally, is from Greece.

A rough patch ensued where Naroditsky was unable to build a decent streak, though he soon made up for this by winning 17 straight games. Seven of these were against GMs: Emin Ohanyan, (twice) Sevian (twice), Jose Martinez, Santiago Avila Pavas, and Nihal.

Naroditsky's first game against Sevian was a chaotic spectacle that saw both kings dance on a knife's edge. The eventual winner eventually found a haven for his monarch.

One of the pivotal moments of the arena occurred when Naroditsky found himself with a lone pawn against Martinez's rook and knight, but with a catch... Martinez had 1.3 seconds on the clock to round up the pawn. Timely pre-moves resulted in Martinez popping his rook, and to rub salt in the wounds, the Peruvian was left one move short of capturing Naroditsky's pawn before his flag fell.

Martinez was not the only player to succumb to a time-pressure-induced mishap. Georgian WFM Lile Koridze, who was live-streaming on Twitch accidentally stalemated her opponent despite having two queens on the board.

As the arena drew to a close, Naroditsky did stumble slightly, losing five games in a row against tough opposition, although his earlier efforts, coupled with a few aesthetically pleasing checkmates, meant that no one could catch him.

Of the top-five finishers, two were juniors: Woodward and GM Ediz Gurel, and the former finished in second place. While the 14-year-old prodigy is yet to win an edition of Bullet Brawl, he represents a new wave of young talent who are putting pressure on the best in the business.

All-Time Leaderboard

*Naroditsky's 26th 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