Nakamura Wins Bullet Brawl With 27-Game Streak

Bullet Brawl's undisputed king, GM Hikaru Nakamura, secured his 15th title and $1,000 in the latest edition of the tournament, finishing on 260 points with 71 wins, two draws, and eight losses. A 27-game streak, which included wins over chess personalities WGM Nemo Zhou and FM Tanitoluwa Adewumi, was the defining component of his run to victory.

Rounding out the podium were GM Daniel Naroditsky (235) and IM Yoseph Taher (190), who will receive $250 and $150 respectively for their efforts.

Once again, the winner of the $100 best female player prize was IM Karina Ambartsumova, and her dominance of the category has been similar to that of Nakamura's since the tournament's inception.

The next titled and community Bullet Brawl arenas will take place on Saturday, December 23, 2023, at 1 p.m. ET/19:00 CEST.

Standings

Following his exit from the Champions Chess Tour Finals in Toronto, Nakamura has quickly settled back into life in Florida and hasn't wasted any time resuming his streaming schedule on Twitch and Kick. 

In December's third Bullet Brawl, a slow start saw a 15-point gap open between the American streamer and India's GM Nihal Sarin, who posted a 10/11 start. Sensing that Nihal was getting away from him, Nakamura opted to enter "cheese mode" (playing for quick wins no matter the cost) and was able to close the gap and eventually overtake his 19-year-old rival.

Their 90- and 81-move encounters were consequential during this time as both ended in favor of Nakamura. Time played a major part in the first game as Nihal was flagged just moves away from securing a draw by insufficient material, which would have also snapped Nakamura's streak.

As is often the case in Bullet Brawl, the best runs normally include tactically heavy miniatures, and Nakamura's tournament was no different. See if you can solve a selection of the problems the winner was faced with below.

And now it's time to sacrifice!

Of the 104 participants in December's third Bullet Brawl, few are better known than 13-year-old Adewumi, who in addition to being one of the world's youngest chess masters, is also a published author and media personality.

Though Adewumi wasn't able to move into a prize-winning spot, his 22nd-placed indicates that the future is bright for this young star, and his giant-slaying qualities were on full display as he crashed through on IM Srihari L R's kingside.

Bullet Brawl has now been held for 31 consecutive weeks and incredibly, just five unique winners have been crowned: Nakamura 15 (his 15th will soon be added to the leaderboard), Naroditsky (9), GM Jose Martinez (3), Nihal (2), and GM Oleksandr Bortnyk (2).

With just two editions left for the year, titled players will have the chance to join this illustrious group of players but will need to overcome Nakamura and Naroditsky, who have maintained their stranglehold over the event and are showing no signs of slowing down.

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!

Previous coverage:

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