Candidates Commentator Naroditsky Conquers Bullet Brawl
GM Daniel Naroditsky secured a comprehensive victory in the 49th edition of Bullet Brawl on Saturday, scoring 276 points on his way to the $400 first prize after scoring 75.5/84. Well behind Naroditsky but still posting a commanding score of 235 was the previous winner, GM Oleksandr Bortnyk, while Peru's GM Jose Martinez rounded out the podium.
Chess trainer and IM Karina Ambartsumova took the $100 women's prize while Liam Clery edged out Cesar Frank Talledo Lagos by a single point in the community event.
The next edition of Bullet Brawl will take place on Saturday, April 27, 2024, at noon ET/18:00 CEST.
Standings
| Rank | Fed | Title | Name | Username | Rating | Score |
| 1 | GM | Daniel Naroditsky | DanielNaroditsky | 3285 | 276 | |
| 2 | GM | Oleksandr Bortnyk | Oleksandr_Bortnyk | 3203 | 235 | |
| 3 | GM | Jose Martinez | Jospem | 3144 | 227 | |
| 4 | GM | David Paravyan | dropstoneDP | 3167 | 223 | |
| 5 | IM | Yoseph Taher | yosephtaher | 3020 | 178 | |
| 6 | GM | Frederik Svane | frederiksvane | 3028 | 168 | |
| 7 | FM | Havard Haug | bubeliang | 2982 | 142 | |
| 8 | IM | Matcos Lianes | ulises2013 | 2900 | 135 | |
| 9 | FM | Mauricio Ramirez | CMmauricio | 2873 | 130 | |
| 10 | FM | Tanitoluwa Adewumi | TanitoluaAps116 | 2870 | 122 | |
| 11 | FM | Faustino Oro | FaustinoOro | 2903 | 121 | |
| 12 | CM | Artem Bardyk | BardArtem | 2894 | 116 | |
| 13 | CM | Eqor Baskakov | stollenmonster | 2846 | 113 | |
| 14 | IM | Gianmarco Leiva | GianmarcoVaR | 2875 | 111 | |
| 15 | NM | Qingyu Yuan | Abund | 2800 | 111 | |
| 16 | GM | Tuan Minh Le | wonderfultime | 3023 | 109 | |
| 17 | GM | Alan Pichot | platy3 | 2969 | 105 | |
| 18 | GM | Rasmus Svane | rasmussvane | 2842 | 104 | |
| 19 | NM | Sherif Khater | StellarChess | 2722 | 102 | |
| 20 | GM | Dennis Wagner | chessdjw | 2739 | 101 |
With crunch time having arrived at the 2024 FIDE Candidates Tournament, 120 titled players, spurred on by chess fever, flocked to contest the 49th iteration of Bullet Brawl. Among the participants were the usual suspects; Bortnyk, GMs Tuan Minh Le, David Paravyan, Alan Pichot, and IM Yoseph Taher, as well as a troop of talented juniors including FM Tanitoluwa Adewumi, IM Andy Woodward, and FM Faustino Oro.
Topping the field for the 16th time was Naroditsky, and his run to victory was nothing short of extraordinary.
dominating #bulletbrawl by day, commentating the candidates by night ✅ pic.twitter.com/vbdKpsUZu8
— Chess.com (@chesscom) April 20, 2024
Naroditsky scored 75.5/84—74 came from wins—making his performance one of the highest number of wins in Bullet Brawl history. Tactically, Naroditsky was superior to his closest rivals, but consistency is what allowed him to build a buffer over Bortnyk and Martinez. In the late stages of the two-hour arena, Naroditsky notched a 24-game winning streak, cementing his spot at the top.
A 4/4 score against the second-placed Bortnyk was also crucial to Naroditsky's success. The first of these games stands out, courtesy of a timely exchange sacrifice by the American.
Despite the losses to Naroditsky, Bortnyk seemed to enjoy streaming the event on Twitch and often announced his checkmates with a customary point to the screen.
In Saturday's community event, 317 players participated. At the top of the leaderboard, a one-point margin made for several scintillating final minutes. Clery did prevail over Talledo Lagos and had his intuition and mouse skills to thank for the victory. See if you can spot the sacrifice Clery pre-moved to snap up a win against Texas' Evan Burleson.
How to review games?
The games from this week's Bullet Brawl can be found here.
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!
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