Naroditsky Eclipses Field Featuring Carlsen, Praggnanandhaa, Giri

GM Daniel Naroditsky has added another Bullet Brawl trophy to his ever-growing cabinet after winning his second straight event ahead of GMs Andrew Tang, Oleksandr Bortnyk, and 171 other titled players. Playing 76 games in two hours, Naroditsky accrued a score of 228 and defeated GM Magnus Carlsen en route to the $400 first prize, leaving a margin of 26 points between himself and the second-place Tang.

FM Anastasia Avramidou won the $100 best women's prize while Sundram Kumar returned after a hiatus to win the community event.

The next Bullet Brawl will commence on Saturday, June 15, 2024, at noon ET/18:00 CEST.

Standings

Saturday's Bullet Brawl saw more titled players join than in any previous edition with no shortage of 2600+ FIDE rated players. GMs Carlsen, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, Anish Giri, Vladimir Fedoseev, and David Paravyan were a few names that promised to shake up the standings; however, none was able to keep pace with Naroditsky.

Danya secures back-to-back #BulletBrawl wins 🏆

He's in good form ahead of the Bullet Chess Championship next week!👀 pic.twitter.com/9kTSX2Uy02

— Chess.com (@chesscom) June 8, 2024

When Carlsen paired with Naroditsky early in the event, the five-time world champion tried to surprise him with the offbeat Alekhine's Defense, perhaps not realizing that Naroditsky has played many games against Bullet Brawl regular, Charlotte Chess Center colleague, and Alekhine's Defense exponent Bortnyk.

Unruffled by the opening, Naroditsky traded down until the pair reached an equal rook and three-pawn endgame before the U.S. GM used his premove prowess to trick Carlsen and win the game.

While wins over super-GMs spurred Naroditsky on, the catalyst for his victory was his ability to consistently punish opponents whose pieces were awkwardly placed, allowing him to build multiple 10-game winning streaks.

As per usual, one of the greatest threats to Naroditsky was Tang, and his compatriot was one of the eight players able to defeat him after the former squandered an equal position in a time scramble. 

The game would have little effect on the standings as Naroditsky had opened up a 20-point margin heading into the final 10 minutes of the event. The win brought Naroditsky's 18th Bullet Brawl title and eight for the year.

Juniors also heavily featured in Saturday's Bullet Brawl, and GM Ediz Gurel, IM Andy Woodward, and FM Faustino Oro all finished in the top 25. Based on their 2950+ bullet-rating high scores on Chess.com, it seems to be just a matter of time until one of these prodigies posts a winning score.

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