GM Daniel Naroditsky secured $400 and his eleventh Bullet Brawl title after scoring 70.5/78 in February’s first version forward of 125 different titled gamers. A race of titanic proportions between Naroditsky and Chess.com’s two highest-rated energetic bullet gamers—GMs Oleksandr Bortnyk and Hikaru Nakamura—ended with Nakamura ending in second place, whereas Bortnyk completed in eighth.

IM Karina Ambartsumova was the winner of the week’s $100 prime feminine prize, outpacing a brand new challenger in Canada’s NM Nikita Kraiouchkine and Bullet Brawl common FM Anastasia Avramidou, whereas Sundram Kumar gained his third straight group occasion with a commanding 64/76 rating.

The following version of Bullet Brawl will happen on Saturday, February 10, 2024, at 12 p.m. ET/18:00 CEST. (Notice: Bullet Brawl has been completely introduced ahead by one hour).

Standings

Again on 🔝 @GmNaroditsky clinches this week’s #BulletBrawl Area by three factors for his eleventh win! 👏 pic.twitter.com/SzwrEcV2TR

— Chess.com (@chesscom) February 3, 2024

The entry listing to February’s first Bullet Brawl was nearly actually probably the most tantalizing of 2024 to date and for Naroditsky, victory was made sweeter by the truth that he needed to take down Nakamura to attain it.

The pair performed 5 video games in opposition to one another throughout the two-hour area, and simply two had been decisive, each falling in favor of Naroditsky. Because the content material creator completed simply three factors forward of the world number-three, these encounters had been essential.

Naroditsky’s first sport in opposition to Nakamura, a prolonged Tiger’s Fashionable Protection, appeared to set the tone for the remaining which all championed maneuvering and aggression.

Brilliancies and a 37-game unbeaten streak on the again finish of the world additionally helped get Naroditsky over the road, and the American GM proved that he was most deserving of first place. One of many highlights of his streak was a savage double sacrifice in opposition to FM Jesus Alberto Coca Cubillos that introduced the sport to a screaming halt.

Although he was unable to win the occasion, Nakamura was additionally dominant with 64 wins, six attracts, and 5 losses. Within the earlier version, we reported the five-time U.S. champion’s use of the “Alien Gambit,” and this week he had the possibility to play an analogous sacrifice in opposition to the opening creator, CM Volen Dyulgerov aka Witty_Alien.

Whereas Ambartsumova was ready so as to add yet one more prime feminine prize to her trophy cupboard, the class has develop into harder to win in 2024 because of the addition of a number of new faces. Amongst Ambartsumova’s chasers on Saturday had been the Georgian WGM, commentator, and streamer WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili, who completed in thirty second place on 63.

Bullet Brawl has nonetheless seen simply six winners in its 38 editions, and becoming a member of this illustrious group of speedsters would require a Herculean effort from a top-flight participant.

(Full ultimate standings right here)