GM Jose Martinez and IM Emin Ohanyan gained the Qualifier 1 Winners and Losers brackets, respectively, to qualify for the 2023 Bullet Chess Championship primary occasion, which begins on July 17.

Within the Winners Bracket, Martinez gained a one-sided match in opposition to Ohanyan, attaining his qualifying spot with a convincing rating of 6.5-1.5. However Ohaynan was not disheartened and went on to defeat IM Renato Terry within the Losers Closing. 

4 extra qualifying individuals shall be decided in Qualifiers 2 and three, which begin on Friday, July 7, at 12 p.m. and three p.m. ET/18:00 and 21:00 CEST, respectively.

The qualifier began with a one-hour enviornment. The highest eight finishers, in a subject of 216 gamers, would transfer on to play knockout matches in a double-elimination bracket. All video games at each stage of the occasion are performed on the 1+0 time management. 

GM Hikaru Nakamura is already one in all 10 gamers to be invited to the occasion, however he was nonetheless allowed to take part within the enviornment. He gained the event by a large margin, sustaining a lead that was by no means unsure, capping off at 128 factors whole—35 wins, three losses, one draw. 

The American bullet specialist gave up his spot within the knockout portion to the following finisher—that means ending within the prime 9 was the purpose for different gamers.

Indonesian IM Yoseph Theolifus Taher got here in second with 82 factors. One of the aesthetic wins got here in an early recreation in opposition to GM Oleksandr Bortnyk. Go forward and put it on the board beneath.

GM Aydin Suleymanli completed only a level behind. In a recreation in opposition to GM Jeffery Xiong, he properly demonstrated that goal evaluations don’t neatly apply to bullet chess. He was a bit down however with fixed play in opposition to the white king. Whereas the super-GM Xiong would convert the benefit together with his eyes closed in sluggish chess, king security proved too large an element on this recreation.

(Full closing standings and enviornment video games might be discovered right here.)

The highest 4 finishers (minus Nakamura) performed in a single bracket, whereas the underside 4 finishers performed within the second bracket. The winner of every would qualify for the principle occasion, with out taking part in in a grand closing.

The gamers would face off in one-on-one matches with a 15-minute timer counting down. The participant to win probably the most video games within the allotted time would win the match.

Winners Bracket

Martinez beat GM Aydin Suleymanli after which Ohanyan to complete atop the Winners Bracket and safe his spot in the principle occasion. 

The primary match was toe-to-toe as Martinez and Suleymanli had 1.5 factors apiece after three video games. Nevertheless it was within the subsequent three that the Peruvian GM broke away.

In a typical scenario for bullet chess, he outpaced his opponent on the clock with lightning pace in a rook endgame with equal pawns.

Jose Martinez is a beast within the battle of premoves!#BulletChess pic.twitter.com/uX74QJVFN2

— chess24.com (@chess24com) July 6, 2023

After a draw, he gained the second recreation in the same fashion, pre-moving to glory in an equal opposite-color bishop endgame. The ultimate rating was 5 to three in favor of Martinez.

The ultimate match in opposition to Ohanyan was extra one-sided. Martinez gained the primary recreation, dropped a loss, however then gained three video games in a row. After a draw, he gained two extra to complete 6.5-1.5. 

The final one was a fully blistering assault the place he adopted GM Bobby Fischer‘s recommendation of pushing the h-pawn and continuing to “Sac, sac, mate!” after sacrificing his knight on e5.

Losers Bracket

Ohanyan had the final snort within the Losers although, the place he defeated IM Renato Terry within the Closing. The Peruvian IM Terry, who completed ninth (simply barely qualifying for the knockout), got here oh so near including a second Peruvian title to the principle occasion.

Terry’s ascension to the highest of the Losers Bracket was marked by miracles and comebacks. After he defeated GM Dmitry Andreikin 5.5-2.5 in Spherical 1, and Taher 6-3 within the Quarterfinals, he staged an unbelievable comeback in opposition to Suleymanli within the Semifinals.

In that match, he misplaced the primary three video games in a row, however then he went on to win 4 consecutive video games and take the lead himself. 

After dropping a loss in recreation eight, he gained the final one (recreation 10) to finish the match. The ultimate rating was 5.5-4.5. 

Though Terry gained the primary recreation in his closing match in opposition to Ohanynan, the Armenian IM gained video games three and 4 to usurp the lead. Sport 4 was maybe probably the most vital turning level of all, as Terry was utterly successful however missed the miraculous save for his opponent.

Ohanyan would lose recreation six and a wild recreation seven led to a draw, leaving the match utterly stage. The Armenian teen was in a position to flag his opponent in an equal rook endgame to win the match with a closing rating of 4.5-3.5. 

The Bullet Chess Championship 2023 (BCC) is Chess.com’s most elite bullet chess occasion and a part of the Velocity Chess Championship sequence. The occasion’s qualifiers occur on July 6 and seven, with the principle occasion occurring on July 17 by 21. The quickest gamers on the planet compete for his or her share of the $100,000 prize fund and a spot within the Velocity Chess Championship’s primary occasion.  

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