Bullet Brawl April 28, 2024: Nakamura Scores Close to-Excellent 74.5/76

GM Hikaru Nakamura triumphantly returned to the Bullet Brawl area on Saturday, scoring 74.5/76 en path to a powerful victory forward of 150 titled gamers. Boasting a rating of 288, Nakamura completed with a 14-point buffer separating him from GM Daniel Naroditsky, his rival who dropped simply six video games himself. The battle for third place was ultimately received by GM Tuan Minh Le after thwarting GMs Eric Hansen and Alireza Firouzja.

GM Harika Dronavalli, who notched a rating of 87 was the winner of the $100 greatest feminine prize whereas common César Frank Talledo Lagos topped the group occasion.

The subsequent version of Bullet Brawl will happen on Saturday, Could 4, 2024, at midday ET/18:00 CEST.

Standings

Even for the world’s most embellished bullet chess participant, going undefeated in a two-hour titled area has appeared like a bridge too far. Nonetheless, after Nakamura’s newest efficiency within the fiftieth version of Bullet Brawl, it appears to be merely a matter of time till this feat is achieved.

74 WINS, 1 DRAW, 1 LOSS@GMHikaru returned to #BulletBrawl motion with a BANG, and claimed his twenty second victory within the occasion 💥 pic.twitter.com/EJ7KmZAkzi

— Chess.com (@chesscom) April 27, 2024

Following his agonizing draw in opposition to GM Gukesh Dommaraju within the ultimate spherical of the “lengthy, sluggish” FIDE Candidates Event, Nakamura joined Saturday’s Bullet Brawl with a hearth in his stomach. Kick viewers had been handled to the American’s reside commentary as he decimated each challenger he got here throughout, barring GMs Jose Martinez and David Paravyan who had been the one gamers to defeat and draw with him, respectively.

Streaming Bullet Brawl, which I missed throughout that lengthy sluggish match. https://t.co/8aLBKR31Tx pic.twitter.com/uAnk4tzAs3

— Hikaru Nakamura (@GMHikaru) April 27, 2024

Sadly, regardless of Firouzja’s participation on this week’s Bullet Brawl, the Candidates’ opponents didn’t sq. off.

Whereas Nakamura’s attacking prowess was on full show all through the world, defensive assets had been what allowed the eventual winner to construct 44- and 27-game successful streaks and run away with the title. In opposition to Canada’s FM Anthony Atanasov, Nakamura sacrificed a knight to defend in opposition to an faulty Greek Reward sacrifice, flipping the initiative within the course of.

In one other recreation, Nakamura dispatched FM Martin Szabo with an incisive change sacrifice that utterly uncovered his German opponent’s king. 

In an uncommon twist, the primary and second locations—Nakamura and Naroditsky—performed simply as soon as, which means that the rostrum race to first got here right down to their outcomes in opposition to different opponents. For Naroditsky, king hunts had been on the playing cards, and New In Chess author NM Han Schut came upon simply how harmful “The Prophet” could be.

After 50 weeks of Bullet Brawl, Nakamura stands firmly on the prime of the all-time leaderboard with 22 wins. Mixed with Naroditsky, the pair has received an immense 76 p.c of arenas held. Such is their dominance that simply 5 different gamers have managed to wrestle titles from their grasps.