GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Daniel Naroditsky have knocked everybody else out of the Winners Bracket of the Bullet Chess Championship 2024 (BCC).
Nakamura led by an unlimited margin all through his match vs. GM Nihal Sarin. Naroditsky fought off GM Sam Sevian‘s comeback to prevail. Nakamura and Naroditsky will meet within the Ultimate on Wednesday.
Within the Losers Bracket, GM Alireza Firouzja defeated GM Anish Giri with practically double his rating. Fueled by his victory vs. GM Vladimir Fedoseev, GM Jose Martinez went on to remove GM Andrew Tang. GM David Paravyan gained a good match vs. GM Minh Le. GM Oleksandr Bortnyk knocked out GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.
The motion continues on Wednesday, June 12, at 12 p.m. ET / 18:00 CEST / 8:30 p.m. IST
Winners Bracket – Day 2:
Losers Bracket – Day 2:
Losers:
Winners Semifinals:
Losers Spherical 1:
Out of the gate, GM Anish Giri went 5-0 vs. GM Fabiano Caruana, by no means letting his fellow super-GM again into the match.
Streamer vs. Podcaster 🤷♂️ https://t.co/IV9aATxWBY
— Anish Giri (@anishgiri) June 11, 2024
Early within the match, Fedoseev gained the lead vs. Martinez. In sport eight, he prolonged the margin to 4 factors by gaining immense exercise within the center sport. When Fedoseev introduced three of his items to his opponent’s sixth rank, IM Kassa Korley crafted a becoming simile: “It’s like you’ve your toes up on their sofa of their front room.”
But, Martinez fought again to a tied rating. The gamers began to commerce punches because the match went into time beyond regulation. In the long run, Martinez discovered a mating concept to clinch victory.
Jose Martinez celebrates beating Vladimir Fedoseev after an ideal comeback! #BulletChess pic.twitter.com/MH0bnJqMBC
— chess24 (@chess24com) June 11, 2024
GM Christopher Yoo and Vachier-Lagrave have been tied for a lot of the match. On the 10-minute mark, Yoo started to drag forward. His premove anticipation abilities helped him steal victory in a rook ending.
Vachiere-Lagrave countered, selecting up the tempo to a win a bishop vs. knight ending with pristine approach.
Then Yoo tied up the match together with his puzzle rush abilities. Can you discover his successful mixture within the puzzle beneath?
White to maneuver and win.
The opponents fought on deep into time beyond regulation. It took 10 tiebreaker video games earlier than Vachier-Lagrave gained a decisive two-point lead.
After an in depth begin, Le started to develop his lead vs. GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu within the second half, ending with an 11-6 rating.
Losers Spherical 2:
Martinez, impressed in his match vs. Tang, began with a 5-2 lead. Tang retaliated, gaining victory together with his anti-premove shuffling abilities.
Martinez held his lead into the final moments, partaking in a king hunt to seal the match.
Bortnyk went on a 5-0 rampage to kickstart his match vs. Vachier-Lagrave. Bortnyk’s lightning-fast tactical abilities fueled his victories.
Halfway by the match, Vachier-Lagrave practically equalized the rating. Bortnyk gained three of the final 4 to finish the French grandmaster’s comeback.
Firouzja gained a five-point lead early in opposition to Giri. By the top, the 2021 champion gained by 12.5-6.5.
Total a significantly better efficiency this time within the Bullet Chess Championship for me than the final time, as I spent a pair hours on my YouTube stream working towards.
Because of the organizers for the invite! 🔥
— Anish Giri (@anishgiri) June 11, 2024
Parayvan began with a three-point lead vs. Le. But, the Vietnamese grandmaster recovered, bringing the rating inside one level because the match clock neared zero. Within the final two video games, Paravyan gained after which pressured a perpetual, successful the match with out time beyond regulation.
Sevian vs. Naroditsky: 10-15
Whereas Naroditsky has pace, ranking, and scramble energy on his aspect, Sevian is the higher-ranked classical participant, and he excels at speedy premoves.
Naroditsky began with three victories in a row. Sport two displayed the depth of calculation attainable even in his bullet video games. He paused for 2 seconds to calculate all the best way to mate within the king and pawn ending.
Recognized for his tough bullet comebacks, Naroditsky caught Sevian in a stunning lure from a dead-lost place in sport six.
Midway by, Naroditsky operating away with the match with an eight-point lead. As GM Benjamin Bok expressed: “Danya is a beast. Danya is an absolute beast in bullet. He’s actually tough to deal with when he’s taking part in his A-game.”
Danya is an absolute beast in bullet.
—Benjamin Bok
Unfazed by the scoreboard and his opponent’s huge bullet expertise, Sevian began to battle again, successful 4 in a row.
With 10 minutes left on the match clock, Sevian introduced the rating to 11-8. The momentum started to swing in Sevian’s favor as he introduced the rating nearer and nearer.
Naroditsky kicked again into gear simply in time. He gained the final three video games, clinching the match with a pointy tactic.
Nakamura vs. Nihal: 19-12
Although the four-time champion Nakamura is the favourite in opposition to any opponent, Nihal is a power to be reckoned with himself. He is presently slightly below Nakamura in each Chess.com’s bullet and blitz rankings.
Nakamura began with a 3-0 lead. In sport 4, Nihal’s fast defensive talents halted Nakamura’s successful streak.
Because the match progressed, Nakamura constructed his result in six factors. But, in a number of video games, Nihal was in a position to go toe-to-toe vs. the reigning champion. In sport 12, he prevailed in a sport of sheer madness with each gamers operating their kings for pricey life. Even the commentators couldn’t make sense of the blistering-fast insanity.
Korley: What’s going on?
Bok: I do not know!
With 11 minutes on the match clock, Nakamura had achieved double his opponent’s rating: 14-7. Lots of Nakamura’s victories turned small edges and drawish endgames into wins.
After the match, Nakamura shared:
I believe in bullet, the primary factor is principally how the opening goes. The rationale that 1.b3, 2.Nf3 is so efficient is you’ll be able to simply play like 20 strikes in a short time… That offers you extra time later within the sport if it’s good to suppose three or 4 seconds. Perhaps subsequent time I will play the Cow or one thing. Any opening the place you get 10 or 15 strikes with out having to suppose, that is all you want in bullet.
Any opening the place you get 10 or 15 strikes with out having to suppose, that is all you want in bullet.
—Hikaru Nakamura
Nakamura and Naroditsky will face one another within the Winners Ultimate. Nakamura shared his ideas on their upcoming match.
In the meantime, the battle to rise out of the Losers Bracket will proceed. Coming off convincing victories, Firouzja and Bortnyk will meet. Martinez and Paravyan can even duel—whereas Nihal and Sevian await the victors.
The best way to watch?
The Bullet Chess Championship 2024 (BCC) is Chess.com’s most elite bullet chess occasion the place gamers compete to see who’s the quickest chess participant on the planet. The occasion’s qualifiers occurred on Might 14, with the primary occasion occurring on June 10 by 13. Gamers compete for his or her share of the $100,000 prize fund.
Earlier protection
