Bullet Brawl GOAT Nakamura Scores 76/80, Secures 40th Title

GM Hikaru Nakamura has reached an unprecedented 40 Bullet Brawl titles after claiming first place in Saturday's two-hour arena with a commanding score of 288. He notched 76/80 games to win the $400 first prize ahead of the second-place finisher, GM Nihal Sarin.

GMs Andrew Tang and Oleksandr Bortnyk finished in third and fourth place, respectively, and will receive $150 and $100 for their efforts, while FM Anastasia Avramidou won the $100 best women's prize.

The next edition of Bullet Brawl will commence on Saturday, May 24, at noon ET/17:00 CEST.

Standings

(Full final standings here.)

75 wins, 2 draws, 3 losses.

Complete dominance today from @GMHikaru to win his 40th Bullet Brawl 🔥 pic.twitter.com/KJAAQ5NU6n

— Chess.com (@chesscom) May 17, 2025

No fewer than 13  bullet brawlers rated 3000+ joined Saturday's event, and among them were six former winners: Nakamura, Nihal, Tang, Bortnyk, GM Ediz Gurel, and GM Tuan Minh Le. Former super GM Dmitry Andreikin and Chessbrah member GM Eric Hansen also joined the fracas, along with Chess.com's newly minted King of the Hill champion, GM Guha Mitrabha.

Nakamura handled Saturday's tricky field with aplomb and rode a wave of confidence off the back of breaking the site's blitz rating record earlier in the week. Nakamura launched into action in the first 30 minutes and posted a 20-game winning streak, stamping his authority on the event.

Bortnyk came close to snapping Nakamura's streak when he forced him into a worse bishop vs. knight ending; however, the eventual winner found all the right moves to flip the script.

Finally, India's GM Pranav Venkatesh took a point off Nakamura, but this would be the only point the world number-two would drop in the first hour of the arena—a ruthless 33-game streak infused with tactical brilliancies ensued.

Against FM Arnav Maheshwari, Nakamura executed a Greek gift sacrifice to expose Black's king and delivered checkmate soon after.

Nakamura continued to dominate in the second half of the event and by the time the arena clock expired, his winning margin was 59 points. His final result comprised 75 wins, two draws, and just three losses.

Nihal chased Nakamura valiantly, even managing to defeat him in 29 moves on the white side of the Caro-Kann Defense: Gurgenidze Variation, but in the end, the event was a walkover for the 40-time champion.

Another standout performer was the winner of the best women's prize, Avramidou, who managed to score 103 points and finish in 21st place. On the way to winning her prize, Avramidou bowled over a 3044-rated Pranav after overwhelming him with passed pawns.

With this being his 40th victory, Nakamura has now won approximately 38% of every Bullet Brawl held since its inception in early 2023, and he is showing no signs of slowing down.

All-Time Leaderboard

Bullet Brawl is an exciting arena featuring Chess.com's top bullet specialists. It takes place weekly on Saturdays. The format is a two-hour arena with a 1+0 time control; the prize fund is $1,000. 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