Saturday’s Bullet Brawl saw more titled players join than in any previous edition with no shortage of 2600+ FIDE rated players. GMs Carlsen, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaaa, Anish Giri, Vladimir Fedoseev, and David Paravyan were a few names that promised to shake up the standings however none were able to keep pace with Naroditsky.

Danya secures back-to-back #BulletBrawl wins 🏆

He’s in good form ahead of the Bullet Chess Championship next week!👀 pic.twitter.com/9kTSX2Uy02

— Chess.com (@chesscom) June 8, 2024

When Carlsen paired with Naroditsky early on in the event the five-time world champion tried to surprise him with the offbeat Alekhine’s Defense, perhaps not realizing that Naroditsky has played many games against Bullet Brawl regular, Charlotte Chess Center colleague, and Alekhine’s Defense exponent Bortnyk.

Unruffled by the opening, Naroditsky traded down until the pair reached an equal rook and three pawns endgame before the U.S. GM used his premove prowess to trick Carlsen and win the game.

While wins over super-GMs spurred Naroditsky on, the catalyst for his victory was his ability to consistenly punish opponents whose pieces were awkwardly placed, allowing him to build multiple 10 game winning streaks.

As per usual, one of the greatest threats to Naroditsky was Tang and his compatriot was one of the eight players able to defeat him after the former squandered an equal position in a time scramble. 

The game would have little effect on the standings as Naroditsky had opened up a 20-point margin heading into the final 10 minutes of the event. The win brought up Naroditsky’s 18th Bullet Brawl title and eight for the year.

Juniors also heavily featured in Saturday’s Bullet Brawl and GM Ediz Gurel, IM Andy Woodward, and FM Faustino Oro all finished in the top 25. Based on their 2950+ bullet rating highscores on Chess.com, it seems to be a matter of time until one of these prodigies post a winning score.