Tang Bolts To 8th Bullet Brawl Title Ahead Of Bortnyk, Naroditsky

GM Andrew Tang's purple patch has continued, with the hyperbullet exponent capturing his fourth Bullet Brawl title of 2025 and eighth overall after scoring 249 points. Tang eclipsed the scores of GMs Oleksandr Bortnyk, Daniel Naroditsky, Arjun Erigaisi, as well as 210 other titled players and claimed the $400 first prize for the second week in a row.

Greek FM Anastasia Avramidou was also impressive; the 25-year-old scored 105 points and secured the $100 best women's prize by a 15-point margin, while Sundram "SpeedyBoss" Kumar outpaced longtime rival "Macmasterr" to win the community event.

The next edition of Bullet Brawl will commence on Saturday, March 22, at noon ET/17:00 CEST.

Standings

At the start of 2025, Tang had a modest four Bullet Brawl titles to his name and innumerable podium placements, thanks to the dominance of the combined 64-time winners GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Naroditsky. Three months on, Tang seems to have cracked the code, winning more brawls this year than any other player and doubling his all-time tally to eight.

All-Time Leaderboard

Tang picked up right where he left off in the previous edition—streaking through his first seven games and showing his opponent's kings no mercy. Against Canadian NM Noah Kim, Tang demonstrated what happens when his trademark Gibbins-Weidenhagen Gambit is accepted.

Indian GMs Arjun and Narayanan S.L. threatened to thwart Tang's hopes of breaking away early by defeating him; however, the eventual winner's indomitable spirit shone through as he surged to an 11-game winning streak.

Bortnyk and Naroditsky posed the greatest threats to Tang's title defense, and the trio's results against each other were consequential.

Crucially, Tang scored 2.5/4 and 1.5/2 against Bortnyk and Naroditsky, respectively. His third game against the former required poise and patience.

Bortnyk would have levelled his head-to-head score with Tang had he not flagged in an incredible time scramble in their final game. Tang had just 0.1 of a second on the clock when Bortnyk's flag fell. Earlier in the event, the Ukrainian GM illustrated how he is capable of converting in a few seconds while streaming live on Twitch.

Having dealt with his chief rivals, Tang extended his winning margin to 25 points, scoring 17.5/19 to cap off a tremendous event.

In the concurrently-run community event, Kumar added another chapter to the 93-game rivalry he has with the mysterious, albeit regular winner "Macmasterr." The 17-year-old scored a perfect 5/5 against the second-place-finisher on Saturday, contributing to a 61-point gap at the top. Winning the community arena was not a simple task either—424 Chess.com members participated, a near-record in terms of participation.

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

Much 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