In a week when GM Hikaru Nakamura pushed Chess.com's blitz record to new heights, it is fitting that he also broke the record for the most Bullet Brawl victories in a single year, albeit with three months to spare. A dominant run in the second half of the two-hour arena saw Nakamura claim the $400 first prize for the fourth week in a row with a score of 155.

GMs Jose Martinez, Tuan Minh Le, and Pranav Venkatesh finished second through fourth and earned themselves $250, $150, and $100, respectively, while IMs Renato Terry and Havard Haug were unlucky to miss out on prize money due to inferior tiebreaks. Meanwhile, IM Rose Atwell won the $100 best women's prize.

The next edition of Bullet Brawl will begin on Saturday, October 10, at 12 p.m. ET / 18:00 CEST / 9:30 p.m. IST.

Standings

(Full final standings here.)

Turkish FM Dincer Tasdogen shot to the top early in Saturday's brawl off the back of a classy 11/12 start, and although his lead was short-lived, he left a highlight reel of colorful tactics in his wake. His win over Haug was particularly instructive, with the incisive 21.Nxh5!! leading to a clinic in king hunting.

Despite being felled by the leader, Haug also spent time in first place and even maintained a 50% score against Nakamura (two wins and two losses). In their first duel, Haug capitalized on a time advantage and weathered the pinballing evaluation bar to claim victory.

By Nakamura's lofty standards, his start was underwhelming, and he remarked on his Kick stream that it wasn't his day and that he was playing "terribly." However, the American managed to stay within striking range of the lead, which he eventually seized with a five-game winning streak.

A consolidating win over Martinez with the white pieces in the Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation was his most important victory, as it gave him a four-point buffer over the second-placed Pranav.

From this moment onward, it was the Nakamura show. And though his event was a far cry from his 172-point effort in the previous edition, he still managed to win the event by a commanding 15-point margin.

Nakamura picked up style points en route to the finish line, first with a remove-the-defender tactic against IM Reza Mahdavi.

Then Nakamura heaped misery on Martinez with the precise 17...Nxb4!!.

When his 69th career crown was confirmed, Nakamura said: "I think I've won 20 of 21 Bullet Brawls that I've played this year, so very, very good consistency, even though today was easily the worst Bullet Brawl I've had in a very long time, I still get the win."

When Nakamura plays Bullet Brawl, it seems there are just three possible outcomes: Nakamura wins with a huge margin, Nakamura wins with a smaller margin, or, on rare occasions, Nakamura is beaten by a whisker, and this does not look like changing any time soon.

All-Time Leaderboard

How to review games?
The games from this week's Bullet Brawl can be found here.