Bullet Brawl Apr. 26, 2025: Tang Denies Hat Trick For Bortnyk, Premoves To tenth Title

GM Andrew Tang gained his tenth Bullet Brawl title and the $400 first prize on Saturday after one of many quickest finishes within the occasion’s historical past. A 17-game unbeaten streak on the tail finish of the sector helped him eclipse GM Oleksandr Bortnyk by eight factors.

IM Renato Terry and GM Daniel Naroditsky gained $150 and $100 respectively for third and fourth locations, whereas Georgian IM Meri Arabidze scored yet another level than IM Karina Ambartsumova to safe one of the best girls’s prize.

Locally occasion, Sundram Kumar scored 79.5/83 and posted a commanding closing rating of 302—77 factors forward of second place.

The subsequent version of Bullet Brawl will start on Saturday, Might 3, at midday ET/17:00 CEST.

Standings

(Full closing standings right here.)

178 titled gamers participated in Saturday’s brawl, and amongst them have been no fewer than eight former winners: GMs Naroditsky, Bortnyk, Tang, Jose Martinez, Sam Sevian, Yagiz Erdogmus, Tuan Minh Le, and IM Yoseph Taher. 14-year-old GM Sina Movahed additionally loomed as a menace after ending first forward of GM Magnus Carlsen in the latest version of Freestyle Friday.

Chasing his third straight victory, Bortnyk opened the sector strongly, breaking away from the pack together with Terry and Naroditsky. A very powerful win for Bortnyk throughout this era got here in opposition to Tang, whose place changed into a “knightmare” after he missed a chance to commerce items.

Whereas Bortnyk was capable of rating 2.5/3 in opposition to Tang in the course of the enviornment, key losses to GM Sergei Zhigalko, Terry, and FM Anastasia Avramidou saved a glimmer of hope alive for Tang.

Tang’s rise to the highest was anomalous, and the American appeared intent on getting by means of a record-breaking quantity of video games and proving that generally amount trumps high quality. Though he misplaced a complete of 15 video games (eight greater than Bortnyk, 9 greater than Terry, and three greater than Naroditsky), he labored his method by means of 84 video games and gained 65 of them. For reference, Bortnyk performed 10 fewer video games.

Tang lured lots of his opponents into premove duels and, extremely, toppled lots of them utilizing fewer than 15 seconds on the clock. One in every of Tang’s victims was Erdogmus, surprised by his blistering tempo.

Within the second half of the sector, Tang notched 41 wins, conceded simply three attracts, and misplaced two video games. Regardless of his high-speed play, the victor’s video games have been nonetheless stuffed with picturesque tactical prospers.

See in the event you can spot the successful transfer that Tang performed in lower than one second in opposition to FM Attila Jr. Forgacs beneath.

To cement victory, Tang completed the occasion with two consecutive four-move checkmates in opposition to an unsuspecting IM and WFM. Bortnyk, Terry, and Naroditsky all completed with scores above 200, however merely put, they might not sustain with Tang. 

With six Bullet Brawl titles to his identify in 2025, Tang is the participant to beat, and his hyperbullet-inspired technique may pressure common titlists to rethink their approaches to the weekly enviornment.

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