GM Andrew Tang has reclaimed equal third position on Bullet Brawl‘s all-time leaderboard after prevailing over GM Oleksandr Bortnyk in a sprint to the finish in Saturday’s arena.
Tang combined pace and precision to amass a score of 162 points, eventually securing the $400 first prize. For finishing second, Bortnyk will receive $250, while FM Dincer Tasdogen and GM Jose Martinez will receive $150 and $100, respectively, for finishing third and fourth.
Meanwhile, Polish WGM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya scored 95 points and picked up the $100 best women’s prize.
The next edition of Bullet Brawl will commence on Saturday, October 4, at noon ET/17:00 CEST.
Standings
| Rank | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score |
| 1 | GM | penguingm1 | Andrew Tang | 3243 | 162 | |
| 2 | GM | Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3303 | 158 | |
| 3 | FM | yavrukurt40 | Dincer Tasdogen | 3114 | 138 | |
| 4 | GM | Jospem | Jose Martinez | 3142 | 136 | |
| 5 | GM | gurelediz | Ediz Gürel | 3181 | 133 | |
| 6 | GM | Sina-Movahed | Sina Movahed | 3180 | 132 | |
| 7 | GM | DanielNaroditsky | Daniel Naroditsky | 3157 | 132 | |
| 8 | GM | GHANDEEVAM2003 | Arjun Erigaisi | 3126 | 128 | |
| 9 | GM | Dr_Tyger | Haowen Xue | 3153 | 125 | |
| 10 | GM | Zhigalko_Sergei | Sergei Zhigalko | 3119 | 123 | |
| 11 | GM | amintabatabaei | Amin Tabatabaei | 3065 | 122 | |
| 12 | FM | Flameboard08 | Lorenzo Perea Fruet | 2943 | 118 | |
| 13 | IM | rezamahdavi2008 | Reza Mahdavi | 3077 | 115 | |
| 14 | FM | Rud_2008 | Rudolf Pashikyan | 2801 | 105 | |
| 15 | IM | Aswathchess | Aswath S | 2869 | 103 | |
| 16 | CM | Ganiev_Artur11 | Artur Ganiev | 2805 | 100 | |
| 17 | CM | beast_20_20 | Mummana Venkata Ruthvik | 2849 | 100 | |
| 18 | FM | rudyst06 | Rodolfos Stamatiou | 2809 | 98 | |
| 19 | WGM | Sanyura | Aleksandra Maltsevskaya | 2821 | 95 | |
| 20 | FM | SaqoChess_Coach | Sargis Manukyan | 2745 | 95 |
(Full final standings here.)
159 titled players participated in Saturday’s brawl, with the energetic streamer and GM Bortnyk being the rating favorite. Tang was the second seed, however, a string of elite GMs, including Ediz Gurel, Daniel Naroditsky, Arjun Erigaisi, Martinez, and Sina Movahed, meant that form, rather than rating, would be the catalyst for victory.
Martinez got off to a flying, 14.5/15 start, but was overtaken by Bortnyk around the halfway mark, following a chaotic head-to-head clash between the pair. On the verge of defeat, Bortnyk found a clutch checkmate with 2.4 seconds to spare.
Arjun then piled misery on Martinez in the next game, allowing Bortnyk to extend his newfound lead.
In the background, Tang loomed, and he stayed in touch with the leaders courtesy of his trademark, volume-centric arena strategy. The 25-year-old compiled a collection of miniatures and even toppled the world number four Arjun in a 16-mover that was over in 20 seconds.
Soon after, the Iranian number two, GM Amin Tabatabaei, suffered a similar fate at the hands of Tang after his king became stranded in the middle of the board.
Tabatabaei desperately tried to exchange the queens, however, Tang understood the assignment and steered the game towards his opponent’s resignation on the 23rd move.
Although Bortnyk scored a dominant 4.5/6 against Tang during the arena, it was his sole loss to the hyperbullet champion that turned the tides against him. This 90-move epic, that culminated in a flag fall for Bortnyk, gave Tang a much-needed berth.
As the arena drew to a close, both players suffered minor hiccups, though Tang was able to keep his nose in front. He sealed victory in his last game by checkmating GM Sergei Zhigalko in a materially equal middlegame, while Bortnyk was put to the sword by Naroditsky.
The cat-and-mouse between Tang and Bortnyk on the all-time leaderboard will ensue after this result, and given Tang’s superior record in 2025, he is the odds favorite to claim the number three spot outright in the coming weeks.
All-Time Leaderboard
| Player | All-Time Wins | 2025 Wins | 2024 Wins | 2023 Wins |
| GM Hikaru Nakamura | 48 | 14 | 19 | 15 |
| GM Daniel Naroditsky | 31 | 7 | 14 | 10 |
| GM Oleksandr Bortnyk | 13 | 3 | 7 | 3 |
| GM Andrew Tang | 13 | 9 | 4 | 0 |
| GM Jose Martinez | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| GM Ediz Gurel | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| GM Sam Sevian | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| GM Nihal Sarin | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| GM Yagiz Erdogmus | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| GM Alireza Firouzja | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| GM Tuan Minh Le | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| IM Yoseph Taher | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| IM Reza Mahdavi | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
How to review games?
The games from this week’s Bullet Brawl can be found here.
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!
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