Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi defeated Grandmaster Oleksander Bortnyk to claim his second consecutive victory in Chess.com's Bullet Brawl on April 25, 2026. Erigaisi scored 163 points to edge out Bortnyk's 159 and secure the $400 top prize. The event featured intense competition among top bullet chess specialists.
Erigaisi held off a strong challenge from Bortnyk throughout the two-hour arena with 1+0 time control. The Indian grandmaster led their head-to-head matches 4.5-2.5, including a key win in a rook and pawn ending and a final showdown where he castled queenside to exploit Bortnyk's less secure king. With this victory, Erigaisi now has three Bullet Brawl titles, placing him tied for seventh on the all-time leaderboard after previously struggling to secure a win until February 2026. GM Emin Ohanyan started strongly, winning his first nine games, highlighted by a brilliant 38...Nxg2!! sacrifice against Renato Terry. However, losses to Jose Martinez and Bortnyk disrupted his lead, allowing Erigaisi and Bortnyk to pull ahead. Ohanyan finished third for $150, while Tuan Minh Le took fourth and $100. WGM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya earned the $100 best women's prize with a 12th-place finish. The $1,000 prize fund event drew top players like Haowen Xue, David Paravyan, and Faustino Oro. The next Bullet Brawl is scheduled for May 2 at 12 p.m. ET.
