Turkey's Grandmaster Ediz Gurel joined the Bullet Brawl arena 34 minutes late on March 28 and still won the event, finishing ahead of 162 titled players including Magnus Carlsen. Gurel scored 46 out of 53 games for 153 points to secure the $400 first prize. GM Nihal Sarin took second place with 149 points.
GM Ediz Gurel of Turkey created a memorable moment in Chess.com's Bullet Brawl on Saturday, March 28. Despite entering the two-hour, 1+0 time control arena 34 minutes after it began, the 17-year-old topped the leaderboard with an unmatched performance. He lost only four games overall and played 25 fewer games than runner-up Nihal Sarin, according to Chess.com reports of the event standings. Gurel even defeated world number one Magnus Carlsen in an endgame, a format where Carlsen excels, while Carlsen finished third for $150. GM Yagiz Erdogmus placed fourth with $100, and Greek FM Anastasia Avramidou won the $100 best women's prize. Early leader IM Faustino Oro, a 12-year-old from Argentina, held the top spot for much of the first half but was overtaken late. Gurel surged with a 10-game winning streak, including victories over GMs Emin Ohanyan, Nihal Sarin, Erdogmus, and Oro, as well as IMs Renato Terry and Yoseph Taher. His aggressive play featured high accuracy, such as a Greek gift sacrifice against GM Mamikon Gharibyan that forced resignation by move 20. This marked Gurel's ninth Bullet Brawl title in the weekly $1,000 prize fund tournament that draws top grandmasters like Hikaru Nakamura and Andrew Tang. The next edition starts April 4 at 12 p.m. ET.