Chess in the Last 24 Hours: Nakamura Lost His First Game, Then Won 50

He lost the very first game he played. Two hours later, he had won fifty.

That is what happened to Hikaru Nakamura on Saturday, and it is the best chess story of the last 24 hours.

What is Bullet Brawl?

Bullet Brawl is a fast online tournament on Chess.com. It happens every Saturday.

The rules are simple. Each player gets one minute for the whole game. No extra seconds. You must think fast and move fast.

The event lasts two hours. You do not play a fixed number of games. You just keep playing, again and again, against strong opponents. You get points for every win. If you win many games in a row, you get even more points. About 200 titled players join each week.

It is loud, messy, and a little crazy. And it is wonderful to watch.

The bad start

Nakamura's first game did not go well. He lost it — to Arjun Erigaisi, the Indian star who had won this same event the week before.

For most players, that is a scary way to begin. But Nakamura simply kept going.

In his next 22 games, he did not lose even once. He only gave up two draws. Slowly, he pulled away from everyone.

At one point he won 11 games in a row. The last win of that streak was against Arjun again — this time in only 11 moves.

The final score

When the clock ran out, the numbers were remarkable.

Nakamura won 50 games, drew 8, and lost 11. He finished 27 points ahead of Arjun.

He took the $400 first prize. WIM Melika Mohammadi of Iran won the $100 best women's prize — for the second week in a row.

This was Nakamura's 12th Bullet Brawl win of 2026. And the year is only half over.

Magnus popped in, then left

There was a small surprise, too. Magnus Carlsen — the world number one — joined the arena for a while.

He played well: 12 wins, 2 draws, 4 losses. Then he simply logged off and went away. He did not stay to fight for the title.

Chess fans loved it. It felt like a famous singer walking into a small bar, singing three songs, and leaving without saying goodbye.

Why is he so good at this?

Here is the number that explains everything.

Since 2023, there have been 164 Bullet Brawl events. Nakamura has won 61 of them. That is more than one in three. And when you count only the events he actually entered, he wins close to half.

Think about that. Two hundred strong players show up. He beats them all, nearly every second time.

Elsewhere in chess

A few other things are happening right now:

• The Women's Speed Chess Championship is moving to the quarterfinals. Divya Deshmukh crushed Rose Atwell 14-1, and Bibisara Assaubayeva beat Afruza Khamdamova 10.5-3.5.
• In South Africa, Sr. Miriam Duggan Primary School from Uganda won gold at the African stage of the World Schools Team Championship. Young players, big smiles, real trophies.

One thought to take with you

Nakamura lost his first game. He did not panic. He did not stop. He played the next one.

That is a good lesson for chess, and maybe for other things too. A bad start is only a start.

The next Bullet Brawl is on Saturday, July 18. Somebody will lose their first game. Watch what they do after that.