Bullet Chess C'ship: Nihal to get second-chance despite loss

Nihal Sarin suffered a 12-19 loss to the reigning champion Hikaru Nakamura on the second day of the ongoing 2024 Bullet Chess Championships.

The match started with Hikaru quick off the blocks to post a 3-0 lead. Thereafter, Nihal was playing catch-up for the rest of the game but still went toe-to-toe with the American. 

Nakamura eventually widened the gap and confirmed the Indian's defeat.

Quick moves

Speaking to the commentators of the event Hikaru spoke about the speed of the 'bullet chess' format.

“Any opening where you get 10 or 15 moves without having to think that’s all you need in the bullet," said Hikaru.

Nihal trails Nakamura in the chess.com live ratings of Bullet Chess with a rating of 3186. The American, meanwhile, has a superior rating of 3317.

A second-chance

With Nihal in the loser’s bracket of the event, he currently sits in the loser’s quarter-final spot.

That said, he will eventually play the winner of the match against Alireza Firouza and Oleksandr Bortnyk and in doing so, will have another crack at the championship.

Meanwhile, Daniel Naroditsky cruised past his countryman Sam Sevian in the other semi-final.

The event follows a 16-player double-elimination bracket with a winners and losers bracket. This format hands all the losers another shot in the event.

The 'winner's final' will be an all-American affair with Daniel taking on Hikaru. The winner of this game qualifies for the Grand Final.

Meanwhile, losing the game yesterday had put Pragnanandhaa in the loser’s bracket and after an unfortunate loss to his Vietnamese competitor Minh Le, Pragg bowed out of the tournament.