Hikaru takes Chess.com blitz past 3500
A 3503 peak in Greece, a last-round win for Artemiev and a second speed-chess record in the same week.
Hikaru Nakamura became the first player to reach a 3500 blitz rating on Chess.com on October 5. The following day, playing Titled Tuesday from Sithonia, Greece, he nudged the record up to 3503.
His tournament included a win against Alexey Sarana in round seven and a recovery against Vincent Keymer in mutual time trouble in round nine. With one round left, Nakamura was on 8.5/10, half a point behind Dmitrij Kollars. Vladislav Artemiev, Alexander Grischuk and Ihor Samunenkov were alongside him.
Artemiev faced Nakamura in the final round and beat him with White. Grischuk defeated Kollars, leaving Artemiev, Grischuk and Sarana tied on 9.5/11. Artemiev took first on tiebreaks and collected $2,500; Nakamura finished ninth with 8.5/11.
Chess.com’s October 6 recap and games · Official final standings
Twenty Bullet Brawls in one year
Nakamura had already broken another record on October 3: his 20th Bullet Brawl victory of 2026, overtaking his own calendar-year best of 19 from 2024. He scored 155 points, finishing 15 ahead of Jose Martinez for his fourth consecutive win.
On stream, Nakamura called it his worst Bullet Brawl in a very long time. That afternoon still paid $400.