Jakhongir Vakhidov wins The Knighthood Online Blitz | A total of Rs.211226 raised

by Shahid Ahmed - 09/08/2020

GM Jakhongir Vakhidov won the strongest and the highest prize money Online Blitz event by ChessBase India on 1st August - The Knighthood Online Blitz Open. He won ₹40000 cash prize for his monumental efforts. Eight players finished at 8.0/10. The remaining podium places were taken by Russian GMs - Maksim Chigaev and Vladimir Fedoseev. Both of them made their debut in ChessBase India Online Blitz events. A total of 210 players including 39 GMs, 25 IMs, 2 WGMs and 6 WIMs took part from 12 countries across the world. On the next day, India no.3 GM Vidit Gujrathi played a Simul against the Specially Abled and Age Group prize winners. A detailed report of this mega event.

Vakhidov wins the highest prize money Online Blitz event by ChessBase India

GM Jakhongir Vakhidov of Uzbekistan scored an unbeaten 9.0/10 to win The Knighthood Online Blitz Open held on 1st August 2020 on Playchess. He won ₹40000 (US$533) cash prize which is the highest ever for a ChessBase India Online Blitz Open. Eight players finished at 8.0/10. ChessBase India Blitz debutantes GM Maxim Chigaev and GM Vladimir Fedoseev of Russia secured the second and third positions respectively. They won ₹25000 and ₹15000 each. GM S L Narayanan was the highest finisher among Indians as he scored 8.0/10 and took home the fifth spot. IM Mitrabha Guha and IM Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh were the only non-GMs who finished in top 20 at 11th and 15th place respectively. The entire prize fund of the event was sponsored by Sujit Varghese and the entire entry fee received was donated to the ChessBase India Foundation for the betterment for Specially Abled (Blind, Physically Challenged, Mute and Deaf) players of India.

Chess lover Sujit Varghese sponsored the entire prize fund of The Knighthood Online Blitz Open

A total of 210 players including 39 GMs, 25 IMs, 2 WGMs and 6 WIMs from India, Azerbaijan, Chile, England, Georgia, Peru, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey, USA and Uzbekistan took part in this 10-Round event.

GM Jakhongir Vakhidov played brilliantly in a strong field | Photo: gamesmaven.io

Uzbek tiger gets the better of Ukraine's Berndaskiy

In Round 5, Uzbektiger95 (GM Jakhongir Vakhidov) of Uzbekistan defeated Vitaliy Bernadskiy of Ukraine

V-Bernadskiy - Uzbektiger95, Round 5

Position after 18...Ba6

Find out the best continuation for white after 18...Ba6. In a 3+0 Blitz game, it is quite easy to go wrong and white continued with the inaccurate 19.Be3 and Black seized the initiative with 19...Bxe2 and went on to win the game in another 20 moves. The right move is Bxg7 when the black king is weaker than White's. After Rxe2 Qxe2 Bxe2 White wins with Rh8+.

GM Vitaliy Bernadskiy scored 5.5/9 | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Replay all games of Jakhongir Vakhidov

GM Maksim Chigaev scored 8.0/10 and finished second | Photo: Tata Steel Chess

A Clinical win by Chigaev

Russian GM Maksim Chigaev scored 8.0/10 on his ChessBase India Online Blitz debut and finished second according to the tie-breaks.In Round 8, he scored a clinical victory against GM Abadi (Elshan Moradiabadi) of USA.

Maksim Chigaev - GM Abadi, Round 8

Position after 21...Kg8

Black played 21...Kg8 after 21.Qd4+. Find out why it is a mistake and what black should have played instead.

GM Elshan Moradiabadi scored 7.0/10 and finished 16th

Replay all games of Maksim Chigaev

GM Vladimir Fedoseev scored 8.0/10 and finished third | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Fabulous Fedoseev

We all remember that Fedoseev tied for the first place with Anand in FIDE World Rapid 2017 which Anand went on to win in the tie-breakers. It was a great honour to have such a strong player fighting it out in the ChessBase India online events. GM Vladimir Fedoseev of Russia made his ChessBase India Online Blitz debut by scoring 8.0/10 and finishing third. He scored a miniature win in just 23 moves in Round 5 against GM Luka Paichadze of Georgia.

Fedoseev lost only two games in the tournament, first against Alanp (GM Alan Pichot) of Argentina in Round 7 and then in the penultimate round against Creator1198 (IM Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh). 14-year old FM Pranav Anand got very close to winning against Fedoseev, but he ran out of time. Although the final position was also an easy draw for him.

CREATOR1198 - FedoseevVladimir, Round 9

Position after 23.Bc2

Fedoseev blundered here with 23...Rxb2. Find out what black should have played instead.

Reigning 1st SAARC Champion IM Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh scored 7.0/10 to finish 15th. According to Nubair, playing in this blitz tournament felt like he was fighting it out in the World Blitz Championships because from round 3 to 10, he faced 8 strong grandmasters!| Photo: Niklesh Jain

Replay all games of Vladimir Fedoseev

Levan Pantsulaia (Kutiktau) from Georgia finished fourth. He played some excellent chess and was rewarded by a prize of Rs.10,000. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

5th - GM Narayanan S L 8.0/10

Narayanan phenomenal once again

It is no secret that GM Narayanan S L has performed phenomenally in various online tournaments all across chess platforms. He finished as the highest placed Indian. In Round 4, he scored a 20-move miniature victory over GM Abadi (GM Elshan Moradiabadi) of USA.

Best Woman - WGM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya 6.0/10 | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Fire_on_board (WGM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya) of Russia won against Bestluck (IM Bhakti Kulkarni) in Round 9.

Best Woman 2nd - WGM P V Nandhidhaa 6.0/10 | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Pavala (WGM P V Nandhidhaa) defeated IM Viani A Dcunha in Round 8.

Best Woman 3rd - IM Bhakti Kulkarni 6.0/10 | Photo: Queen's Chess Academy

Bestluck (IM Bhakti Kulkarni) defeated Zokapenzioner (IM Zoran Velickovic ) of Slovenia in the final round.

Replay the entire tournament Live Stream

IM Sagar Shah commented on the entire event via YouTube live. Don't miss players and sponsors comments at the end of the tournament stream | Video: Sagar Shah

Simul with Vidit Gujrathi

Right since the day when the tournament was announced, one of India's finest grandmasters GM Vidit Gujrathi pledged his support to this event. He agreed to play a simul against the Specially Abled and Age Group prize winners on 2nd of August (next day of the tournament ending). It was a dream come true for many of the participants to fight it out against a world class player like Vidit. Not only that Vidit also invited these players on his stream after the encounters and interacted with them in person. Apart from the intense games where Vidit fought against some talented opponents and the clock, we managed to raise a good amount of money for the specially abled chess players.

Replay the Live Stream with IM Sagar Shah's commentary and Vidit's explanations to the simul participants | Video: Vidit Gujrathi

Complete details of the amount raised

Name	Amount
ANSHUMAN DAS	50000
CHAITANYA SINGH (USD 99.99)	7500
KAIVALYA K S	4000
SHAILAJA MOHAPATRA	2500
ADITYA SOMANI	2000
BHAVYA KUMAR	1000
MONALISA CHOWDHURY	1000
MRITYUNJAY JALAN	1000
SUSHRUT SHRIPAD PURA	1000
S GURUPRAKASH	1000
MEENUKRISHNAN	1000
YAMINI ARORA	1000
KAMALKANT ARUN RAI	1000
VARUN VENKATA	1000
DEEPANKAR SINGH	1000
SUSHAN RAMESH RAO	1000
MRS VARSHA VASANT GA	1000
AZHAGAPPAN SIVARAMA	1000
CHAITANYA MEESALA	1000
RIZWAN NAZIR NAIKWAD	1000
NAVEEN KUMAR N	1000
AKASH KEDAR CHIKHALK	1000
VINAYAK KRISHNA SHET	1000
PRUTHVI P	1000
BINITKUMAR RAMANBHAI	580
VIJAY DAGDU SURYAWAN	501
MURALI PHANI KUMAR Y	501
RAJESH BEJGAM (NZD 10)	500
ANMOL AVINASH WELPUL	500
PRAVEEN P	500
RITESH RAJENDRA TIDK	500
MR SHREYAS MUKUND PH	500
ROHIT PANDEY	500
AMAN N SHETTY	500
ANKIT VINOD GANGWANI	500
ANANT SINGHAL	500
DEVANJOT SINGH SRA	500
VINAY CHANDAK	500
SWIKRITI SARAN SING	200
RAHUL SONI	200
YROHITH REDDY	200
JAIVARDHAN SINGH CHA	200
RAJEEV RANJAN	200
ANOOP MADAMSETTY	200
RISHABH MITTAL	100
SAMEER ARORA	100
APRAMEYA L	100
SAURABH RAJPUT	100
ANUNAD SINGH SO SHES	100
MAHESH KISAN KSHIRSA	100
MALI DINESH DAGADU	100
DARSH SATYENDRASINH	100
MR AKSHIT JOHRY	100
KAUSTUBH JAGDISH BAD	100
JANMEJAYA PANDA	100
SUBHANKAR HALDER	100
AKSHIT JOHRY	100
MANMAY PARESHKUMAR B	100
SAYAN PAL	100
BHOGARAJU RAVI SHANK	100
R SUNDEEP	100
NITHISH K GNANI	100
ALANKRIT CHOKHANI	51
VAKITI KARUNAKAR RED	50
RAKESH BHUNESHWAR SI	40
BHAVYA KHURANA	40
PRATIK VIJAY SHETTY	20
	95283

Donation	95283
Entry Fee Collection	55943
Anirban Dasgupta	50000
Kusha Kapila	10000
Total	211226

*Please note all the amounts paid via google pay will be used in full for the cause, while those received via superchat will be deducted by 30% as those are the charges of YouTube platform.

Well known stand-up comedian Anirban Dasgupta donated his entire winnings of Comedians on Board II (Rs.50,000) chess event held on Samay Raina's stream to this good cause.

Famous Instagram influencer Kusha Kapila also donated her Comedians on Board prize winnings of Rs.10,000 to the cause

It's simply phenomenal how kind hearted and famous personalities like Anirban and Kusha are supporting the game of chess! A big thanks to Samay Raina for being the person responsible for this.

Final Standings

Main Prize winners (Top 20)

Rank	Name	Score	Prize money
1	GM Jakhongir Vokhidov	9	₹40000
2	GM Maksim Chigaev	8	₹25000
3	GM Vladimir Fedoseev	8	₹15000
4	GM Levan Pantsulaia	8	₹10000
5	GM S L Narayanan	8	₹5000
6	GM Baadur Jobava	8	₹2500
7	GM Cemil Can Ali Marandi	8	₹2500
8	GM D Gukesh	8	₹2500
9	GM Vugar Rasulov	8	₹2500
10	GM Alan Pichot	7.5	₹2500
11	IM Mitrabha Guha	7.5	₹1000
12	GM Vidit Gujrathi	7.5	₹1000
13	GM Visakh N R	7.5	₹1000
14	GM Raunak Sadhwani	7.5	₹1000
15	IM Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh	7	₹1000
16	GM Elshan Moradiabadi	7	₹1000
17	GM Nihal Sarin	7	₹1000
18	GM Vishnu Prasanna	7	₹1000
19	GM Arjun Erigaisi	7	₹1000
20	GM Deepan Chakkravarthy	7	₹1000