Jakhongir Vakhidov wins The Knighthood Online Blitz | A total of Rs.211226 raised
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.
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.
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
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+.
Replay all games of Jakhongir Vakhidov
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
Black played 21...Kg8 after 21.Qd4+. Find out why it is a mistake and what black should have played instead.
Replay all games of Maksim Chigaev
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
Fedoseev blundered here with 23...Rxb2. Find out what black should have played instead.
Replay all games of Vladimir Fedoseev
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.
Fire_on_board (WGM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya) of Russia won against Bestluck (IM Bhakti Kulkarni) in Round 9.
Pavala (WGM P V Nandhidhaa) defeated IM Viani A Dcunha in Round 8.
Bestluck (IM Bhakti Kulkarni) defeated Zokapenzioner (IM Zoran Velickovic ) of Slovenia in the final round.
Replay the entire tournament Live Stream
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.
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.
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 |
Best Women
| 1 | WGM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya | 6 | ₹2500 |
| 2 | WGM P V Nandhidhaa | 6 | ₹1500 |
| 3 | IM Bhakti Kulkarni | 6 | ₹1000 |
Best Specially Abled
| 1 | Syed Nadeem Hussaini (1188) | 5 | ₹1000 |
| 2 | Marimuthu K (1588) | 5 | ₹1000 |
| 3 | CM Samarth J Rao (1664) | 4 | ₹1000 |
| 4 | Angappan (1239) | 4 | ₹1000 |
| 5 | Kannan V (1395) | 4 | ₹1000 |
Rating category 1000-1300
| 1 | Prabhanjan Badkas (1167) | 5 | ₹1000 |
| 2 | Varun Nair (1130) | 4.5 | ₹800 |
| 3 | Srinivasa Suri H (1257) | 4 | ₹700 |
Rating category 1301-1600
| 1 | Pamarthi Audietya Aazadh (1404) | 5.5 | ₹1000 |
| 2 | Vijayakumar Reddy Mallepalli (1481) | 5.5 | ₹800 |
| 3 | Mahi Amit Doshi (1502) | 5 | ₹700 |
Rating category 1601-1900
| 1 | Arpith S Bijoy (1613) | 6.5 | ₹1000 |
| 2 | Karthikeyan Jeyaprakasam (1860) | 6 | ₹800 |
| 3 | Rahul Raj (1666) | 4.5 | ₹700 |
Rating category 1901-2100
| 1 | Ilamparthi A R (1989) | 7 | ₹1000 |
| 2 | Aditya Bikram Paul (1964) | 5.5 | ₹800 |
| 3 | Vikas R Sharma (1989) | 5 | ₹700 |
Best Unrated
| 1 | Mysa Srujan Kumar | 6 | ₹1000 |
| 2 | Ishwar Lal Patel | 5 | ₹800 |
| 3 | Mayur Gondhalekar | 5 | ₹700 |
Under-12
| 1 | Adireddy Arjun (1658) | 5 | ₹1000 |
| 2 | Swayham P Das (1675) | 5 | ₹800 |
| 3 | Soham Kumar (1612) | 5 | ₹700 |
Under-14
| 1 | Pranav V (2348) | 7 | ₹1000 |
| 2 | Prakhar Bajaj (1663) | 6 | ₹800 |
| 3 | Setumadhav Yellumahanthi (1843) | 5.5 | ₹700 |
Under-16
| 1 | Balasubramaniam H (2298) | 6 | ₹1000 |
| 2 | Ayush Sharma (2072) | 5.5 | ₹800 |
| 3 | Vishvajeet Singh (1572) | 5 | ₹700 |
Under-19
| 1 | Alan Diviya Raj (2033) | 6 | ₹1000 |
| 2 | Krithigga K (1885) | 5 | ₹800 |
| 3 | Navodith V Bhat (1562) | 4.5 | ₹700 |
