Fedoseev wins Jackpot Blitz Tournament

by Vladimir Fedoseev
10/6/2020 – The Pacific Northwest Chess Center (PNWCC) is a very active, Seattle based club that organised a couple of strong online events during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of these events was the so-called Jackpot Blitz, a series of blitz tournaments. The excellent conditions and the attractive prizes attracted some of the world's best players, but a few weeks ago the Jackpot series ended with the 20th and last Jackpot Blitz. It was won by GM Vladimir Fedoseev, who sends a report and annotates games.
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Half-point shy from PNWCC Jackpot

Due to the COVID-19 global lockdown, many chess organizers swiftly changed their focus to online events. The Pacific Northwest Chess Center (PNWCC), a Seattle based club founded by a group of chess enthusiasts who work for ATT&T, Microsoft and Amazon, soon became popular among chess players from around the world for their fun yet competitive tournaments, with quite generous conditions and prizes. From my own experience, what makes PNWCC stand out is their strict fair-play measures, which I consider as a good example to this day for online chess. With world class event organizing skills, responsive and fast communications, and attention to details, PNWCC really makes players feel comfortable to play online events with little to no worries. I myself played a lot of PNWCC tournaments, including the classical 3-day/9-round G/60 tournament World Online Open (WOO), Super GM invitational Summer of Seattle (SOS), and the fun Team Bullet World Cup.

Readers can find and follow PNWCC’s event schedule on North America Chess Hub, from where you can see they have a series of blitz tournaments on almost every Saturday in the past 6 months dubbed “PNWCC Jackpot Blitz”. These blitz tournaments have a unique points based prize system to encourage players to play fighting chess in every single game, and in the event that a player wins all 11 games, he hits the “Jackpot” – an impressive $1,000 prize! As a result, you rarely see quick draws in Jackpots as half point less can make you either win much less or no prize at all, and half point more sometimes double the reward!

In the short history of Jackpot blitz, many strong GM’s, including Grischuk, Giri, Mamedyarov, Dominguez, Karjakin, Gelfand, Vitiugov, Xiong and Le, just to name a few, had tried but nobody had achieved a perfect 11/11 score yet. Indian youngster GM Arjun, Erigaisi and I each managed to score 10/11 once, and won $500 prizes.

The players in action

Three weeks ago, PNWCC announced the 20th edition of Jackpot. This would be the final one of year 2020, and it took place at 9:30 AM PST on Sept 19, with an interesting name - PNWCC Jackpot 20 - Finale - ROTK! This made me wonder what was special besides being the last one. On checking the roster, and seeing former world champion GM Vladimir Kramnik’s name, I immediately knew this one would be truly unique! Having been impressed by PNWCC’s respect and true passion for chess, I was not surprised GM Kramnik would agree to take a 3-hour break from his retirement and play in the final Jackpot!

A few facts can help showcase how strong and popular this tournament was –

  • 94 registered (some ended not participating in the event)
  • 43 GMs and 2 WGM, including 16 players rated over FIDE 2600
  • 15 IMs and 1 WIM
  • 24 U20 Juniors players, including a few promising ones from China and India. The tournament started at 9:30 AM Seattle time, but for Asian players, it was 0:30AM to 03:00AM! To these youngsters, their “Jackpots” were to get a game vs the former World Champion!
  • I got paired against a strong IM in round 1 while there were also GM’s duking it out against other GMs. This shows how competitive the pairings were in a huge tournament with 11 rounds!

For the author of this article, this special Jackpot was significant thanks to a record-breaking performance of 10.5/11, the highest Jackpot score ever which can only be broken by someone hitting a Jackpot later! Not every time I’m able to separate myself by 2.5 points from the nearest competitors in such a tight field with many strong grandmasters. How is it different from Alekhine in Bled?

Click here for the final cross table

The road to victory was not as smooth as shown by the score though. I drew my compatriot GM Maksim Chigaev in round 4, which by Jackpot’s standard was quite early. Knowing hitting the Jackpot was mission impossible again made me relax and I decided just to enjoy chess and won my next 4 games.

The moment I had been looking forward to finally came in round 9 - I had the honor to be paired against the former World Champion - GM Vladimir Kramnik. Probably not used to online chess yet, Kramnik gave three draws in a row so I was ahead of him by one point before the game, which might partly contributed to him wanting to play in maximum aggressive way. I felt ready for this kind of fight and let’s see what happened in the game!

 
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1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 c5 I prepared this reaction to the Reti for a match against Hou Yifan. 4.0-0 e6 5.d3 Be7 6.e4 I also knew about this trick, but alas, at the board, such tricks cause certain psychological pressure, possibly cause confusion, which might prevent one from making the best decision. 0-0 6...dxe4!? Let us figure out, once and for all, whether it is possible to play like this or not. 7.dxe4 Qxd1 8.Rxd1 Nxe4 9.Ne5 Nd6 This position occurs by force. 10.Na3 0-0 11.c3! Seemingly the trickiest continuation, but we will look at other possibilities too. 11.Bf4 f6 12.Ng6 hxg6 13.Bxd6 Kf7! Without this move black is facing difficulties. 14.f4 Nc6 15.Nc4 Rd8 Here white has a variety of choices, but with accurate play, black should hold. 11.Nac4 Too direct! Nxc4 12.Nxc4 Nc6 And black has time to complete his development. Possibly, white can get compensation but not an advantage. 11...f6 12.Nec4 Nxc4 13.Nxc4 Nc6 14.a4! e5 15.a5 And here seemingly, white's pressure outweighs his pawn deficit. 7.e5 Ne8 7...Nfd7 Is a more classical approach, but I had a slightly different plan for the game. 8.Qe2 b5 Sensible attempt for counterplay. The rest, I will examine in great detail, but I will still try to share my impressions of how the fight was and what I was thinking about during the game. 9.h4 9.d4!? A dramatic change of plans, but probably black is not doing poorly here. Ba6 9...b4 10.Rd1 Ba6 11.Qe1 c4 12.a3 Qa5 13.Bg5! 10.Rd1 Due to a slightly passive position of black's knight on e8, the engine slightly prefers white. 9...Nc6 10.Bf4 a5 11.a3 This move seems to me, a strategical mistake. Why should white even make pawn moves on his weaker side and what should white be afraid of? This is an open question, although it is possible that Vladimir Kramnik simply knew about plans on the queenside in this position more than me. 11.Nbd2 a4 Here, also, black is making quick progress. 11...Ba6 12.Nbd2 b4 13.Rfe1 13.axb4 axb4 14.Bg5! How to understand this? Seems like white has gained the initiative. 13...bxa3 14.bxa3 Rb8 15.c4 From this moment I took the course to get maximum counterplay. Nc7 Seemingly-first critical moment of the game. 16.Nf1 16.Rab1! Qd7 17.Bg5! Looks like a typical and the most important idea for white. It is difficult to understand it, so better to memorize it. 16...dxc4 17.dxc4 Nd5 18.Bd2 18.Bg5! Nb6 19.N1d2 h6 20.Bxh6!? 20.Bxe7 Qxe7= 20...gxh6 21.Qe4 And positional draw? 18...Nb6 19.Qe4 Nd4 20.Bxa5 Bxc4 And specifically here, Vladimir Kramnik made his first critical error. 21.Ne3 Bd3 22.Qg4 Nb3-+ 23.Bxb6 Qxb6 24.Rad1 Rfd8 24...Qa6! Not touching a very important defender (the rook on f8) 25.Ng5? Not according to the position but according to the authority! Such play has a place. 25.Bf1! With a totally playable position for white, likely not better for black, at least from the practical stand point of view for blitz. Bxf1 Stockfish 080920:2) 25...h5 26.Qxh5 Bxf1 27.Rxf1 Qa6 28.Rd6 Rxd6 29.exd6 Qxd6 30.Ne5 Rf8 31.Rb1 Nd2 32.Rb7 g6 33.Nxg6 fxg6 34.Qxg6+ Kh8 35.Qh5+ Kg7 36.Qg5+ Kf7 37.Qh5+ Stockfish 080920:3) 25...Bb5 26.Rxd8+ Qxd8 27.Bxb5 Rxb5 28.Qe4 Ra5 29.Rd1 Qa8 30.Qxa8+ Rxa8 31.Rd3 Na5 32.Rc3 h5 33.Nd2 f6 34.a4 Kf7 35.Ne4 Nb7 36.Ra3 Na5 37.Kg2 fxe5 38.Rc3 Nb7 39.Ra3 Stockfish 080920:4) 25...c4 26.Nxc4 Bxc4 27.Bxc4 Rxd1 28.Rxd1 Nc5 29.Nd4 Rd8 30.Qf3 Bf8 31.Kg2 Qb7 32.Be2 Qb2 33.Qe3 Qb6 34.Nf3 Rxd1 35.Bxd1 Qb1 36.Qd4 Nd3 37.Be2 Ne1+ 38.Nxe1 Qxe1 39.Bd3 g6 40.a4 h5 41.Qe4 Qxe4+ 42.Bxe4 Bb4 43.f4 Ba5 44.Kf2 Kf8 45.Bd3 Bb4 46.Ke3 Be1 47.Kf3 Ke7 48.g4 hxg4+ 49.Kxg4 Ba5 50.h5 gxh5+ 51.Kxh5 Kf8 52.Kg4 Bb6 53.f5 exf5+ 54.Kxf5 26.Rxf1 Qa6 27.Nc4 Na5 28.Nd6 h6 29.Qf4 Bxd6 30.exd6 Nc6 31.Qe3 Rb5 32.d7 Qb7 33.Rc1 Rxd7 34.Rxc5 Rxc5 35.Qxc5 Rd3 36.Rc1 Rxf3 37.Qxc6 Qxc6 38.Rxc6 Rxa3 39.Rc8+ Kh7 40.h5 Ra5 41.Rc7 Rxh5 42.Rxf7 Rc5 43.Re7 Rc6 44.Re8 Kg6 45.Kg2 Kf7 46.Ra8 Rc2 47.Rb8 e5 48.Ra8 Ke6 49.Rf8 h5 50.Rg8 Kf6 51.Rb8 25...Rd4 26.f4 c4 On the mission to try to promote the pawn. This brings me unusual feelings to promote a pawn against Kramnik. Here I will show the engine evaluation, it is surprising. 27.Kh2 Stockfish 080920: 27.Kh2 Bxg5 28.hxg5 c3 29.Qf3 c2 30.Nxc2 Bxc2 31.Rxd4 Nxd4 32.Qc3 Qb2 33.Qxb2 Rxb2 34.Kh1 Rb3 35.a4 Ra3 36.a5 Kf8 37.Rf1 Rxa5 38.Rf2 Ra1+ 39.Kh2 Rd1 40.Kh3 Ke7 41.Kh2 Ke8 42.Kh3 Kd7 43.Bb7 Ke7 44.Bg2 Rd3 45.Kh2 Kf8 46.Bb7 Rd1 47.Bg2 Bb3 48.Rb2 Bd5 27...c3 28.Nf3 Rdd8 29.f5 exf5 30.Nxf5 Bxf5 31.Qxf5 Qg6! If Qg6 wouldn't exist, the position would be unclear. 32.Rxd8+ Rxd8 33.Qf4 c2 From here on, my conversion was good. 34.e6 fxe6 35.Ne5 Qf6 36.Qe3 c1Q The queen was promoted but that is not a reason to lose concentration. 37.Rxc1 Nxc1 38.Nc6 Rd1 39.Bf3 Bc5! The last important detail in this game. 40.Qe4 Rd2+ 41.Kh1 Qf5 42.Qxf5 exf5 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Kramnik,V2753Fedoseev,V26780–12020A08PNWCC Jackpot 20 Finale9

Another player that deserves special mentioning is GM Boris Gelfand. The legendary 2012 World Champion challenger had been a regular to Jackpots lately, and we played many games. This tournament proved no exception. Let’s see what happened in our round 10 encounter.

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.0-0 Nge7 5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 Ng6 7.Nc3 Be7 8.Be3 0-0 9.Qd2 9.f4!? Is much more logical but it was clear that Boris Gelfand had knowledge and I couldn't remember the details. Nxd4 10.Qxd4 b6 11.Rad1 a6 12.Ba4 Bc5 13.Qd2 Bxe3+ 14.Qxe3 Qc7 15.h4 h6 16.Rf2 b5 17.Bb3 Bb7 18.h5 Ne7 19.f5 Nc6 20.f6 Rad8 21.Nd5 Qe5 22.fxg7 Kxg7 23.Nf6 Qg5 24.Qxg5+ hxg5 25.Rxd7 Rxd7 26.Nxd7 Rd8 27.h6+ Kxh6 28.Rxf7 Nd4 29.Nc5 Bc8 30.c3 Ne2+ 31.Kf2 Nf4 32.g3 Ng6 33.Ke2 Ne5 34.Re7 Kh5 35.Nxe6 Bxe6 36.Bxe6 Nd3 37.Rh7+ Kg6 38.Bf5+ Kf6 39.Rh6+ Kf7 40.Rxa6 Nxb2 41.e5 1-0 (41) Shirov,A (2631)-Hansen,S (2589) Lund 2018 9...a6 10.Be2 Qc7 11.f4 b5 12.Nxc6 Here I started sensing the danger, but maybe it is already too late. Qxc6 13.a3 Bb7 14.Rad1 Rad8 15.Bd3 Qc7 For now black has a more pleasant game. 16.Qf2 Rc8 17.Ne2 f5! Now, however, white is started to be outplayed due to the unfortunate move Ne2. 18.exf5 Nh4 19.Nd4 Nxg2 20.fxe6 Bc5 21.c3 dxe6 22.Qg3 This is already totally lost, but here, towards the end of the game, I was able to sharpen up the play. No, of course not sharpen up but just ask black to show the win when it is not quite so obvious. Nxe3 23.Qxe3 Qc6 24.Qh3! g6 25.Kf2?? 25.Rde1! And the engine gives only =/+! 25...Bxd4+?? 25...e5-+ In case of this move, I would resign immediately. 26.cxd4 Rxf4+ 27.Ke2 Rxd4 28.Bxg6 Last chance and with six seconds, Boris Gelfand lost the thread. hxg6?? 28...Re4+‼ 29.Bxe4 Qxe4+ 30.Qe3 Rc2+ 31.Rd2 Qg4+ 32.Kf2 Qg2+ 33.Ke1 Rc1+ The base idea of black's attack which we will see again later. 29.Rxd4 Qc2+ 30.Rd2?? 30.Ke3‼+- 30...Qe4+ 31.Qe3?? 31.Kd1 Qb1+ 32.Ke2 Qe4+= 31...Qg4+ 32.Kf2 Qh4+?? 32...Qg2+ 33.Ke1 Rc1+ saw on the same move! 33.Qg3 Qh6 34.Re2 From here, I was precise in my realization. Bd5 35.Kg1 Qh5 36.Re5 Qh6 37.Rg5 Kg7 38.Qe5+ Kg8 39.Qf6 Rc7 40.Rxg6+ Rg7 41.Qxg7+ Qxg7 42.Rxg7+ Kxg7 43.Kf2 Kf6 44.Ke3+ Kg5 45.Kd4 Kg4 46.Ke5 a5 47.b4 axb4 48.axb4 Kh3 49.Rf2 Bc4 50.Rd2 Kg4 51.Rd6 Kh3 52.Rd2 Kg4 53.Rd8 Kh3 54.Rh8+ Kg4 55.h4 Bd5 56.Rh6 Bc4 57.Rxe6 Kxh4 58.Rb6 Kg4 59.Kd4 Kf5 60.Kc5 Ke5 61.Rxb5 Bxb5 62.Kxb5 1–0
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Fedoseev,V2678Gelfand,B26761–02020B30PNWCC Jackpot 20 Finale10

In this game I was able to win, though along the way I was totally outplayed. After the tournament, Xuhao He, one of the founders of PNWCC who claims that he doesn’t know how to play the game, but sometimes likes to read chess books, congratulated me on winning the tournament, with a teasing quote from GM Gelfand’s popular book “Dynamic Decision Making in Chess” 😊 

Boris Gelfand – Dynamic Decision Making in Chess, p. 227

Although Xuhao doesn’t know how to play chess, his son, Anthony He, a young and creative player with whom I played quite a few training games, also had a good tournament with many excellent games. In this article, I will examine one of his games that I liked the most.  

 
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1.Nf3 Nf6 This is a game of a young, creative player, Anthony He, with whom I was able to play several training games. I chose the game that impressed me the most. 2.g3 g6 3.b3 Levan Pantsulia, in my opinion is one of the strongest players in the world when it comes to playing small moves(only moving a piece one square). One can find many such examples from his games where he was very succesful making these little moves. Bg7 4.Bb2 d6 5.d4 c5 6.Bg2 cxd4 7.Nxd4 d5 This is a very concrete and principled opening approach. As the game showed, it didn't quite work out, but you can see the ambitious approach of the player playing black. 8.0-0 0-0 9.c4 Otherwise, it might be too late to do this break if it's not done now. dxc4 10.Na3!? cxb3 11.Qxb3 Here comes the next critical moment (a difficult one for blitz). Here it was possible to play in many different ways, but Qb6 was probably ill-advised. I think there was a lack of experience in making such decisions. Qb6? 12.Nc4 Qxb3 13.axb3 Nbd7 From this moment, black starts to favorably complicate the situation and step by step, end up getting a complex and playable endgame. 14.Ba3 Very principled, but I think Levan underestimated black's reply. Nd5! 15.Bxd5 Bxd4 16.Bxe7 Re8! 17.Rad1 Rxe7 18.Rxd4 Nf6 A very practical approach. Now we will see how the young player confidently outplays a strong grandmaster in the endgame. 19.Bf3 Be6 20.Na5 Rb8 21.b4 Rc7! Showing high technique of decision-making. 22.Kg2 Nd7 Energetic. 23.Rfd1 Kg7 24.Bd5 Bxd5+ 25.Rxd5 Nb6 26.Rc5 Re7 Holding the tension. 27.e3 Re4 28.Rb5 h5 29.Nb3 Na4 30.Ra1 a6! Black was able to trick white in a concrete way. Earlier white missed the chance to play 30)Rd7! with a slightly better endgame. 31.Ra5 Rxb4 32.Nd4 Nb6 From here on, the technical stage was conducted ideally. 33.Rc5 Rc8 34.Rac1 Rxc5 35.Rxc5 Rc4 36.Re5 Rc7 37.Re8 Nc4 38.h3 Kf6 39.g4 hxg4 40.hxg4 Nd6 41.Rd8 Ke7 42.Rb8 a5 43.Ra8 b6 44.f4 Nc8 45.Kf3 Kd7 46.Nb5 Rc5 47.Nd4 Kc7 48.f5 Kb7 Brilliant! A very good game which impresses in decision making and the liveliness of the play from the player playing black. 49.fxg6 fxg6 50.Ne6 Kxa8 51.Nxc5 bxc5 52.Ke4 a4 53.Kd3 Kb7 54.Kc4 Kc6 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Pantsulaia,L2553He,A23400–12020A49PNWCC Jackpot 20 Finale7

Even though PNWCC has concluded this year’s Jackpot blitz tournaments, I would like to wish for future Jackpot tournaments to become even more popular! I would also like the anti-cheating measures taken in this tournament to become more common in online tournaments, and that the  prestigious milestone Jackpot 50, and soon after, Jackpot 100 will take place quickly!

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Vitiugov and Zierk win Artist Point Grandmaster Tournament

Vladimir Fedoseev (born February 16, 1995) is a Russian Grandmaster and one of the world's best players. He has had numerous tournament successes, and in 2017 he finished second in the World Rapid Chess Championship in Riyadh, after losing the playoff against Viswanathan Anand.

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