PWNCC Jackpots - Keeping Sharp and Looking to Win!

With the COVID-19 pandemic decimating the over-the-board schedule, there are still chess activities are going. Clubs and coaches have shifted from face-to-face encounters and moved online. One of the most promising – perhaps the most promising in your author’s humble opinion – is the PNWCC Jackpot Blitz on Saturdays. So far there have been three tournaments played, the most recent on March 21st, and this report is a reflection on the that vastly strong event. The Pacific Northwest Chess Center (PNWCC) was founded in 2018 and immediately became a force in organizing events in the Pacific Northwest, hosting tournaments, lectures, and camps. But what can such an organization do in the face of COVID-19 outbreak, especially when it is located in one of the epicenters of the pandemic? Attentive readers already know the answer. PNWCC organizes several events during the week for youngsters and chess fans all around the US, with the premiere event the Saturday Jackpot. Here young talents get the chance to cross swords with seasoned and elite GMs. How did this event become so popular so quickly? First, the event offers a chance to win $1,000 cash prize! And in order to win it, you do not need luck in the final standings, as long as you win all of your games. The tournament uses a point-based tournament, where each player’s individual score defines the amount of money they win. While even the highest rated players in the event, like Jeffrey Xiong and Sam Sevian, will find it tough to have a perfect event, the idea of playing for a win in every blitz game is an exciting one, making a socially-isolated Saturday fun! Those intererested in more details on the points / payment system can read tournament regulations here . Just as important in my opinion are the robust measures the chess center enforces against cheating. While asking players not to engage in any unfair activity, the administrators also publishing a sheet explaining how players can avoid even suspicion of foul play. These two features attracts all kinds of players, who above all financial incentive seek a good chess tournament where they can enjoy strong online competition. The last edition on Saturday, March 21st was won by Cuban GM Lazaro Bruzon. The Saint Louis-based GM scored 9 out of 11 games, finishing sole first, netting $200. While he didn’t take home the $1000 “perfect” prize, he still gets the satisfaction of winning a tournament while honing his blitz sharpness. Before I share some of the nice moments in the event with you, I would like to let you know that the next event is today, March 28th, at 7:00 PM PST/Seattle Time. There are still spots to join! Here are some of the most interesting moments from the March 21st tournament!

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[Event "PNWCC Blitz - Jackpot II"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2020.03.21"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Chen, Benjamin"]
[Black "Kondakov, Adrian"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E70"]
[WhiteElo "1927"]
[BlackElo "2208"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/2Kp4/2n1n3/6k1/7p/5B2/7B w - - 0 60"]
[PlyCount "15"]
[EventDate "2020.??.??"]
[EventType "blitz"]
[TimeControl "180+2"]

{[#]} 60. Kxd6 {Funny things happen in a random game of blitz. Sometimes
Instructive things happen!} Ned3 $4 (60... Ne4+ $1 61. Kxe5 (61. Bxe4 Nf3 $19 {
The two bishops are hopeless against the pawn!}) 61... Nxf2 62. Bb7 Kg3 63. Kd4
Ng4 64. Kd3 Kf2 65. Kd2 h2 66. Bh1 Ne3 67. Kd3 Nf5 68. Kd2 Kg1 69. Ke1 {[#]} (
69. Be4 Nh4) 69... Nh4 70. Ke2 Ng2 71. Kf3 Kxh1 72. Kf2 Ne3 {and white is in
Zugzwang}) 61. Bxc5 Nxc5 62. Kxc5 Kg3 63. Bd5 Kf2 64. Bh1 h2 65. Bd5 Kg1 66.
Bc6 h1=Q 67. Bxh1 {Game drawn - insufficient material} 1/2-1/2

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[Event "PNWCC Blitz - Jackpot II"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2020.03.21"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Bruzon, Lazaro"]
[Black "Belous, Vladimir"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A43"]
[WhiteElo "2939"]
[BlackElo "2832"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "4r3/1p2P1kp/p5p1/2pB2N1/P7/2b5/6K1/3R4 w - - 0 32"]
[PlyCount "32"]
[EventDate "2020.??.??"]
[EventType "blitz"]
[TimeControl "180+2"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:17"]
[BlackClock "0:00:24"]

{[#]} 32. Ne4 {22} (32. Rf1 $1 {beautiful mating net.} Rxe7 (32... Bf6 33. Ne6+
Kf7 34. Nc7+ {and black loses everything}) 33. Ne6+ $1 {and funny enough, the
king has no square to go, as on h6 he ends up being mated on h1, a version of
Anastasia mate!}) 32... Bd4 {7} 33. Rb1 {6} b5 {2} 34. axb5 {2} axb5 {0} 35.
Rxb5 {2} Rxe7 {1} 36. Rb7 {1} Rxb7 {2} 37. Bxb7 {1} c4 {0} 38. Ba6 {2} c3 {1}
39. Bd3 {1} h6 {2} 40. Kf3 {1} Kf7 {1} 41. Nd6+ {3} Kf6 {4} 42. Nb5 {3} Be5 {2}
43. Na3 {2} h5 {2} 44. Nc2 {2} g5 {1} 45. Ne3 {1} g4+ {4} 46. Nxg4+ {2} hxg4+ {
0} 47. Kxg4 {1} c2 {2 Game drawn by agreement} 1/2-1/2

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[Event "PNWCC Blitz - Jackpot II"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2020.03.21"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Sevian, Sam"]
[Black "Baryshpolet, A.."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C80"]
[WhiteElo "2968"]
[BlackElo "2757"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2r2k2/R4Ppr/2p5/1p1pq3/3NbR1P/1P4p1/1P1Q4/6K1 w - - 0 30"]
[PlyCount "5"]
[EventDate "2020.??.??"]
[EventType "blitz"]
[TimeControl "180+2"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:05"]
[BlackClock "0:00:16"]

{[#]} 30. Ra8 $1 {8 with a little time on his clock, Sevian showed why he is
one of the best U20 players in the world.} Rxa8 {5} 31. Qb4+ {1} Qe7 {7} 32.
Ne6# {1 Konavets won by checkmate} 1-0

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[Event "PNWCC Blitz - Jackpot II"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2020.03.21"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Xiong, Jeffery"]
[Black "Baryshpolet, Andrei"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D13"]
[WhiteElo "2919"]
[BlackElo "2729"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2020.??.??"]
[EventType "blitz"]
[TimeControl "180+2"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:13"]
[BlackClock "0:02:04"]

1. Nf3 {0 I cannot claim that I have seen every single game of the event, but
I choose this as the best positional game of the event. Jeffery have played
this line several times in the past and the quality of his play is close to a
classical game for the most part of the game.} Nf6 {2} 2. c4 {1} c6 {2} 3. d4 {
2} d5 {1} 4. cxd5 {0} cxd5 {1} 5. Nc3 {0} Nc6 {1} 6. Bf4 {0} a6 {2} 7. Rc1 {1}
Bf5 {2} 8. e3 {2} e6 {8} 9. Qb3 {1} Ra7 {2 Nothing new for Jeffery, he has
played this several times in the past two years!} (9... Nh5 10. Be5 f6 11. Bg3
Nxg3 12. hxg3 Bg6 13. Nh4 Bf7 14. Bd3 f5 15. g4 {1-0 (55) Xiong,J (2663)
-Robson,R (2667) Saint Louis 2019 CBM 189 [Yermolinsky, A]}) 10. Be2 {4} Be7 {6
} (10... Ne4 11. Nxe4 Bxe4 12. Ne5 Qa5+ 13. Kf1 Qb4 14. Qxb4 Bxb4 {1-0 (44)
Xiong,J (2703)-Belous,V (2490) Irving 2019}) 11. O-O {1} O-O {1} 12. Na4 {7}
Nh5 $6 {35} (12... Nd7 13. h3 (13. a3 $5) 13... Na5 14. Qc3 Nc4 15. b3 Nd6 16.
Nc5 Nxc5 17. dxc5 {1-0 (48) Xiong,J (2665)-Jumabayev,R (2621) Saint Louis 2018}
) 13. Be5 {1} f6 {1} 14. Bg3 {1} Nxg3 {7} 15. hxg3 {0} Bg6 {31} 16. Nc5 {2}
Bxc5 {3} 17. Rxc5 $14 {0 White has a solid advantage along the c-file, it is
hard to suggest any active plan for black which makes things even worse for
him.} Bf7 {9} 18. Rfc1 {2} Re8 {19} 19. Qc3 {5} Ra8 {6} 20. Bd1 {1} Re7 {9} 21.
Ba4 {2} Be8 {1} 22. Ne1 {19} Rc7 {42} 23. Qd2 {2} Rac8 {3} 24. Nd3 {16} Bd7 {5}
25. R5c3 {7} b6 {7} 26. Nf4 {10} Kf7 {12} 27. Qe2 {4} b5 {6} 28. Qh5+ {3} Kg8 {
2} 29. Bc2 {15} h6 {2} 30. Qg6 {4} Ne7 {1} 31. Qh7+ {2} Kf7 {1} 32. Nh5 {12}
Qg8 {5} 33. Rxc7 {1} Rxc7 {3} 34. Bg6+ {1} Nxg6 {2} 35. Qxg8+ {1} Kxg8 {0} 36.
Rxc7 {1 jefferyx won by resignation} 1-0

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "PNWCC Blitz - Jackpot II"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2020.03.21"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Stevic, H.."]
[Black "Sevian, S.."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B22"]
[WhiteElo "2703"]
[BlackElo "2964"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/6Q1/5p2/2b1p3/1k4PP/6K1/5r2/8 b - - 0 60"]
[PlyCount "25"]
[EventDate "2020.??.??"]
[EventType "blitz"]
[TimeControl "180+2"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:18"]
[BlackClock "0:00:22"]

{[#]} 60... e4 {1 this form of event requires thorough focus. In here, the
seasoned Croatian GM falls for a simple mate in a totally winning position.}
61. Qb7+ {1} Kc3 {2} 62. Qxe4 {1} Ra2 {2} 63. Qf3+ {1} Kc4 {2} 64. Qf4+ {2} (
64. Qxf6 {simply wins.}) 64... Bd4 {1} 65. Qc7+ {2} Kd3 {2} 66. Qh7+ {2} Ke3 {2
} 67. Qe7+ $4 {2 white got too relaxed!} (67. g5 {would have been the best
practical decision}) 67... Be5+ {1} 68. Qxe5+ {4} fxe5 {0} 69. g5 {1} Ke4 {1}
70. Kg4 {2} Rg2+ {1} 71. Kh5 {0} Kf5 {1} 72. Kh6 {0} e4 {0 Konavets won by
resignation} 0-1

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "PNWCC Blitz - Jackpot II"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2020.03.21"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Preotu, R..."]
[Black "Bruzon, Lazaro"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2735"]
[BlackElo "2941"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1bq1r1k/1pp1n1p1/2np3p/p2Np3/P1B4N/2PP4/1P3PPP/R2QR1K1 b - - 0 15"]
[PlyCount "9"]
[EventDate "2020.??.??"]
[EventType "blitz"]
[TimeControl "180+2"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:38"]
[BlackClock "0:00:21"]

{[#] The experienced Cuban GM (the late thirties today is the old late
forties!) won the event with 9-2, finishing first, pocketing $200. In this
game, he played so well even for a classical game!} 15... g5 $1 {29 deep
intuition.} 16. Qh5 {17} Kg7 {2} 17. Nf3 {2} Ng6 {15 this lets the move d4} 18.
h3 $4 {21} (18. d4 Nce7 19. g3 Nxd5 20. Bxd5 Bf5 21. dxe5 dxe5 22. Rad1 Qf6 23.
h4 $13 {yeah! go figure in a blitz game!}) 18... Nce7 $1 {26 Bruzon's smart
idea works now, white's queen is trapped} 19. Nxe7 {8} (19. g3 Ng8 $1 20. d4 c6
21. Ne3 Nf6) 19... Nf4 {25} 0-1

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "PNWCC Blitz - Jackpot II"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2020.03.21"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Yoo, Christopher"]
[Black "Zherebukh, Yaroslav"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2672"]
[BlackElo "2853"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "1QR1n3/5p1k/4r1p1/p2p3p/1p1Pq3/1P2N3/P4P2/2B3K1 w - - 0 45"]
[PlyCount "20"]
[EventDate "2020.??.??"]
[EventType "blitz"]
[TimeControl "180+2"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:11"]
[BlackClock "0:00:05"]

{[#] One of the hardest things in chess is to switch gears in thinking process.
Here white is up a piece and black really doesn't have a threat despite
white's king seems to be exposed. White needed to do a regrouping to
consolidate his advantage. Ng2! and Bf4 would have sealed the deal in white's
favor, however the young Christopher went for a kill....} 45. Nxd5 $4 {3 Now
the king is exposed.} Qg4+ {4} 46. Kh2 {3} Qh4+ {2} 47. Kg2 {2} Re1 {2} 48. Qh2
{3 There isn't really any better move.} Qe4+ {2} 49. Kg3 {2} Qxd5 {1} 50. Qh4 {
1} Rg1+ {2} 51. Kf4 {1} Rg4+ {2} 52. Qxg4 {1} Qxd4+ {1} 53. Kg3 {4} Qxg4+ {1}
54. Kh2 {0} Qxc8 {0} 0-1

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "PNWCC Blitz - Jackpot II"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2020.03.21"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Zherebukh, Yaroslav"]
[Black "Cordova, Emiliano"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B45"]
[WhiteElo "2855"]
[BlackElo "2906"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "1k6/6Rp/1P4b1/K7/P7/3r4/8/8 b - - 0 51"]
[PlyCount "13"]
[EventDate "2020.??.??"]
[EventType "blitz"]
[TimeControl "180+2"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:24"]
[BlackClock "0:00:11"]

{[#] This endgame, fascinated me. It made me wonder, what question should
black ask himself and answer intuitively right away, so that he can convert
this into a win. The easiest question is where is the optimal square for
black's rook and bishop. The rook's placement is the key to it. Obviously this
is not a very hard example for calculation if one has about five minutes.
However, it becomes a hard task once you have few seconds to make a decision.}
51... Rd5+ $2 {1} (51... Rd8 $1 52. Kb4 (52. Kb5 Rh8 53. a5 Bd3+ 54. Kc6 Be4+
55. Kb5 h5 56. a6 h4 57. b7 Bd3+ 58. Kb6 Rh6+ $19) 52... Rh8 $1 {Rook behinds
the pawn, supporting the h-pawn and freeing the bishop!} 53. a5 Bd3) 52. Kb4 {1
} Rd4+ {2} 53. Ka5 $4 {2} (53. Kc5 $1 Rxa4 54. Rg8+ Kb7 55. Rg7+ Kc8 56. Rg8+
$11) 53... Bc2 $4 {3} (53... Rd8 {With the same idea explained above would
have still won the game.}) 54. Rg8+ {4} Kb7 {1} 55. Rg7+ {1} Kb8 {2} 56. Rg8+ {
1} Kb7 {1} 57. Rg7+ {1} Kb8 {4 Game drawn by repetition} 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "PNWCC Blitz - Jackpot II"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2020.03.21"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Bruzon, Lazaro"]
[Black "He, Anthony"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E60"]
[WhiteElo "2938"]
[BlackElo "2714"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r2q1r2/pp2ppk1/2n1bnp1/3p4/3P4/2N1P3/PP1QNPP1/R3KB1R b Q - 0 13"]
[PlyCount "4"]
[EventDate "2020.??.??"]
[EventType "blitz"]
[TimeControl "180+2"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:09"]
[BlackClock "0:01:19"]

{[#] Playing competitive blitz helps one honing his tactical skill, here our
tournament winner missed a nice 'cheapo' with the double-threat theme!} 13...
Qd6 $4 {35} (13... Rh8 $11) 14. Nf4 {11} (14. e4 Rh8 15. e5 {and white wins a
piece/}) 14... Bf5 {3} 15. f3 {1 The tournament is balanced but Bruzon ended
up winning this against his young opponent.} 1-0

[/pgn]