On Broadway

Jon Ludvig Nilssen Hammer – Johan Salomon
54th Nordic Chess Championship; Sastamala, October 24, 2016
Nimzo-Indian Defence E53

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 0-0 5. Bd3 c5 6. Nf3 d5 7. cxd5 exd5 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. 0-0 Bg4 10. b3 Nc6 11. Bb2 Qe7 12. h3 Bh5? A very questionable Pawn sacrifice – to put it euphemistically. The accepted continuation is 12. ... Bxf3 13. Qxf3 d4 as, for instance, in Ivanchuk – M. Adams, 1st FIDE Grand Prix, London 2012. 13. g4! Of course Hammer doesn’t say no! 13. ... Bg6 14. Bxg6 hxg6 15. Nxd5 Nxd5 16. Qxd5 Ba3 17. Bxa3 Qxa3 18. Qd7 Rab8. Stockfish prefers 18. ... Qa6 and maybe it is right, but I doubt that after something like 19. Kg2, followed by the deployment of heavy calibers, Black can be content to hope that White’s extra Pawn won’t be enough to win. 19. Rfd1 Qb2 20. Kg2 Rfe8 21. Qc7 Nb4 22. Rac1 Nxa2. Salomon finally regained his Pawn, but meanwhile Hammer accumulated energy to a disruptive level. 23. Rc4! b5 24. Rcd4 Ra8 25. Qb7! Qxb3

26. Qxa8! Elegant as usual. 26. ... Rxa8 27. Rd8+ Kh7 28. Rxa8 f6. Now, after 29. Rdd8 g5 Black could delay The End for a few moves (scenes), but Hammer doesn’t miss the point: 29. Ng5+! 1 : 0. For after 29. ... fxg5 30. Rdd8 mate is unavoidable.

Jon Ludvig Nilssen Hammer vs. Johan Salomon
Photo © Suomen Shakkiliitto