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

Алегро

Johan Salomon – Mariya Muzychuk
13rd Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival; Catalan Bay, January 27, 2015
Queen’s Gambit Declined D43

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. e3 Nd7 8. Bd3 dxc4 9. Bxc4 g6 10. 0-0 Bg7 11. e4 e5 12. d5 0-0 13. dxc6 bxc6 14. Qc2. If 14. Qe2 might follow 14. ... Nb6 15. Bb3 Bg4 as in the game Vereggen – Gieben, 17th Univé Chess Open, Hoogeveen 2013. 14. ... Nc5 15. Na4 Nxa4 16. Qxa4

16. ... h5! Launching a flank attack in the style of Florentine Grandmaster Sergio Mariotti. 17. Rad1 h4 18. Qa3 h3 19. g3? This is a serious slip that justifies Black’s bold play. The critical continuation here seems to be 19. Rd6! Be6!? (on 20. ... Qf4 21. Qe3! leads nowhere) 20. Bxe6 fxe6 with a very unbalanced position, in which Black should hope to get enough dynamic play to compensate for her weaknesses. 19. ... Bg4 20. Be2 Rfd8 21. Qc3 Bf8! 22. a3 a5! 23. Rfe1 Rxd1 24. Rxd1 Rb8 25. Kf1? A silly move, after which White’s position collapses. 25. Rd2! would have saved a precious tempo and offered the toughest resistance (Black may perhaps keep the initiative with 25. ... a4). 25. ... Bxf3 26. Bxf3 Bc5! Black finishes the game off with a shining series of brilliant coups. 27. b3 a4! 28. b4 Bd4 29. Qd3 c5 30. Rb1 cxb4 31. axb4 Rc8 32. Qe2 Rc3 33. Bg4 Rb3 34. Rxb3. Otherwise ... Rb3-b2 would follow. 34. ... axb3 35. f3 Qc6 0 : 1. For if 36. Bxh3 then 36. ... Qc1+ 37. Qe1 b2 finis.

Mariya Muzychuk
Photo: Sophie Tray