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Jon Ludvig Hammer vs Magnus Carlsen
Norway Chess (2013), Hidle NOR, rd 7, May-15
Catalan Opening: Open Defense (E04)  ·  0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

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Kibitzer's Corner
May-15-13  atackishki99: Carlsen on the top the next world champ!
May-15-13  fgh: What was the purpose of 32. e4?
May-15-13  beenthere240: In looking at 27 Nb5?!, I'm wondering if Hammer was setting a "trap" for Magnus, ie, ...Bxb5 28. axb5 Qxb5?? 29. e4, winning the black knight.

I can't think of any other reason to double your Q-side pawns and get rid of a well positioned knight.

And as for 32. e4, maybe the pawn just "slid" past e3 like a overzealous shuffleboard shot.

May-15-13  atackishki99: 32. e4 hammer want to create an open file in his rook looking for black weak pawn in c6.but Carlsen didn't give chance and attack his rook in c2 pointing c & f pawns after Ne4 centralized his knight good positioning!
May-15-13  Kinghunt: <beenthere240> I think that has to be it. I can't think of any other reason for Hammer to play Nb5, which has such an obvious drawback.
May-15-13  beenthere240: <Kinghunt> If that was Hammer's idea, it's mighty cheap shot for a GM. But as I recall, a time crunch for Carlsen was already developing.
May-15-13  Eyal: According to what was said at the press conference, Hammer was quite confident in his position after playing 25.Nd4 (with ideas of Nf5 & Nxe6), and somehow convinced himself that Black has to reply 25...Nc3, after which White has an advantage with 26.Qxc5 bxc5 27.bxc3 cxd4 28.Rxd4 Bxe2; apparently he got flustered when seeing 25...Kf8 instead, which took him completely by surprise (he said this move "won the game" for Carlsen). Very little was actually said about 27.Nb5, except for Carlsen noting that after 26...Rc8, with Nf6 and a queen exchange coming, White should accept that he's a bit worse in any case because of Black's control of the c-file and that "it's not so easy [for White] to find a useful move".
May-15-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  HeMateMe: I predicted this result.
May-15-13  Kaspablanca: HeMateMe: What a surprise!, i am shocked, Carlsen beats Hammer!!
May-15-13  WiseWizard: I think this was an excellent opening set-up from Carlsen, I tuned in after 11...Na6 and knew that Hammer would have no chance today, the position is safe with just the right amount of pawn imbalances for creativity.
May-15-13  haydn20: Is 24. Ng5 any good?
May-15-13  Shams: <haydn20> I believe in the post-mortem Carlsen gave 24.Ng5 Nf6 and Black is slightly better.
May-16-13  DcGentle: <<Eyal>: ... apparently he got flustered when seeing 25...Kf8 instead, which took him completely by surprise ...>

Well, apparently Hammer didn't notice the bigger of both threats he had in this position:


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Black to move.

White threatens <26. Nxe6 fxe6 27. Bxe6+ Kh8 28. Qxd5 Qxd5 29. Bxd5 Bxe2 30. Rd2>, winning a pawn.

The threat <26. e4> could be countered by <26... Nb4>.

So by his move <25... Kf8> Carlsen just evaded the bishop check of the bigger threat, defusing it.

May-17-13  Boris Schipkov: The position was very drawish.
May-21-13  Zenchess: Better is 7. O-O or 7. Na3 instead of 7. Qc2?!. With that move, White gets his Queen pushed around throughout the early stages of the game.
Jun-03-14  tonsillolith: The queenside setup is similar to Stahlberg vs Nimzowitsch, 1934.

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