Arctic Securities Rapid Chess: Hammer lets Carlsen escape!

Jon Ludvig Hammer: Cruel Caissa

Hello Everyone,

The Arctic Securities Rapid Chess began on Saturday in the Norwegian city of Kristiansund. It features World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, World Champion Viswanathan Anand, World's No. 1 rated woman player Judith Polgar and Norway's No. 2 player Jon Ludvig Hammer.

Here is the schedule with times in CET.

Saturday

Opening (13.30)

Round 1 (14.30): Polgar-Carlsen, Anand-Hammer

Round 2 (16.00): Polgar-Anand, Carlsen-Hammer

Round 3 (17.30): Anand-Carlsen, Hammer-Polgar

Sunday

Round 4 (14.30): Carlsen-Polgar, Hammer-Anand

Round 5 (16.00): Anand-Polgar, Hammer-Carlsen

Round 6 (17.30): Carlsen-Anand, Polgar-Hammer

Monday

Finals & bronze finals (14.00)

Standings after first section of the tournament.

1. Carlsen M. 2.5/3.0

2. Anand V. 2.5/3.0

3.Polgar J. 0.5/3.0

4. Hammer J. 0.5

Anand beat Polgar and Hammer but drew with Carlsen. Carlsen also beat Polgar and Hammer but drew with Anand. Polgar and Hammer drew their games.

Here is the website for more details and here is the link for live broadcast of the games.

Meanwhile, Hammer is going to hate himself for quite some time for this blunder against Carlsen. Here is the nice game. You can run it in our pgnplayer or watch in flash below. Don't miss the 39th move by Hammer where he went Rhd2!

PGN: 1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Nf3 c5 6. e3 Nc6 7. Bd3 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Be4 Nf6 10. Bxc6 cxd4 11. Nxd4 bxc6 12. Nxc6 Qc7 13. Nxe7+ Qxe7 14. e4 Ba6 15. e5 Nd5 16. Nxd5 exd5 17. Re1 Rfd8 18. Qd4 Rab8 19. Bd2 Qb7 20. Bc3 Qb6 21. e6 Qxd4 22. Bxd4 Rb7 23. Rac1 fxe6 24. Rxe6 Bd3 25. f3 a5 26. Re3 Bg6 27. Ra3 Rb4 28. Bc3 Rc4 29. Rxa5 d4 30. Rd1 Rd7 31. Rb5 h6 32. Ba5 Rc2 33. h4 d3 34. a4 Re7 35. h5 Be8 36. Rb8 Ree2 37. Rxd3 Rxg2+ 38. Kf1 Rh2 39. Rd2 Rhxd2 40. Bxd2 Kf7 41. Bc3 Bxa4 42. Rb7+ Ke6 43. Rxg7 Bb5+ 44. Kg1 Be8 45. Rh7 Kf5 46. Rxh6 Kg5 47. Re6 Bxh5 48. Re5+ Kh6 49. f4 Kg6 50. f5+ Kf7 51. f6 Bg6 52. Re7+ Kf8 53. Rc7 Ke8 54. b4 Kd8 55. Rc5 Kd7 56. b5 Kd6 57. Bb4 Rb2 58. Ba3 Ra2 59. Rc3+ Ke6 60. b6 Ra1+ 61. Kf2 Be4 62. Be7 Bh1 63. Re3+ Kf7 64. Rb3 Bb7 65. Ke3 Ra5 66. Rc3 Rb5 67. Rc7 Bh1 68. Bd8+ Ke8 69. f7+ Kf8 70. Bf6 Bd5 71. Bd4 Bxf7 72. b7 Be8 73. Ba7 1-0

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com

Also see her personal blog at

www.chessqueen.com