Extreme draw

Get a pen and a sheet of paper. Write down these facts: Wesley So - Jon Ludvig Hammer Round 7 Spice Cup 2009 26.09.2009. Mark it as "Extreme Draw in Chess History." (Marking it as "The Most Extreme Draw in Chess History" will raise a lot of eyebrows and draw a lot of flak, I'm sure.)

This game shows the attitude of players across the opposite sides of the board. Fight until the last drop of blood - that is, until only the Kings are left.

What a beauty. What a fight. What an attitude.

We know that Hammer hammered So in their Round 2 encounter. Logic would tell us that Wesley would want to get a vengeance by hammering down his tormentor when they faced again in Round 7.

And look at what we've got. So and Hammer gave us a real fight, a real war. What ensued was a complete destruction. After the fog of war cleared up, only the two bare Kings were left standing on the battlefield.

Only if the two Kings could kill each other . . .

Chess battle of this kind is the most sure way to promote chess as a beautiful sport.

Only genuine chess warriors can show us the beauty of chess. And we must be thankful to So and Hammer for showing that beauty again.



Game annotation from Chessdom.com

Wesley So - Jon Ludvig Hammer
Round 7
Spice Cup 2009
26.09.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 No Gruenfeld this time. Hammer should have prepared something against his opponents repertoire.

3.g3 d5 Catalan Opening.

4.Nf3 Be7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.a4 (8.Qxc4 b5 9.Qc2 Bb7 is the most popular line but lately White has problems to claim any advantage there.)

8... Bd7 9.Rd1 ( This rare move enjoys growing popularity during the last year. The idea is to meet 9.Rd1 Bc6 by 10.Nc3 and e2-e4.)

9... c5 A novelty.

10.dxc5 Nc6 (10... Bxc5 11.Ne5 Qb6 lets White develop strong initiative for a temporal pawn sacrifice. 12.Nbd2 Bxf2+ 13.Kh1 Nc6 14.Ndxc4 Qc5 15.Nxd7 Nxd7 16.Rxd7 Ne5 17.b4 Qxc4 18.Qxc4 Nxc4 19.Bg5)

11.Qxc4 Qa5 12.Bg5 Rfd8 13.Rc1 b5 14.cxb6 Qxb6 In exchange for the pawn Black has lead in development and pressure on the 'b' file.

15.Nbd2 Na5 16.Qa2 Clock readings: 0.14 1.07

16... Bc6 17.Nc4 (17.b4 Qxb4 18.Nc4 was worth a try)

17... Nxc4 18.Qxc4 Rac8 19.Ne5 So is in a heavy timetrouble and is looking for a way to simplify the position.

19... Bb7 (19... Bxg2 20.Qxc8)

20.Qf4 Bxg2 21.Kxg2 Qxb2 22.Rab1 Qxe2 Roles are reversed now - White is a pawn down and has the initiative.

23.Rxc8 Rxc8 24.Rb7 Bd6 25.Bxf6 gxf6 26.Qxf6 Qe4+ 27.Qf3 Qxf3+ 28.Nxf3 Rc2 The forced line ended in an equal endgame but So has mere seconds on the clock.

29.Rd7 Bc5 30.Nd2 Ra2 31.Ne4 Bb4 32.Ng5 (32.Nf6+ Kg7 33.Nh5+ Kf8 34.Rb7 Rxa4 35.Rb8+ with a perpetual.)

32... Bc5 33.Ne4 Bb4 34.Ng5 Be1 35.Kf1 Bxf2 36.Nxf7 Be3 37.Nd8 e5 38.Re7 Bd4 39.Ne6 Rxa4 The situation of the Black King would give sufficient counterplay even without entering a Rook ending.

40.Nxd4 exd4 41.Ke2 Ra2+ 42.Kd3 Rxh2 43.Kxd4 Rh6 44.Ke4 Rg6 45.Kf4 h6 46.Ra7 Kf8 47.g4 Ke8 48.g5 Reducing furthermore the material on board.

48... hxg5+ 49.Kf5 Rb6 50.Kxg5 Kd8 51.Kf4 Kc8 52.Ke5 Kb8 53.Rf7 a5 54.Kd4 a4 55.Kc3 a3 56.Rf2 Rb2 57.Rxb2 axb2 58.Kxb2 Draw agreed. 1/2