| Jon Ludvig Hammer | |
|---|---|
Hammer at the 2007 Norwegian Championship at Hamar |
|
| Country | Norway |
| Born | June 2, 1990 Bergen |
| Title | Grandmaster |
| FIDE rating | 2647 |
| Peak rating | 2647 (November 2010) |
Jon Ludvig Nilssen Hammer (born June 2, 1990 in Bergen) is a Norwegian chess player who holds the title of Grandmaster (GM), the tenth Norwegian to do so. He completed all the requirements for the GM title in the beginning of 2009[1] and was awarded the title in March 2009.[2]
Hammer's strong results at a fairly young age have marked him as among Norway's greatest chess talents, but his achievements have to some degree been overshadowed by Magnus Carlsen. In 2007, Hammer completed all requirements for the International Master title. He gained his first GM norm in Cappelle la Grande in 2007, the second in Denmark in 2008, and a third in European Club Championship for teams later that year. However, the short length of those tournaments meant he needed a fourth norm to gain the GM title.[3]
Hammer won outright a jubilee tournament at Gjøvik arranged at the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009. In the final round against Mateusz Bartel, Hammer would secure his grandmaster title with a draw. In spite of this, he eschewed several opportunities for a perpetual check, and successfully took aim at sole first place.[4]
In the Norwegian Chess Championship, Hammer's best result is from the 2008 championship, when he finished equal on points with Frode Elsness, but he lost the September play-off to Elsness after losing the first game, and acquiescing to a draw in a worse position in the second.[5]
In the 38th Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Hammer represented Norway as the substitute player (number five on the team), played in all rounds except the first, and scoring +4 =4 -2.[6]
His best result so far was his 2792 performance on Norway's top board during the 2009 European Team Chess Championship in Novi Sad, where his +4=5 score made him one of the top individual scorers.[7]
In 2011, Hammer suffered setbacks in the 'B'-section of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament, and the Aeroflot Open.[8] He rebounded with a good result in the Reykjavik Open, where he finished with 7 points out of 9, and in 5th place on tiebreaks. As the best Nordic player, Hammer became Norway's first Nordic Chess Champion since Agdestein in 1992.[9]
Hammer attended the Norwegian sports academy Norwegian College of Elite Sport, and was coached by Simen Agdestein. Hammer has been described as taking chess very seriously, playing very often online, in tournaments, or practicing.[1] In 2009, Hammer announced he would not pursue a professional chess career, and he now studies economics.[7]