The knights or the bishops?

by ChessBase
9/12/2006 – Which is more important: the centralized knight or the long-term potential of the two bishops? Nigel Short argues for the knights while Granda Zuniga likes the bishops. On this week's Radio Show Playchess lecturer Andrew Martin also shows us how to play the white side of the Pirc. Enjoy a feast of good chess.

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It's ... the Andrew Martin Radio ChessBase Show

In this weeks radio show we feature a selection of interesting recent games.

Mickey Adams demonstrates the most exact way to play the white side of a Pirc.

Adams,Mi (2732) - Bosboom Lanchava,T (2389) [B06]
4th Staunton Mem London/Crowthorne ENG (6), 19.08.2006
1.e4 d6 2.d4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Be3 c6 5.Qd2 b5 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.Bd3 0-0 8.h3 Nbd7 9.0-0 Qc7 10.Ne2

Which is more important: the centralized knight or the long-term potential of the two bishops? Nigel Short argues for the knights:

Short,N (2676) - Gormally,D (2513) [B51]
ch-EU Liverpool ENG (5), 10.09.2006
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.c3 Nf6 5.Qe2 Bd7 6.d4 cxd4 7.cxd4 a6 8.Bxc6 Bxc6 9.Nc3 g6 10.d5 Bd7 11.e5

whereas Granda Zuniga likes the bishops:

Oms Pallise,J (2511) - Granda Zuniga,J (2634) [D43]
VII Open Tarragona ESP (4), 22.08.2006
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.g3 Nd7 8.Bg2 dxc4 9.0-0 Be7 10.e3 0-0 11.Qe2 e5 12.Qxc4 Nb6 13.Qe2 exd4 14.Nxd4 Re8

Finally, Dreev just takes the Tarrasch pawn:

Dreev,A (2666) - Yemelin,V (2516) [D32]
59th ch-RUS 1st League Tomsk RUS (3), 05.09.2006
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.dxc5. Can this be good?

The competition this week awaits below and you can send your entries to andrew@andrewmartinchessacademy.com to arrive no later than 21:00 CET Wednesday evening. The winner will be drawn randomly from all correct answers.

Weekly Puzzle

B. Horwitz, 1889

The attacking potential of the opposite colour bishop can occasionally last all the way through to the ending. In this lovely study, it's White to play and win.

Tune in to the Radio Show this Wednesday at 21:00h GMT / 22:00h CEST and enjoy a feast of good chess.

The Andrew Martin Radio ChessBase lecture begins on Wednesdays at 21:30h CEST (European Central time = server time, which translates to 20:30h London, 3:30 p.m. New York, 05:30 a.m. Sydney (on Thursday). You can use Fritz or any Fritz-compatible program (Shredder, Junior, Tiger, Hiarcs) to follow the lectures, or download a free trial client.

The Andrew Martin Chess Academy opens today, March 1st 2006. The site offers a personal game annotation service; a regular newsletter written by AMCA staff; the best online tuition in terms of value and quality; a series of tournaments for children aged under 14; all aspects of chess training, including specific opening preparation; an AMCA room at PlayChess.com, where lessons may be held in complete privacy with our expert tutors – all at a time that is best for you at any time of day or night, anywhere in the world. The motto: "Join us, Improve and enjoy your chess!"


Andrew Martin, chess trainer and teacher

He is not some unknown in the world of chess. Andrew Martin was the star commentator in the 2000 London match between Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik, and he gained recent international fame and popularity with his live audio commentary on Playchess.com during the FIDE world championship in San Luis.

Andrew is also a prolific chess trainer, not just live in British scholastic circles, but also in a series of training DVDs he has produced for ChessBase, taking full advantage of our Chess Media System. His lively, entertaining style, combined with a good dash of humour, makes any lesson with him a delight to follow.

Andrew Martin is 47 years old and lives in Sandhurst, England, with his wife and four children. His book King‘s Indian Battle Plans for Thinkers Press was an international best-seller.

Each week Martin will cast his eye over the contemporary chess scene, presenting a veritable pot-pourri of interesting topics. We look forward to the pleasure of your company.

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