Nigel's Cookbook

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

Nigel Short is an extremely formidable player, as we see in our first radio show game this week. Of particular interest is his recipe against the Sveshnikov with 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c4

which we will examine.

We head off-piste into the wonderful world of the Bird 1.f4, which most masters consider inferior, but the recent game T. Taylor-Bacerra might give pause for thought.

We review Taylor's book on the Bird, just published. We take a look at the Tarrasch Queen's Gambit, specifically 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.g3 Nc6 6.Bg2 Nf6 7.0-0 Be7 8.Nc3 0-0 9.Bg5 (the main line) c4!? 10.Ne5 Be6

with which Mallahi manages to defeat Gleizerov.

And finally, to the puzzle. Try your hand!

The two players agreed a draw in this position. Was that the right thing to do? If not, why?

Last week's winner was Johan Ostergaard from Copenhagen . Congratulations!

The AM Radio Show this week takes place on SUNDAY Feb 12th at 15:00 GMT/16:00 CET due to impending family holidays. See you there!

The Andrew Martin Radio ChessBase lecture begins on Wednesdays at 20:30h CEST (European Central time = server time, which translates to 19:30h London, 2:30 p.m. New York, 04:30 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.

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.