Andrew Martin – across the spectrum

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

This week we draw our games from a wide range of tournaments, taking place in exotic locations all over the world. And where better to start than....Hastings. Doubtless the deserted, windswept, downtrodden seafront brings out the best in some people, as we see in our first game,a sharp English Defence.

Gagunashvili,M (2611) - Jones,G (2430) [A40]
Masters 2006-7 Hastings ENG (5), 01.01.2007
1.d4 e6 2.c4 b6 3.Nc3 Bb7 4.a3 f5 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.d5 a5 7.g3 Na6 8.Bg2 Nc5 9.Nd4 Nfe4 10.Nxe4 fxe4 11.dxe6 dxe6 12.Be3 Qf6 13.Qc2 Bd6 14.0-0 0-0

Veteran Grandmasters almost always make sensible opening choices, so let Bellon Lopez show you the way against 1.d4 d6 2.e4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 4.g3 e5

Bellon Lopez,JuM (2438) - Barhudarian,R (2259) [B07]
Rilton Cup 2006-7 Stockholm SWE (6), 02.01.2007
1.d4 d6 2.e4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 4.g3 e5 5.Nge2

Moving swiftly across to the Netherlands we pick up Van der Wiel-L'Ami where White plays his patent 4.Be2!?

Van der Wiel,J (2508) - L'Ami,E (2586) [C47]
TCh-NED 2006-7 Netherlands NED (4), 16.12.2006
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Be2

Van Der Wiel is not known as a stodgy player so what is he up to?

We have seen the photographs, now here is the action. It's a game from the Iranian Championship with the Grandmaster going down...

Ghaem Maghami,E (2581) - Alavi,S (2369) [A22]
ch-IRI Tehran IRI (4), 24.12.2006
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 Bb4 4.Bg2 0-0 5.d3 Nc6 6.e4 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 d6 8.Nf3 h6 9.h3 a6 10.a4 Bd7 11.Be3 Ne7 12.a5 c5 13.g4

This week's puzzle

Our competition... well, easy for you this time.

Queen endings have a tendancy to drag on, but this is rather snappy. Please send entries to andrew@andrewmartinchessacademy.com by 20:00 GMT on 10th January.

Solution to last week's competition

Solution: 1.Rf3!! Bxf3 2.gxf3 Bf6 [2...Rd8 3.Rg2+ Bg5 4.Qxg5+ (4.Rxg5+ Kf8=/+) 4...Kf8 5.Qg7+ Ke7 6.Qg5+=] 3.Rg2+ Bg7 4.Rxg7+ Kxg7 5.Qg5+ ½-½. Congratulations to last week's winner, John Anderson from Grays, England!

Finally, we review 'Beating the King's Indian and Grunfeld' by IM Tim Taylor, one of the latest efforts from Everyman Chess. What a show! See you there!

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.

Andrew Martin: The Trompowsky – The easy way