Andrew Martin – Life on the Edge

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

Want something new against the Sicilian?

Try 2.Na3, if you have a sense of humour and you are willing to embrace eccenticity. We take a look at Savcenko-Belov from the recent Russian Team Championship, where White wins comfortably enough with this wacky idea.

Miniature games are rare at the highest level and so we naturally focus on Aronian-Svidler from Moscow which finished in 22 moves. We'll trace the reasons for the losing mistake on the show, but for the time being it's an offbeat Grunfeld where Svidler's 9...Nd7 looks like an interesting new move.

Aronian,L (2741) - Svidler,P (2750) [D80]
Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (3), 08.11.2006
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Ne4 5.Bh4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 dxc4 7.e3 Be6 8.Qb1 Qd5 9.Nf3 Nd7N.

Kazhgaleyev-Guganashvili from Corsica features the bizarre 1.d4 d6 2.c4 e5 3.d5 f5!? 4.e4 Nf6

I have my suspicions about Black's position.

Finally, let's just admire the play of innovator Pavel Blatny as he demolishes Ilya Serpek with the double fianchetto defence.

Serpik,Ilia - Blatny,P (2500) [B00]
US Open Los Angeles (7), 2003
1.e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Bd3 g6!?

Can you mate with three Queens against a King? Perhaps Karsten Muller can help you to solve this week's puzzle.

White checkmates in seven moves using his trio of queens, but ONLY on the a-file. You have a choice on the first move, but then all the other six moves have to be exact. Entries to andrew@andrewmartinchessacademy.com by 2000 GMT Wednesday 15th Nov please.

Solution to last week's puzzle

Solution: Well, believe it or not, Black resigned! He could have made a draw: 1...Kd6 2.h4 Kxc6 3.f5 Kd6!! Perhaps Timman only considered 3...gxf5? 4.h5 Kd7 5.g6 hxg6 6.h6. 4.f6 Kd7 5.Kf3 Ke8 6.Kg4 [6.Ke4 Kd7 7.Kd5 Ke8! 8.Kc6 Kd8=] 6...Kf8 7.h5 Kf7 8.hxg6+ Kxg6!= Timman later stated that ' resigns' was the blunder of the tournament. 1-0.

And to conclude a busy show, we review the excellent German magazine ' Kaissiber'. See you on the server at 20:00 GMT / 21:00 CET this Wednesday.

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