In this week's radio show we try to keep right up to speed with what is going on in the world of chess.
The first game that we feature is Tomashevsky-Svidler, played just before Christmas in the Russian Championship. Black's defensive system after 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 Nd4!?
looks very reliable indeed! Then comes Kotronias-Cebalo from Reggio Emilia, played on New Year's Eve, a combative and theoretically important Sicilian Dragon. Mamedov's pawn sacrifice after 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 g6 6 Be3 Bg7 7 f3 Nc6 8 Qd2 0-0 9 Bc4 Bd7 10 0-0-0 Rc8 11 Bb3 Nxd4 12 Bxd4 b5 13 Nd5! Nxd5 14 Bxg7 Kxg7 15 exd5 a5 16 a3 b4!? 17 axb4 axb4 18 Qxb4 Kg8!?
has scored reasonably for Black until now. Perhaps a rethink is due!
We tend to forget the old classic books, and so this week Martin reviews The Art of Positional Play by Sammy Reshevsky, recently reprinted by the McKay Chess Library.
The winner of the New Year Quiz was John Sheatsley from Webster, New York, US . The entries were impressive; no less than 40 people from all over the world got all the answers right. John was quickest on the draw! Curiously the question that tripped most people up was the naming of the venue for the 1992 Fischer-Spassky rematch. Some got Belgrade, others Sveti Stefan, but not both! The competition this week will be easier.....maybe.....
We look forward to the pleasure of your company at 19:30 GMT, 20:30 CET Wednesday evening.
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. |
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.
