QGD – Queen's Gambit Demolished?

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

Queen's Gambit Demolished?

The Queens Gambit Accepted has been very popular in recent years, with Kasparov, Kramnik and Anand happy to take black at the highest level. This week's radio show offers no solutions, but we can show you a recent novelty of Indian GM Sashikiran.

Sasikiran,Krishnan (2663) - Rublevsky,Sergei (2652) [D27]
FIDE WCup Khanty Mansyisk RUS (2.1), 30.11.2005
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 e6 4.e3 c5 5.Bxc4 a6 6.0-0 Nf6 7.Bb3 b5 8.a4 b4 9.Nbd2 Bb7 10.e4 Be7 11.e5 Nfd7 12.Nc4 0-0. In 2001, Ponomariov twice played this position with black against Dreev and scored 1.5 points. 13.Be3!?N.

We then fast forward to Wijk-Aan Zee and rewind the apparently one-sided game Topalov-Kamsky, where even Kamsky's Granny would not have played 10...g5?!

What prompts a top GM to take such a decision?

The Philidor Defence, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6, is solid and hard to break down. The modern interpretation is to set up an elastic, reactive pawn wall and hope to take White apart as he comes forward. Again we visit Wijk-Aan Zee for the game Li Shilong-Hopman and the position after 11...Re8

is a good example of the pawn wall in action. What are Black's chances in such a position?

Congratulations to Timo Pirinnen from Savonlinna in Finland for winning last week's competition. Try your luck again this week!

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.