Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)

110 THE BOTVINNIK SEMI-SLAV
c) 14 ... 'it'g7! ISh3eSl6.Jtg2exd4
17ltJxbS cxbS 18 .Jtxa8 b4 and Black
has good compensation, Dzhandzhgava-Ivanchuk,
Lvov 1987; the rest of
the game was entertaining: 19 'it'e2+
.Jte6 20 .JtdS d3 21 'it'e4 d2+ 22 'iti>e2
'it'xb2 23 lIadl c3 24 .Jtxe6 fxe6 2S
'it'xe6+ 'iti>d8 26 'it'f6+ 'iti>c8 27 'it'xh4
c2 28 lIxd2 'iVeS+ 29 'iti>f3 'iVc3+ 30
~e2 'it'eS+ lh-1f2.
14 ... lIxd4 15 'it'f3!?
This is the improvement that revived
14 axbS but it is far from clear
whether it promises anything at all.
IS 'it'hS .Jtb7 16 .Jte2ltJd7 17 'iVf3
'it'xf3 18 .Jtxf3 ltJeS 19 .Jte4 lId7 20
bxc6 .Jtxc6 21 0-0 .Jtxe4 22 ltJxe4
'iti>e7 was fine for Black in Sturua­
Dreev, Lvov 1985.
15 ... 'it'xf3
It is not worth avoiding the queen
exchange.
16 gxf3 .Jtb717 J:.gl (D)
B
17 .•. 'iti>f8!
White enjoys a slight initiative but
it is fairly clear that if Black gets time
to complete his development and coordinate
his pieces, he will not be
worse. White's passed h-pawn is only
a candidate to become strong. Here,
where it is still on its initial square, it is
no real worry. Hence, Black's problems
increase if White is allowed to
maintain his initiative, as he is after
17 ... ltJd7 18 lIg8+ ltJf8 19 bxc6 .Jtxc6
20 lIg4 lIad8 21 .Jte2, when White is
better according to Magerramov.
18lIg4
18 lIa4 ltJd7 19 lIxc4 ':'xc4 20
.Jtxc4 ltJeS 21 .Jte2 cxbS 22 f4 ltJf3+
23 .Jtxf3 .Jtxf3 is fine for Black.
18 ... c5 19 ltJe4 a6!
19 ... ltJd7?! 20 ltJxcS! ltJxcS 21
J:.xd4 ltJb3 22 l:.d7 ltJxal 23 lIxb7
gives White a clear advantage.
20 b6 .Jtxe4! 21 fxe4ltJd7 22l:.h4
'iti>e7 23 f3 ltJxb6
Black is slightly better, Yuferov­
Kula, Katowice 1992.
A2}
13g3
This is a good positional move,
which serves both to prepare the fianchetto
and to prevent ... l:th4 but it
lacks the directness of 13 a4.
13 ... .Jtb7 14 .Jtg2ltJa6 (D)
15ltJe4
This is probably the most promising
continuation; White's strong centralized
knight on e4 will fix its
counterpart to the not very agreeable
post on a6 (since otherwise the white
knight would just jump into the cSsquare).
Others: