Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)

ALATORTSEV'S 9 ... 0,d5?! 121
'ti'c2 (13 tOg6 'ti'e4+ 14 .te2 'i;;f7 is
less clear) 13 ... .txh8 14 'ti'h7 winning.
w
Now:
Bl: 12 'ti'd2!? 121
B2: 12.l:tc1! 124
The latter is my clear preference.
The old main line was 12 'ifd2 but it
makes more sense to keep the queen
on the d1-h5 diagonal, as it is often
very useful to have the possibility of
.th5( +). That is, of course, only after
having ascertained that 12 ... 'ife4+ is
nothing but a blow in the air. However,
the theoretical status of 12 'ti'd2 also
looks very promising for White, although
I have a strange feeling that
Black is able to improve somewhere.
Hence my preference for the move 12
.l:tc1!.
I should also mention that 12 a3!? is
an interesting idea. It has only been
tried in one game (that I know of), but
it remains a mystery to me why it has
not been repeated. Sadler goes as far
as describing 12 a3 as "almost a forced
win"; I will not go that far, but it does
look very promising:
a) 12 ... .txc3+ 13 bxc3 tOxc3
(13 ... c5!?) 14 'ti'd2 tOd5 15 .te2 tOd7
(15 ... c5 16 dxc5 tOc6 17 tOg6 also favours
White) 16 tOg6 'ti'g5 (16 .. :i!i'e4
17 'ifxh6 'i;;d8 18 'ti'h4+ +-) 17 'it'xg5
hxg5 18 h4 should win for White.
b) 12 ... .ta5 is perhaps best, but
then Black is deprived of some of his
sharpest options in the main line.
c) 12 ... tOxc3 13 'it'f3! 'it'xd4 (if
13 ... .ta5 14 bxc3 'it'xd4 then 15 'it'f7+
'i;;d8 16 J::td1 and White wins - Tangborn;
or 13 ... tOe4+ 14 axb4 tOg5 15
'it'f8+ 'i;;xf8 16 tOg6+ 'i;;g7 17 tOxh4
tOa6 18 .te2 tOxb4 19 0-0 tOc2 20
l:tad1 a5 21 f4! ±) 14 'it'h5+ 'i;;d8 15
axb4 'ti'e4+ (or 15 ... tOd5 16 .te2 tOd7
17 tOf7+ 'i;;c7 18 0-0 tOf4 19 'it'f3
tOxe2+ 20 'it'xe2 'iff4 21 tOd6 tOxe5
22 tOxc8 'it>xc8 23 J::tfe 1 +-) 16 .te2
tOxe217 'it'xe2 'ti'h718 't!Vd2+'it>c719
'it'd6+ 'i;;b7 20 J::td1 't!Vxh8 21 't!Ve7+ ±
Stefansson-Inkiov, Gausdal1990.
91)
121iVd2!? c5
This is clearly the most critical.
Other moves can be dealt with briefly:
a) 12 ... tOd7 13 0-0-0 .tb7 is possible
but Harding does not think Black's
compensation is adequate after 14 g3
.txc3 (14 ... 'it'g4 15 't!Vxh6 is good for
White) 15 gxh4.txd2+ 16J::txd2c517
.l:tg1!'
b) 12 .. :iVg4 is Fritz's suggestion
after a short 'think', but 13 .te2 't!Vxg2
140-0-0 looks dangerous.