Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)

ALATORTSEV'S 9 . ..tiJd5?! 125
is an indication that Black should dump
the Alatortsev forever.
Other moves give little ground for
optimism:
a) 13 ... ltJd7 14 .i.e2lL'lxe5 (14 ... .i.b7
15 .i.h5+ ~d8 16 0-0 .i.xc3 17 ':xc3
rl;c7 18 lL'lg6 'ii'e4 19 lIg3 +- Smyslov-Ragozin,
USSR Ch (Leningrad)
1947) 150-0 (D) with a branch:
B
al) 15 ... .i.xc3 16 ':hc3! 'iVf6 (or
16 ... lL'lxc317.i.h5+'ifi>f818'ii'd6+rl;g8
19 'ii'xe5 lL'ld5 20 .i.f7+ +- Nemet­
Karaklajic, Yugoslav Ch 1979) 17
.i.h5+ ~d8 18 f4lL'ld3 19 ':xd3 cxd3,
Torrento Caballero-Ruiz Marquez,
corr. 1985, and now 20 lL'lf7+ followed
by 21 'iWxd3 is winning for White.
a2) 15 ... .i.b7 is trickier, but good
for White:
a21) 16 .i.h5+?! 'i;e7 17 lL'lxd5+
(or 17 lL'lg6+ lL'lxg6 18 .i.xg6 ':g8
with a strong attack) 17 ... .i.xd5 18 f4
.i.xc5+ 19 ~h 1 lIg8! 20 ':c2 lL'ld3!
(sacrificing another exchange but
Black's minor pieces are much superior
to White's rooks) 21lL'lg6+ ':xg6
22 J.xg6lL'lxf4 23 ':xf4 'iWxf4 24.i.h5?
(White's rook gets into trouble after
this; Ftacnik suggests 24 'ii'el as a
better defence) 24 ... .i.e4! 25 lIc3
(there is no better square for the rook;
25 ':e2 is answered by 25 ... .i.d3 26
':el J.b4, and 25 lId2 by 25 ... .i.d6)
25 ... .i.d4 26 ':g3 (26 'iWxd4? 'iWfl + 27
'iVgl .i.xg2#) 26 ... .i.xb2 27 ':g8 'ii'c1!,
Zagorskis-Vera, Elista OL 1998. The
exchange of queens liquidates to a
clearly favourable ending for Black,
as the passed c-pawn is very strong.
a22) 16 lL'lxb5! is much stronger,
and a possibility I discovered with
GM Peter Heine Nielsen, which he
was later able to use successfully:
16 ... .i.xc5 (16 ... 0-0-0 17 lL'ld6+ 'ili>b8
18 lL'lhf7 lL'lxf7 19 lL'lxf7 ':g8 20 .i.f3
±) 17lL'lg6!! (this fine move deflects
the e5-knight from the defence of the
c4-pawn, and with it Black's position
falls apart) 17 ... lL'lxg6 18 lhc4 lL'ldf4
(18 ... 'iIi'e7 19 .i.h5) 19 lIxc5 l:td8
(19 ... J.xg2 20 lL'lc7+ ~f7 21 lL'lxa8
J.xa8 22 .i.f3 and White wins; note
the importance of the black queen not
being able to get to the g-file) 20
lL'ld6+ ':xd6 (20 ... ~f8 21lL'lxb7 l:txdl
22 J.xdl +-) 21 .i.b5+ 'ifi>f7 22 'ii'xd6
'ili'g4 23 'ili'c7+ ~g8 24 'ili'xb7 lL'lh3+
25 ~hllL'lxf2+ 26 l:txf2 1-0 P.H.Nielsen-Sveshnikov,
Kemerovo 1995.
b) 13 ... .i.xc3+!? (the point of this
move is that Black avoids certain lines
where White simply recaptures with
the rook, so in this respect it is strange
that Timman does not follow up similarly
to line 'aI' above) 14 bxc3 'iWg5