Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)

WHITE GAMBITS: 9 exf6!? 139
Such a doubled pawn is not worth
much in the long run, so why not sacrifice
it to create disturbance in White's
camp? In fact, this has been the most
popular move recently. Compared to
1l....tb7 12 .te2 h3, when 13 .thS! is
strong, White is now deprived of this
possibility. But currently I see no reason
for Black to avoid Line C2.
12 gxh3!?
This is not, of course, very desirable
in the line 1l....tb7 12 .te2 h3.
The main advantage of this somewhat
unaesthetic move is that White is immediately
ready to bring his bishop
out on the hl-a8 diagonal. Here is a
summary of the other options:
a) 12 .te2?! hxg2 13ltgl.td6! 14
.tf3 .txeS IS 4:Je4 'it'f4 16 dxeS 4:Jd7
17 4:Jf6+ 4:Jxf6 18 exf6 .t b 7 19 ax bS
'it'eS+ 20 'it'e2 'it'xbS 21ltxg2 0-0-0 +
P.Cramling-Cu.Hansen, Cap d' Agde
rpd 1996.
b) 12 g3 cS! (D) (12.....ib7?!, hoping
to transpose to Line C2, misses its
goal since White can now advantageously
play 13 J.xh3 cS 140-0). Now
White has several options but none of
them promises much:
bl) 13 f4 J.b7 14ltgl J.g7 IS axbS
cxd4 16 'it'xd4 0-0 was rather unclear
in P.Cramling-Doornbos, French Cht
1999 but I like Black's initiative.
b2) 13 .txh3 cxd4 14 4:Jg4 'it'g7 IS
'it'f3 dxc3 16 'it'xa8 (Black easily defends
after 16 0-0 cxb2 17 ltadl fS!!
18 'it'xa8 'it'b7! -+ Khenkin) 16 ... cxb2
17 ltdl .tb4+ 18 'it>e2 c3 19 'fixb8
0-0. Black is a whole rook down - not
W
counting pawns - but the passed
pawns are almost a guarantee of winning
back the material. Tukmakov­
Khenkin, Iraklion 1992 now continued
20 'it'xbS (20 'it'c7 bxa4! and there
is a further problem to deal with)
20 ... c2 21 'it'xb4 .ta6+ 22 ~e3 (22
'it>f3 fS! 23 4:Je3 'it'b7 +! 24 'ii'xb7
.txb7+ 2S 'it'f4 cxdl'ii' 26 l:i.xdl .te4
winning another rook and the game -
Khenkin) 22 ... ltc8 23ltcl hS 24 'it>d2
'it' gS+ 2S 4:Je3 'it'd8+ 0-1.
b3) 13 4:JxbS cxd4! 14 4:Jc7+ (14
~xd4 J.b4+ IS 'it>dl 0-0 +) 14 ...'it>d8
IS 'it'xd4+ 4:Jd7 16 O-O-O!? (16 4:Jxa8?
J.b4+! 17 'it>e2 'it'xeS+ 18 'it'xeS 4:JxeS,
intending ....tb7, is tremendous for
Black) 16 ... ~xc7 17 'it'xc4+ 4:JcS 18
'it'bS! (compared to the similar line
where ... h3 and g3 have been left out,
White has a much better version here
since Black does not have the saving
...'fif4+ followed by ...'fixa4, but this
does not give him more than a draw)
18 ... ~xeS (18....te7!?) 19 'it'a5+ 'it>b8
20 'fibS+, and since Black cannot play
20 ... J.b7 in view of 21ltd8+ 'it>c7 22