Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)

140 THE BOTVINNIK SEMI-SLAV
'iWa5+ ~c6 23 i.bS#, he has to allow a
repetition after 20 ... ~c7 21 'iWa5+.
c) 12 axbS!? has surprisingly, at
least to my knowledge, never been
tried in practice. Then:
c1) 12 ... i.b7 13 'it'a4 is good for
White.
c2) 12 ... cS is not as strong as after
11...i.b7 12 axbS. White plays 13 b6
cxd4 14 'it'xd4, and now since the rook
on a8 is undefended Black must play
14 ... a6, when, for instance, IS ll'le4
looks dangerous.
c3) Therefore Black's best try is
12 ... cxbS 13 ll'lxbS i.b4+ 14 ll'lc3
1:tg8!? but White maintains an advantage
with IS 'it'a4+ ll'ld7 (not lS ... i.d7?
16 'it'xb4 hxg2 17 i.xg2 .:txg2 18ll'le4
'iWe7 19 'iWb7 and White wins) 16 g3
.:tb8 17 i.xc4.
Summing up, 12 axbS!? may well
be the critical move against l1...h3!?
12 ... i.d6
In Ward-Boudre, Paris 1994, Black
soon got into trouble after 12 ... .i.b7 13
%lgl i.d6 14 'iWhS ll'la6? (White still
has to show where his compensation
lies after 14 ... a6, when Black toys with
ideas such as the simplifying ... ll'ld7 or
the undermining ... cS; e.g., IS .:tg3 cS
+) 15 axbS cxbS 16ll'lxbS .i.b4+ 17
~e2 1:tc8 18 .i.g2 .i.xg2 19 1:txa6 i.dS
20.:txa7 with a fantastic attack.
13 'ii'e2
It is worth noting that 13 ll'le4 is
rarely anything since Black can almost
always meet this with a bishop check
on b4.
13 ... .:tgS 140-0-0 ll'ld7!? 15 'ii'e4
i.b7 (D)
16 ll'lxb5 cxb5 17 'ii'xb7 1:tdS IS
.i.e2 bxa4!?
This kind of capture can rarely be
recommended since exchanging the
c4-pawn for White's a-pawn mostly
suits White. However, in this particular
situation, Black is able to launch a
counter-attack, forcing White into a
worse endgame.
19l1'lxc4 'ii'f4+ 20 ~bl a3! 21 'ii'c6
~e7 22 'ii'xd6+ 'ii'xd6 23ll'lxd6 ~xd6
24 bxa3 .:tbS+ 25 ~a2 ll'lb6
Despite being a pawn down, Black
has a clear advantage, Parker-Hector,
Copenhagen 1996. The knight will excel
from dS, serving both as a blockader
and an attacker, while White will
be kept busy defending his hopelessly
weak pawns.