Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)

7 a4 143
w
After the forced 8 ... h6 White has two
options:
a) 9 i.h4 gS 10 exf6 gxh4 and
now:
a1) 11 i.e2 cS!? 12 dxcS ltJd7 13
c6 i.xc6 14 ltJd4 i.xg2 IS .:tg1
(Dokhoian-Kuijf, Wijk aan Zee 1989)
lS ... h3!? 16ltJxe6 'iWxf6 17ltJc7+ (17
ltJd5 i.b4+) 17 .. .'~d8 18ltJ7d5! 'iWeS!?
(18 ... 'iWd619 'iWd4) 19 f4 'iWd6 20 i.f3!
'iWe6+ 21 ~d2 b4 22ltJbS is unclear­
Dokhoian.
a2) 11 axbS cxbS 12ltJxbS i.b4+
l3lZJc3, Ki.Georgiev-Nogueiras, Sarajevo
1985, and now after the accurate
13 ... 0-0! 14 i.xc4 'iWxf6, intending
... .:td8, Black has an edge - Nogueiras.
a3) 11 ltJeS ltJd7! (11... 'iW xf6 is
Line C2 of Chapter 10) 12 'iWhS 'iWxf6
13 ltJxd7 (13 axbS ltJxeS 14 dxeS
'iWgS IS 'iWxgS hxgS 16 i.xc4 i.g7 =+=
Kramnik) 13 ... ~xd7 14 axbS cxbS IS
'iWxbS+ i.c6 16 'iWxc4 i.d6 was
slightly better for Black in Van Wely­
Kramnik, Manila OL 1992.
b) 9 i.d2!? ltJdS 10 ltJe4 a6 11 b3
cxb3 12 'iWxb3 ltJd7 13 i.d3 i.e7 14
0-00-0 IS i.b1 (this is more accurate
than IS .:tfe1 'iWb6 16 i.b1 l:.fc8 17
'ikc2 cS!, as in Guliev-Savchenko,
Nikolaev Z 1993; now Black does not
get his rook to c8) IS ... l:.e8 16 'iWc2
ltJf8 17 ltJcs (17 .:tel!?) 17 ... i.xcs 18
dxcS. I would be surprised if White
had more than just reasonable practical
chances for the pawn, but practice
has shown that it is not that easy for
Black to defend:
bl) 18 ... fS (this looks a little too
desperate) 19 exf6 'iWxf6 20 i.a2 .:tad8
21 .:tfe1 eS 22 i.aS! .:td7 23ltJd2 (itis
clear that as long as Black's bishop
does not participate White has excellent
compensation) 23 ... ~h8 (23 ... 'iWg6
is more prudent) 24 i.b1 ltJf4 2S .:ta3
'iWg6 26 'iWxg6ltJ4xg6 27lZJe4 ~ Maksimenko-Pinter,
Bnmsh"j 1995.
b2) 18 ... aS!? 19 axbS cxbS 20 c6
i.c8 21 ..txaS!? .:txaS 22 c7 l:.xa1 23
cxd8'iW .:txd8 24 'iWb2 l:.a8 2S l:.e1 b4
26 ..te4 i.b7 27 h3 l:.ab8 112-112 Pogorelov-Korneev,
Benasque 1996.
8 ... cxb5 9 ltJxb5
If White was not ready to play eS on
the previous move, it appears less logical
to do it here. Nevertheless it is
seen once in a while; e.g., 9 eS h6 10
i.d2ltJe4 11ltJxbS ltJxd2! and then:
a) 12 ltJxd2 ltJc6 13 i.xc4 a6 14
ltJd6+ i.xd6 IS exd6 'iWxd6 =F Bouaziz-Zhu
Chen, Cannes 1997.
b) 12 'iWxd2 i.xf3! 13 gxf3ltJc614
.:tdl 'iWb6 IS i.xc4 i.b4 16 ltJc3
O-O-O! with a good position for Black,
Scherbakov-Novikov, Blagoveshchensk
1988.