Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)

144 THE BOTVINNIK SEMI-SLAV
9 ... .i.xe4 10 .i.xc4 .i.b4+ 11 lbc3
(D)
B
Black is slightly better, Hulak­
Piket, Wijk aan Zee 1995.
C)
7 ... .i.b4 (D)
This leads to sharp play but does
not enjoy the best reputation. However,
a few strong players have employed
it recently, which suggests that
it is worth taking a fresh look at it.
w
11 ... lbc6!?
The most ambitious; the alternative
is 11...0-0 120-0 and now:
a) 12 ... .i.b7 13 lbe5!? .i.e7?! 14
'ii'b3 'ii'b6 15 'ii'xb6 axb6 16 l1xa8
.i.xa8 17 l1a1 ± Knaak-Ka.Miiller,
Bundesliga 1998/9.
b) 12 ... .i.xc3 13 bxc3 'ii'c7!? 14
.i.xf6 'ii'xc4 15 lbd2 'ii'c6 16 lbxe4
'ii'xe4 17 ltel 'ii'f5 18 .i.e7 l1c8 19 l1e5
'ii'g6 20 l1g5 'ii'e4 21 .i.f6 g6 22 'ii'a4
a6! 23 ltc5 'ii'b7 24 'ii'b3 'ii'd7 25 c4! ;!;
I.Sokolov-Pinter, Lyons ECC 1994.
12 0-0 .i.xf3 13 .xf3 lbxd4 14
'ii'e3!?
A slight provocation but White
gains nothing from 14 'ii'b7 'ii'b8! 15
ltxa7 O-O! - Piket.
14 .•• lbc2 15 .i.b5+ ~f8 16 .i.xf6
lbxe3
Not, of course, 16 ... gxf6? 17 'ii'h6+
or 16 ... 'ii'xf6 17 'ii'e4.
17 .i.xd8lbxf118 .i.g5 f6 19.i.c1
lbxh2 20 ~xh2 as
8e5
Throwing in an exchange on b5 is
possible but does not appear very logical.
The text-move is clearly the way
forward.
8 ... h6 9 exf6
9 .i.h4 g5 is similar to the main line
but Black benefits from already having
established a pin on the c3-knight:
a) 10 lbxg5 hxg5 11 .i.xg5 'ii'a5
(11...lbbd7 12 exf6 .i.b7 is also well
playable) 12 .i.xf6 .i.xc3+ 13 bxc3
'ii'xc3+ 14 'itte2 'ii'b2+ 15 'ii'd2 'ii'xal
16 'ii'b4 'iWa2+ 17 ~e1 'ii'al+ 18 'itte2
'ii'a2+ 1/2_1/2 Laffler-Haugli, Copenhagen
1988.