Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)

12 Early Deviations (6 e3 and
6 a4)
1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 ttJf3 ttJf6 4 ttJc3 e6 5
.tg5 dxc4 (D)
w
There are a few rarer alternatives
available for White at move 6, namely
6 e3 and 6 a4. I am sure it is possible to
come up with a few more insipid options,
but I will restrict myself in this
chapter to coverage of these two
moves.
Quick Summary
While 6 e3 (Line A) seems to give
Black few problems, there is still some
unexplored territory in 6 a4 (Line B).
In my opinion Black's best option is
6 ... .th4 7 e4 c5!?, where Black actually
plays a Vienna a tempo down, but
White's extra move a4 is not very
helpful. In fact after 8 .txc4 cxd4 9
ttJxd4, Black has 9 ... h6!, which is not
possible in the Vienna in view of
'ita4+. Therefore, it has been more or
less established that White's most accurate
move-order is 9 .tb5+, ruling
out 9 ... ttJbd7!? (after 9 ttJxd4 h6 10
.tb5+, 1O ... ttJbd7 looks good) due to
10 'itxd4!. Hence quite an interesting
position arises after 9 ... ttJc6 10 ttJxd4
.td7 11 0-0 h6, while so far Tisdall's
1O ... 0-0!? remains very unclear.
The Theory of Early
Deviations
1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 ttJf31Df6 41Dc3 e6 5
.tg5 dxc4
Now:
A: 6 e3 151
B: 6 a4 153
A)
6e3
This clearly lacks the aggression of
6 e4, and although it can actually lead
to quite interesting play, Black has little
to fear. Often White seems to end
up in positions reminiscent of those
covered in the previous chapter, but
with White a tempo down, as he has