Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)

160 THE BOTVINNIK SEMI-SLAV
B
line 'b', while the game Lammi­
Dokhoian, Helsinki 1992 provided the
entertaining continuation 8 'iWc2 b5 9
.Jtxf6 (if 9 e4 g5 10 .Jtg3 Black can
play safe with 1O ... .Jtb7 or even try the
riskier 10 ... g4!?) 9 ... 'it'xf6!? 10 axb5
cxb5 11 'it'e4 'it'f5! 12 'it'xa8 'it'c2 13
lDd2 'it'xb2 14 .l:.dl.Jtxc3 15 e3 .Jtxd2+
16 .l:.xd2 'iWal + 17 ~e2 0-0 18 'iWxb8 c3
19 .l:.c2 .Jta6 and Black was winning.
b) 7 e3 b5 8 a4.Jtb4 is most likely
better for Black, but it is worth noting
that it is the kind of position that usually
provides White with quite reasonable
practical chances. Sometimes it is
even easier for White to make use of
his extra centre pawn than it is for
Black to get something out of his
rather shaky pawn majority on the
queenside. The following are the most
common options in practice:
bl) 9 axb5 cxb5 10 tDd2 'it'b6?!
(10 ... .Jtxc3 11 bxc3 .Jtb7 transposes
right into 'b43' below) 11 .Jtxf6 gxf6
12 'it'f3 .Jtb7 13 'it'xf6 .l:.h7 14 .Jte2
tDd7 15 'it'h4 .Jte7 16 'iWh5 .Jtxg217
.l:.gl .Jtc6 18 .Jtf3 and White has very
good compensation as Black has great
difficulties finding a safe place for his
king, Lesiege-Fridman, Bermuda 1998.
b2) 9 'it'c2 .Jtb7 10 tDd2 a6 11 .Jte2
tDbd7 120-0 'iWb613 tDf3 0-014 :fdl
nfc8 + Pajeken-Steckner, Hamburg
1992.
b3) 9 tDe5 'it'aS 10 'iWeI 'iWb6 11
i.e2 i.b7 12 0-0 tDbd7 13 f4 a6 14
.Jtf3 0-0 15 tDe4 'it'c7 16 tDxf6+ tDxf6
17 'iWc2 tDd5 18 .Jtxd5 exd5 19 f5 f6
20 tDg6 nfe8 gives Black a clear advantage,
Hillarp Persson-A.Matthiesen,
Copenhagen 1996.
b4) 9 tDd2 is the most common .
White unpins the c3-knight while also
toying with ideas of exchanging on b5
followed 'it'f3. The hope is that Black
may feel obliged to concede his darksquared
bishop quickly in order to prevent
this. Now we have:
b41) 9 ... a61O axb5 .Jtxc3 (1O ... cxb5
is preferable, with an unclear position
after 11 tDxb5 axb5 12 nxa8 .Jtb7, but
the real idea is that 11 'iWf3? :a7 12
'it'g3 fails in view of 12 ... g5 13 'it'xb8
l:lb7 14 'iWe5? .Jtd6 -+) 11 bxc3 cxb5
12 'iWf3 'it'd5 13 e4 'iWh5, Bronstein­
Pachman, Moscow 1967, and now 14
'iWg3! tDbd7 15 .Jte2 'it'g6 16 'iWd6!
'it'xg2 17 .Jtf3 'ii'h3 18 e5 is clearly
better for White.
b42) 9 ... .Jtxc3 10 bxc3 tDbd7 11
axb5 cxb5 12 'iWf3 is good for White
since either the rook must move,
which permits l:ha7, or Black has to
play 12 ... tDb6, when 13 tDe4 illustrates
the danger of Black conceding
the dark-squared bishop.