Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)

162 THE BOTVINNIK SEMI-SLAV
his king survives, but whether it does
is far from clear.
b) 8 .txc4 .txc3+ (8 ... g5 9 i.g3
transposes to the note to Black's Sth
move) 9 bxc3 "a5 10 0-0 lLlxe4 11
tDe5 tDd7 12 "g4 g5 (12 ... tDxe5 13
dxe5 tDg5 14 .txg5 hxg5 15 'ii'xg5 0-0
is also clearly better for White) 13
"xe4 tDxe5 (l3 ... gxh4 14 tDxf7 +-)
14 dxe5 gxh4 15 ':abl h3 (the fact that
Black's king cannot flee to the queenside
just adds to his miserable state;
e.g., 15 ..... c7 16 lIfdl i.d7 17 ':d6
0-0-0 IS i.a6! bxa6 19 'ii'a4 a5 20
"c4 ':dgS 21 'ii'a6+ rJi>dS 22 ':b7 'ii'cs
23 "xa7 +-) 16 ':fdl':gS 17 g3 ':g5
18 f4 and White is already winning,
Kasparov-Korchnoi, Horgen 1995.
8 i.g3 (D)
B
8 ..• b5
Black obviously cannot allow White
to capture the c-pawn so he lashes out
to defend it. However, S ... i.b4 is another
option, though nowadays rarely
played. A reason might be that after 9
"c2 Black can hardly do better than
9 ... b5, which, at best, after 10 i.e2,
transposes to Line B. If White is not
satisfied with this, he can also try 9
i.xc4 tDxe4 100-0, sacrificing a further
pawn for a substantial lead in development.
Then Black has a choice
of three lines, all requiring extremely
alert defence just to survive a miniature
catastrophe:
a) 10 ... i.xc3 11 bxc3 tDd7 (if
Black plays 11...tDxc3, then White
replies 12 'ii'el, intending i.xbS followed
by 'ii'e5) 12 'ii'd3 f5 13 ':ael
tDdf6 14 tDe5 0-015 f3 tDxg3 16 hxg3
rJi>g7 17 lIe2 with excellent compensation
for the pawn, Lputian-Boudre,
Cappelle la Grande 1991.
b) 10 ... tDxc3 11 bxc3 i.xc3 12
lIcl i.a5 (l2 ... i.b4 might be better)
13 tDe5 h5 14 i.e2! h4 15 i.h5 lIh7
16 tDxf7 lIxf7 17 i.xf7+ (17 f4!?)
17 ... c.fi>xf7 IS 'ii'h5+ rJi>fS 19 ':c5 i.d2
20 i.e5 with a winning attack.
c) 10 ... tDxg3 11 fxg3 tDd7 12 'ii'e2
'ii'e7 13 a3 i.d6 14 lIael tDb6 15 tDe4
tDxc4 16 'ii'xc4 0-017 tDe5 f5 IS tDg6
'ii'eS 19 tDxd6 'ii'xg6 20 ':e5 ± Itkis­
Szuhanek, Romanian Ch 1995. White
wins back the pawn with continuing
pressure.
9i.e2
This may actually seem a little slow
at first sight but White needs to bring
more forces into play before initiating
an attack. Moreover, the move is very
flexible, and thus White only decides
where to attack after seeing how Black
intends to develop. Here is a summary
of the alternatives: