Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)

THE ANTI-MoSCOW VARIATION: 6 ~h4!? 169
12 ... hS?! 13 ':adl 'ii'cs (13 ... 'iWb6!?)
14 ':d8+! ~xd8 IS .!Dxf7+ ~e8 16
.!Dxh8 'iWfB 17 eS gave White a distinct
advantage in Bosboom-Hofman, Wijk
aan Zee 1997.
13 bxc3 'ii'xe4 14 'ii'd2 .!Dbd7 15
':adl
Yusupov claims compensation for
White here, but I am rather uncertain
about this. Black can play IS ... .!DdS 16
.!Dxg4 hS 17 .!De3 h4 18 .i.f3 'ii'g6 19
.i.d6 .i.b7, when White's position does
not impress.
C)
9 ... .i.b7 (D)
W
Now:
Cl: 10 0-0 170
C2: 10 e5 172
C3: 10 h4! 173
Currently, Line C3, an idea from
Khalifman, appears very dangerous.
Moreover, even if Black finds a good
defence against this particular line,
White has a variety of other quite
promising options.
Instead, lO .!DeS is so far relatively
unexplored. Indeed, White does often
move the knight to eS but, on the face
of it, it makes more sense to do so after
provoking ... g4. However, it is not yet
clear how Black should best react:
a) 10 ....!Dbd7!? looks sensible but
nevertheless seems to give White a
good position: 11 h4 (11 'ii'c2 .i.g7!?
12 ':dl 'ii'b6 13 h4 looks rather unclear
but is perhaps quite promising
for White) 11...b4 12.!Dxd7 'ii'xd7 13
..IteS (13 .!Da4 .!Dxe4 14 .i.eS f6 defends
for Black) 13 ... bxc3 (13 ....i.g7
14.!Da4) 14 .i.xf6 cxb2 (l4....i.b4 IS
bxc3 .i.xc3+ 16 ~f1 .i.xal 17 .i.xh8
.i.c3 18 hxgS hxgS 19 .i.f6 'iWd6 20
.i.xc4 ±) IS l:tbl .i.b4+ 16 ~f1 ':g8
17 l:txb2 and White is much better.
b) lO ....i.g7 11 h4.!Dfd7?! (the alternative
11.. ..!Dbd7!? is better, and
similar to 'a' above) 12 .!Dg4! with a
difficult choice for Black:
bl) 12 ...'iWaS? 13 hxgS hxgS 14
l:txh8+ .i.xh8 IS ~f1 .!Da6 16 eS!
0-0-0, Topalov-Timman, Wijk aan Zee
1998, and now plonking the knight in
on d6 with 17 .!De4 and .!Dd6 would
have been very good for White.
b2) 12 ... hS 13 .!De3 g4 14 dS!? is
dangerous.
b3) 12 ... fS!? looks terribly risky
but is not clear if White continues 13
.!DeS; e.g., 13 ....!DxeS 14 .i.xeS .i.xeS
IS dxeS 'iWxdl + 16 ':xdl g4. However,
much stronger is 13 exfS exfS 14
'ii'c2! 0-0 IS hxgS it'xgS 16 ltJe3
.i.xd4 (16.. .f4? 17 .i.h4 and the queen
is trapped) 17 l:th5 ±.