Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)

172 THE BOTVINNIK SEMI-SlAV
to Flear. Black's king is badly placed
in the centre and White might have
some chances to organize an attack
against the c-pawn, or pressure on the
d-file.
13ll)e4 c5
Now:
a) 14ll)xc5ll)xcS 15 dxc5 'ikdS 16
'ikcl ~a6 gives Black the advantage­
Gelfand.
b) 14 ll)d6+?! ~xd6 IS exd6 is
also inadequate because Black can
eliminate the d6-pawn's supporter with
15 ... ll)xg3 16 hxg3 0-0 (or 16 .. :ilb6
17 dxc5 'iI' xc5 18 .l:i.c1 ~d5 19 ~xc4
~xc4 20 ll)d2 with a level position,
Scherbakov-Galkin, Novgorod 1997)
17 .l:i.c 1 .l:i.c8 18 ~xc4ll)b6 19 ~bS c4 !
20 ll)es 'il'xd6 21 f4 f6! 22ll)xc4ll)xc4
23 ~xc4 ~d5 and Black is better,
Ikonnikov-Pri6, St Affrique 1996.
c) 14ll)fd2ll)xg3 15 fxg3 ~e7 16
ll)d6+ ~xd6 17 exd6 c3 18 bxc3 bxc3
19 ll)c4 0-0 20 .l:i.c 1 f5 21 dxc5 .l:i.c8
with counterplay, Topalov-Gelfand,
Dortmund 1996.
C2)
10 e5 (D)
10 ... ll)h5
After 1O ... ll)d5 11 h4 Black will
have to advance the pawn to g4 but it is
worth considering throwing in ... 'iI'aS
first:
a) 11...g4!? 12 ll)d2 h5 13 ll)de4
ll)d7 140-0 'ikb615 .l:i.bl (1S b3!? 'il'aS
16 'il'c2 b4 17ll)a4 c3 18 a3 bxa3 19
ll)axc3 is rather unclear; obviously,
Black will be better if he survives the
middlegame and keeps the pawn on
a3, but it is very uncertain that he will
do so, since White can almost at any
time bring a knight to d6, and sometimes
opening the f-file with f3 becomes
a feasible option) 15 ... ~b4 16
'ikd2 as 17 f3 gxf3 18 .l:i.xf3 O-O-O! 19
.l:i.xf7 cS with a highly unclear position,
1.Watson-Bhat, Hawaii 1998.
b) l1...'iI'aS 12 .l:i.cl g4 l3ll)d2 c5
(13 ... ll)xc3 14 bxc3 h5 IS ll)e4 ll)d7
16 f3 cS 17 ll)d6+ ~xd6 18 exd6 cxd4
19 'ikxd4 0-0-0 20 fxg4 ~xg2 21 .l:i.gl
~c6 22 a4!? was unclear in Kishnev­
Bykhovsky, USSR 1982 but I prefer
White's initiative) 14ll)ce4! (byavoiding
exchanges White is playing for
maximum activity) 14 ... cxd4 15 0-0
hS 16 a4 a6, Kasparov-Tal, Moscow
IZ 1982, and now Kasparov thinks
highly of 17 ..txc4! bxc4 18 ll)xc4
'ikb4 19 f3!!, opening the f-file and
creating unlimited threats.
11 a4!
Or:
a) 1lll)e4 ~b4+ 12 ~f1 'il'd5! is
better for Black.