Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)

THE ANTI-MoSCOW VARIATION: 6 ~h4!? 177
B
this lends support to the f6-knight and
thus Black might be able to use his
queen for other purposes, but to understand
it fully, one has to be aware
of the idea of White exchanging on f6
followed by e5 and 'tWh7. This would,
for instance, occur if Black continues
l5 ... ~e7. Then 16 ~xf6! ~xf6 17 e5
~xh4 18 'iVh7 is very good for White.
In Sakaev-Khenkin, Belgrade 1999,
White met 15 .. .l1g6 with 16 ~f4 ~e7
17 g3!, which seems rather slow but
turns out to be very effective. Now
Black's best would be 17 ... 'iia5 but instead
Khenkin chose the slower 17 ... a6
and ran into difficulties following 18
b3 cxb3 (18 ... b4 19 ttJa4 c3 20 ttJc5
~xc5 21 dxc5 'tWa5 22 ~d6 ttJd7 23 e5
is good for White; he loses the c-pawn
but this does not seem to matter much
as he is ready to double on the d-file
and eventually open the queenside) 19
axb3 ~b4 20 ~d3 'tWxd4 21 ttJa2 e5
22 ~e3 'tWd6 23 ~e2 'tWe7 24 ttJxb4
'iixb4 25 ~c5 'iia5 26 'iib2 and White
had a fantastic position.
16 ~g3 'iib617 b3
This is very logical. Black is obviously
hoping (perhaps naIvely) to hide
his king on the queenside, so White
immediately opens lines. Alternatively,
White could try to bring the knight
into the centre with 17 e5, but this
causes some inconvenience to the
bishop on g3. Hence, 17 ... c5! 18 d5
exd5 19 ttJxd5 ~xd5 20 l:[xd5 'ii'e621
lIfdl ttJb6 22 l:t5d2 ~e7 looks satisfactory
for Black.
17 ... cxb318 axb3 ~b4!
This is a key move in Black's defence.
If Black, for example, plays
18 ... a6 (to prepare ... c5) White can
continue with 19 e5 or even 19 d5!?
Now these thrusts are ruled out since
Black simply exchanges on c3.
19 ttJa2 ~e7 20 ttJc3 ~b4 21 ttJa2
~e7 22 ttJc3
1/2- 1 /2 Notkin-Galkin, Russian Club
Cup (Maikop) 1998. It is very difficult
for either side to improve their position.
D)
9 ... ttJbd7!? (D)
W