Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)

16 THE BOTVINNIK SEMI-SLA V
w
l:tc2 +) 24 ... lDd7 25 i.f2 lDxf6 +
Av.Bykhovsky-Haimovich, Tel-Aviv
1998.
19 ... lDc6
This position also often occurs via
the move-order 17 ... lDb8 18 axb4
cxb4 19 it'd4 lDc6.
20 dxc6! ':xd4 21 cxb7+ (D)
c22) 22 it'd4! i.c5 (it is a pity to
offer an exchange of the a4-knight, but
it is essential to block the gl-a7 diagonal;
22 ... i.h6 23 i.xh6 l:txh6 24 bxc4
'irxc4 25 'ire3 is winning for White)
23 lDxc5 'irxc5 24 i.e3 it'xd4 25
i.xd4 a6 26 l:tfbl followed by i.f1,
with a clear advantage - Mikhalchishin.
Black can try 26 ... c3 but White
has a choice of good continuations;
even 27 i.f1 c2 28 i.xd3 cxbl 'ir+ 29
l:[xbl looks good for White in view of
his pair of very strong bishops combined
with his passed h-pawn.
18 ... cxb4 19 'ii'd4
The double attack on the e5-knight
and the a7-pawn limits Black's options.
There seems to be an effective
response to these threats in the reply
19 ... lDc6 but as we shall see, White
has something up his sleeve.
19 it'e2? is worse due to 19 ... :'xd5!
20 i.e3 (20 i.xd5? it'xd5 21 f3lDxf3+
22 :'xf3 'irxf3 23 it'xf3 i.xf3 +)
20 ... l:td3 21 f4 i.xg2 22 it'xg2 it'b7
23 'ii'xb7+ 'ili'xb7 24 i.c5 (or 24 fxe5
1::txe3 25 .:tfdl 'ili'c6 26 :'d4 l:te2 27 h4
B
White has two pieces and a faradvanced
passed pawn to compensate
for the queen, which in this case is
more than sufficient compensation.
21 ... 'iIi'c7
The alternative is 21...'iIi'b8. There
seem to be both pros and cons for this
move, but the general opinion is that it
is inferior to the text-move. After 22
i.e3 Black has several rather unappealing
options:
a) 22 ... ':d5 23 i.xa7+! 'ittxb7 transposes
to note 'c2' to Black's 22nd
move.
b) 22 ... i.c5? 23 lDxc5 'ii'xc5 24
l:ta6 l:thd8 25 ':c6! is very good for
White, but after 25 ... 'ire5 26 i.xd4
'ii'xd4 27l:tcl ':d5 28 l:t6xc4 it'xb2 29