Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)

192 THE BOTVINNIK SEMI-SLAV
might become weak. Moreover, Black
is almost ready to activate her lightsquared
bishop.
B)
9 ... g6 10 0-0 i.g7 (D)
Black can avoid Line B3 by first
playing 10 ... 'ii'e7. The queen usually
has to retreat to e7, so the choice is
quite sensible in itself since that particular
line might be the most problematic
for Black at the moment. The
disadvantage, however, is that after 11
e4 i.g7 12 eS, White has achieved a
favourable version of Line B2.
w
Now we have:
Bl: 11:c1 192
B2: 11 e4 196
B3: 11 b4 199
Other continuations that merit some
attention are:
a) 11 h3?! seems like rather a
worthless move compared with some
of the positions considered later on;
e.g., 11...0-0 12 e4 'ike7 (after 12 ... eS
13 dS lbb6 14 i.b3 there would be
some point in White's 11th move since
Black cannot play ... i.g4) and I would
certainly rather have my rook on cl
(Line Bl) than the pawn on h3.
b) 11 a4 0-012 as 'iie7 13 'ikc2 cS!
14 .l:r.fdl (14 dslbf6 is fine for Black)
14 ... cxd4 IS exd4lbf6 = Salov-Komarov,
St Petersburg 1997.
c) 11 'iWc2 0-0 and now:
cl) 12 .l:r.adl 'ike7 13 .l:r.fel :d8 14
a3 b6 ISlbe2 i.b7 16 ltJf4 ltJf8 17 h3
1/2_ 1 /2 Kasparov-Ehlvest, Riga Tal mem
1995.
c2) 12 lbe4 'ike7 13 i.b3 with a
further branch:
c21) 13 ... .l:r.d8 14 :adl as IS a3
.l:r.a6 16 .l:r.d2 lbf6 17 lbcS .l:r.a 7 18 lbeS
i.d7 19 .l:r.fd 1 i.e8 20 lba4 .l:r.aa8! =
Bareev-Dreev, Wijk aan Zee 1995.
c22) 13 ... eS! (this makes sense as
long as White does not get any advantage
from playing dS) 14 :adl exd4
IS exd4lbb6!? 16 .l:r.fel i.g4171tJed2
'ikd6 18 h3 i.fS 191tJe4 'iif4! with a
good position for Black, Dautov­
Godena, Vienna 1996.
c3) 12 i.b3 'iWe7 13 :adl b6 14
e4 i.b7 IS .l:r.fel :fd8 16 eS lbf8
(16 ... :ab8!?) 17 'iWe2 cS 18 dS exdS
19 lbxdS i.xdS 20 i.xdS :ac8 21
'ikc4 ;!; Chernin-Kuczynski, Debrecen
Echt 1992.
B1)
11 .l:r.cl
A very flexible continuation, in
which White can still play in the centre
or on the queenside. Of course, the