Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)

20 THE BOTVINNIK SEMI-SIA V
'ti'xh2+ 37 'ifrf3 ':xb7 38 ~xe5+ ':b6
39 ~c4+ 'ifrd7 40 l:txa7+ 'iitc8 41
l:tc7+ 1-0.
B)
17 ••. ltlb8 18 axb4 cxb4 191i'g4
If White wants to take some kind
of advantage of Black's move-order
(17 ... ltlb8 instead of 17 ... ltle5), this is
the way to do it. From g4 the queen
pins the e6-pawn against the black
king, thus making ... exd5 illegal, and
pressurizes c4, which can be further
attacked by ':fc 1. Both this and 19
'ti'd4 look very promising for White
(which explains Black's preference for
17 ... exd5Iately). Some other options
are:
a) 19 'ti'd4ltlc6 transposes to Line
A, since 19 ... ':xd5? 20 'it'xa7! ltld721
i.f4 is definitely good for White.
Given the highly favourable assessment
of Line A, this already casts a
dark shadow over 17 ... ltlb8.
b) 19 i.e3!? i.xd5 20 i.xdS l::txd5
21 'ti'e2 ltlc6 22 ':fc1 (D) is also very
interesting.
B
Attempting to open the c-file is one
of White's main strategies. Black must
now react to the threat of his c-pawn:
bl) 22 ... ltlaS?! 23 b3! c3 24ltlxc3
bxc3 25 ':xc3+ 'ifrd7 26 'iWc2 i.d6 27
':c1 'it'b7 28 b4! 'it'xb4 (28... l::txh2? 29
'it'a4+! +- Cvitan-Marjanovic, Yugoslav
Ch (Vrbas) 1982) 29 ':bl 'iWg4 30
i.xa7! and now Kasparov has shown,
with a couple of nice wins, that the
continuing attack against the black
king is worth more than the sacrificed
piece:
bll) 30 ... e5 31 'iWa2! ':dl+?! (the
alternative 31... 'it'f5 !? is a more prudent
defence according to Kasparov,
although he thinks that White maintains
an initiative with "32 l::tb7+!
ltlxb7 33 'it'xd5 'it'bl + 34 'ifrg2 ltld8
35 l:tb3 'iWf5 36 h4 'iWxf6 37 ':b6!"; I
am not sure whether this is entirely
clear, and would prefer 32 ':el!? 'iite6
33 ':dl e4 34 f3!) 32l::txdl 'it'xdl+ 33
'ifrg2 'iWh5 34 'it'a4+! ~e6 35 h4! and
Black is not able to hold his pieces
together, Kasparov-Timoshchenko,
USSR Ch (Frunze) 1981.
b12) 30 ... i.e5 31 l::tc5! (31 f3?
i.d4+ 32 i.xd4 'it'xd4+ 33 ~hl ~d6!
+) 31...l::txc5 32 i.xc5! ltlc6 33 'it'd3+!
~c8 34 ':d I! ltlb8 35 ':c I! +- Kasparov-Dorfman,
USSR Ch (Frunze) 1981.
This game was played after Kasparov-Timoshchenko
- 30 ... i.e5 was a
prepared 'improvement'.
b2) 22 ... ~b7? 23 ':xc4 ltlaS 24
b3! (the key move; Black cannot take
the rook on c4, and White is thus soon
able to utilize the semi-open a-file and