Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)

UHlMANN'S 16 :b1 57
w
w
c1) 23 'ir'g4 is met by 23 ... 'ir'e6,
with the idea that 24 0,e7+ 'it;(b7 25
'ir'xe6 fxe6 26 f7? (26 l:.el is probably
better for White) is answered by
26 .. .lhh2! 27 :dl (27 'it;(gll:th7 28
:dl0,f8) 27 ... ':hl+ 28 'it;(e2l:txdl 29
~xdl0,f8, when Black is not worse
since his king comes to the rescue.
c2) 23 'ir'f3 is simplest. Now if
23 ... 0,xf6, 24 'ir'f5+ 'ir'e6 25 'iWxe6+
fxe6 260,xf6 ':xf6 27l:tc 1 gives White
a winning rook ending.
23 ~gl 'ii'e6 (D)
240,f4
On the face of it, this looks like the
safest choice. If 24 bxc3 'iWh3 25 cxb4
'iWxh2+, White has to walk his king up
the board if he does not want to allow a
perpetual check. However, this is a
very risky operation, and as the following
analysis shows, Black should
not be unhappy with it: 26 ~fl 'ir'h 1 +
27 'it;(e2 'ir'h5+ 28 ~e3 'ir'e5+ 29 ~f3
'iWh5+ 30 g4 (otherwise Black has an
instant perpetual) 30 ... 'ir'h3+ 31 ~e4
'iWh2!, and, for example, 32 f4 :h3
with a strong attack.
24 ... 'iWxa2 25 bxc3 l:txf6 26 cxb4
Or 26l:tall:td6!, when both 27 'ir'c1
'iWc4 and 27 'iWfl 'ir'c2 give Black adequate
counterplay.
26 ... l:td6! 27 'iWcl c4!
The passed c-pawn, together with
the fact that White has some backrank
problems, provides Black with
good counterplay.