Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)
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BLACK'S 13TH MOVE ALTERNATIVES 61<br />
one stage or another. True, this is very<br />
disruptive and here it even gets there<br />
with check, but it releases pressure<br />
against the f6-pawn and more importantly<br />
does nothing to complete Black's<br />
development.<br />
14 i.g2 ttJd3+<br />
<strong>The</strong> only logical follow-up. Others<br />
are not worth repeating:<br />
a) 14 ... b4 15 'fia4+ 'fid7 16 'fixd7+<br />
~xd7 17 ttJb5 0-0-0 180-0-0 a6 19<br />
~a7+ rJ;c7 20 dxe6 i.xg2 21 i.f4+<br />
~b7 22 e7! ± Brkljaca-Karaklaji6,<br />
Bela Crkva 1984.<br />
b) 14 ... i.h6 15 'fih5! (the idea of<br />
throwing in ... i.h6 is in itself quite<br />
sensible since 15 i.xh6 ttJd3+ 16 'itf1<br />
:xh6 gives Black a lot of counterplay<br />
in view of White's awkward king's position)<br />
15 ... b4 16 0-0 bxc3 17 .:tael<br />
'fid6 18 i.xh6 cxb2 19 dxe6 i.xg2 20<br />
:xe5 0-0-0 21 rJ;xg21:txh6 221:txc5+<br />
rJ;b8 23 .:tb5+ 'liIc7 24 'fixf7+ 1-0<br />
Ermolinsky-Yuneev, USSR 1984.<br />
15 rJ;n (D)<br />
B<br />
15 ... 'fid7<br />
Black needs to meet White's threat<br />
of 16 dxe6, and since 15 ... exd5 16<br />
'fie2+ 'itd7 17 ttJxd5 leaves no consolation,<br />
there is only the text-move and<br />
15 ... ~b6. However, after 15 ... 'fib6<br />
Black does not threaten to take on d5,<br />
and thus White can begin undermining<br />
the queenside immediately: 16 b3<br />
'fi a5 17 dxe6 i.xg2 + 18 rJ;xg2 fxe6 19<br />
'fif3 .:tb8 20 bxc4 'fixc3 21 f7+ 'itd7<br />
22 .:thdl ± M.Houska-McDonald,<br />
Hampstead 1998.<br />
16 dxe6<br />
Very natural but not necessarily<br />
best. Others:<br />
a) 16 'iWe2 O-O-O! 17 dxe6 fxe6 18<br />
i.xb7+ 'itxb7 19 'fie4+ 'fic6 20 h4<br />
i.d6 21 f4 b4 22 'fixc6+ ~xc6 23 ttJe4<br />
~d5!, as in Bagirov-J.Hansen, Moscow<br />
1975, is actually not very clear.<br />
While White's three passed pawns<br />
look very menacing, Black's queenside<br />
pawn-mass should not be underestimated,<br />
as it is supported by the strong<br />
knight on d3.<br />
b) A better option for White is Vujatovi6's<br />
suggestion 16 'fif3! - even<br />
Kasparov has confirmed that this is<br />
very strong. <strong>The</strong> idea is that 16 ... exd5<br />
is met by 17 h4!, which prevents Black<br />
from castling queenside. Also, 16 ... b4<br />
does not look worth pursuing. Stone<br />
Morrison, Canada 1986 went 17 dxe6<br />
'fid418 exf7+~d819 ttJdS a5 20.:tdl<br />
a4 21 i.f4 .:ta6 22 i.c7+ ~d7 23<br />
'fifS+ 1:te6 24 i.a5 and even though<br />
Black went on to win, it is White who<br />
should be able to convert this into a<br />
full point.
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