Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)

62 THE BOTVINNIK SEMI-SLAV
16 ... fxe6 17 b3
17 'it'e2 0-0-0 transposes to note 'a'
to the previous move.
17 ... 0-0-018 bxc4 j,h6! (D)
w
The standard way of softening up
the f6-pawn. If Black could exchange
the dark-squared bishop and win the
f6-pawn, the open f-file in combination
with the powerful knight on d3
would give Black a strong attack.
19 j,h4
The only move. Illescas provides
some lines to illustrate the dangers of
exchanging bishops:
a) 19 f4 j,xg5 20 fxg5 j,xg2+ 21
~xg2 'ili'c6+ 22 'ili'f3 tLlf4+! -+.
b) 19 tLlxb5 j,xg2+! 20 ~xg2
'ili'b7+ (20... j,xg5!?) 21 'it'f3 j,xg5 22
'ili'xb7+ ~xb7 and White does not
have sufficient compensation.
c) 19 j,xh6l:hh6 20 tLlxb5 l:lxf6!
21 tLlxa7+ (21 f3 a6 22 tLlc3 'ili'd4 -+)
21...b8 22 j,xb7 l:lxf2+ 23 ~gl
'it'xb7 -+.
19 ... b4 20 tLldS! exdS 21 'it'xd3
dxc4
If Black wants to avoid exchanges,
he can try 21...j,a6 22 ~gl j,xc4 23
'it'f3 with an unclear position.
22 j,xb7+! 'it'xb7 23 'it'fS+ ~b8 24
l:lgl!
Beliavsky-Illescas, Linares 1994. I
would rather not assess this position.
In reality, Black only has two passed
pawns (the doubled c-pawns) while
White has four on the kingside, but
with the better bishop and generally
more active pieces, Black has plenty of
counterplay. Illescas played 24 ... j,d2!?
but 24"'l:ld5 25 'ii'e6 c3 is also worth
considering.
C)
13 ... tLlxf6 (D)
w
A number of recent games have
suggested that we should take a fresh
look at this move. It is slightly provocative,
in as much as Black walks
straight into a pin. However, there is
no direct way for White to exploit this
fact since Black is ready to neutralize
it on his next move with ... j,e7, after