Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)

BLACK'S 13TH MOVE ALTERNATIVES 65
the a7-pawn, White's knight is ensured
a safe outpost on b5; it and the
queen form a dangerous attacking
duo. Furthermore, White is a pawn up.
Nevertheless, Black has plenty of
counterplay in the form of the bishoppair
and open files against White's
king, but first he must unblock the h­
file:
a) 19 ... .tg7 20 a4! 'iWh6?! (White
easily defends against this, so Kasparov
suggests doubling rooks, beginning
with 20 .. J:th6!?) 21 h4 .tf6 22
'iWe1! (a superb move, threatening 23
'iWa5) 22 ... .txh4 23 'iWa5 (23 'iWe5+!
rJi>a8 24 'iWc7 is similar to what happens
in the game) 23 ... .te7 24 'iWc7+
rJi>a8 25 'iWa5+ rJi>b8 26 'iWc7+ ~a8 27
.l:tfe1, and there is no defence to the
simple threat of White advancing his
a-pawn, Kasparov-Ivanchuk, Linares
1994.
b) 19 ... .tg5!? had a fantastic first
outing. The idea is of course that White
is deprived of the defence Kasparov
adopted against Ivanchuk (since Black
does not spend two moves before being
able to sacrifice the bishop). Let us
first take a look at the stem game:
b1) 20 f4 'iWh6! 21 fxg5?! (21 h3 is
forced) 2L..iVxh2+ 22 ~f2 d4! 23 l:tg1
.l:th4!!. A magnificent move, threatening
... .l:tf4+! or even the simple ... .l:te8.
It is not so obvious why White cannot
take the rook, so we first examine this:
b11) 24 gxh4 'iWxh4+ 25 rJi>e2 (25
rJi>f1 'iWf4+ 26 .tf3 .txf3 27 'iWc 1
.te2+! 28 ~e1 'iVe4 -+) 25 ... d3+! 26
~e3 (26 ~d2 c3+! 27 tbxc3 'iWf4+ 28
~e 1 d2+ and mate in three more
moves) 26 ... iVxg5+ 27 ~f2 'ilh4+ 28
~e3 lWg3+ 29 .tf3 (29 ~d2 'iWf4+ 30
~c3 'iWf6+ 31 ~xc4 'ilh4+ 32 ~xc5
.l:tc8+ 33 ~b6 iVd8+ -+) 29 ... .l:te8+ 30
~d2 'ilh2+! 31 rJi>c3 .txf3 32 iVc1
'iWe5+ 33 ~xc4 .td5+ 34 ~xc5 .tc6+!
winning - Shirov.
b12) 24 iVe2 .l:te4 25 'iWf3 d3 +
Komljenovic-Lupu, Andorra 1994.
b2) 20 iVe1!? .l:td7 (20 ... iVh6 21
'iWe5+ ~a8 22 h3! intending 'ilJc7 looks
dangerous according to Sadler, so
Black first prevents White's queen
from penetrating) 21 b3 'iWh6 and now
22 iVe5+ ~a8 23 h4 .txh4 24 gxh4 f6
25 iVc3 'iWxh4 26 'ilJa5+ c;i;>b8 27 iVa7+
~c8 28 iVxc5+ ~b8 29 l:tfe1 .l:tg8 30
"ii'a7+ ~c8 31 'iWc5+ rJi>b8 32 rJi>f1?
(32l:[e7!?) 32 ... 'iWg4 33 'ilJa7+ ~c8 34
iVc5+ 'it>b8 35 'iWa7+ ~c8 112-112 lonov­
V.Popov, St Petersburg Ch 1997. However,
Lutz points out that White should
hold the check on e5 in reserve, and
play the more accurate 22 h4!.
We return to the position after
14 ... ..te7 (D):
w