Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)

66 THE BOTVINNIK SEMI-SlAV
15 0-0 tLlxd5 16 .i.xe7 rJ;;xe7 17
tLlxb5 'ii'b6 (D)
w
A little thought on this position and
the sequence leading up to it is in place.
First, after White castled on move 15
he was actually threatening 16 d6, so
the last few moves have been more or
less forced. The material balance is
equal but Black's pawn-structure is
evidently worse, while also his king is
not very safe. On the positive side
there are lots of open files and active
piece-play but Black must keep playing
actively, otherwise White will
consolidate and eventually round up
the c-pawns or queen the h-pawn.
18 tLla3
In the game Quist-Karolyi, Dieren
1988, White decided that the knight
on d5 was too strong and had to be removed;
and hence preferred 18 tLlc3??
tLlxc3 19 bxc3 i.xg2 20 rJ;;xg2, but
now, rather than the game's 20 ... 'ifc6+,
Black can win with 20 ... 'ifb7+! 21 f3
(21 'iitg1 and 21 'iVf3 are both answered
by 21..Jhh2(+)!) 21...'ifb2+
22 ~f2 ~xh2+ 23 'iitxh2 'iVxf2+ 24
'iith3 f5 and mate in a few more moves.
18 ... ~h4!?
This spectacular idea of Kramnik's
has several purposes:
1) it protects the c4-pawn;
2) the rook can be centralized on
the d4-square;
3) it may prepare doubling rooks;
4) ... tLlf4 becomes a serious option.
Of course, all this is only relevant as
long as White cannot simply take the
rook. But first we should examine the
other main continuation for Black,
namely 18 ... c3, when White has the
following options:
a) 19 bxc3 tLlxc3 is fine for Black.
b) 19 ~b1 cxb2 20 tLlc4 'iVc7 21
~xb2 tLlb6 22 i.xb7 tLlxc4 23 i.xa8
tLlxb2 24 'iff3 tLlc4 25 'ifc3 l:ha8 26
'ifxc4 ~d8 with an equal ending,
Razuvaev-Serper, Tilburg 1993.
c) 19 tLlc4 'ifc7 with a further split:
cl) 20 'ifc1?! ~ag8 (20... cxb2 21
'ifxb2 gives White an edge) 21 f4,
Vladimirov-Dzhandzhgava, Pavlodar
1987, and now Black should play
21...~h7! (it is fairly important that
Black chooses this square for the rook
and not h6), with an advantage. For
example, 22 bxc3 ':gh8 23 h4 ':g8 24
'iith2 ~hg7 25 ~f3 tLlf6 and Black has
a clear advantage. Why 21...~h7! is
the strongest comes to light here, as if
Black had played 21. .. ~h6 the rook
would now have been on g6 and not
g7, which would have given White the
chance to put up some resistance with
26 tLle5!.