Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)

68 THE BOTVINNIK SEMI-SLAV
20 tLJxc4 'ii'a6!?
Usually Black would rather have
his queen on c7 than on a6, but in Oll­
Topalov, Biel IZ 1993, Black did not
fare well with 20 ... 'ii'c7 21 f3 tLJxg2
(21...l:1d8 22 'ii'a5!) 22 'ii'g5+ ~f8 23
gxh4, and White was winning.
21 tLJe3
all's recommendation. The alternatives
are:
a) 21 ..txb7 tLJh3+ 22 ~g2 'ii'xb7+
23 f3 :d8 24 'ii'e2 :g8 with an attack,
Stocek-Papazov, Tallinnjr Ech 1997.
b) 21 l:1fcl l:1g8 (21.. . ..txg2 22
gxh4 l:1g8 23 'ii'xf4 ..th3+ 24 'ii'g3
l:1xg3+ 25 hxg3 'ii'b7 26 tLJe3 'ii'xb2 27
a4 is much better for White - Dautov)
22 ..txb7 'ii'xb7 23 'ii'd6+ 'if.?f6 24 'ii'e5+
'if.?e7 (24 ... 'iii'g6?! 25 gxf4 {25 f3!?}
25 ... 'if.?h7+ 26 'iii'fl llxh2 27 'it>e2! looks
insufficient for Black) 25 'ii'xc5+ 'if.?f6
26 'ii'e5+ 'if.?e7 and now 27 'ii'd6+ repeats,
but 27 tLJe3 is a winning attempt;
e.g. 27 ... tLJe2+ 28 'ittfl tLJxcI 29 tLJf5+
'it>d7 30 'ii'd6+ ~e8 31 l:1xcl exf5 32
'ii'e5+ ~f8 33 'ii'c5+ 'ittg7 34 gxh4.
21...l:1d8 22 'ii'c2 tLJe2+ 23 'if.?hl
l:1h5
N aumann-Ka.Miiller, B undesliga
1998/9. I prefer Black's attacking
prospects.
0)
13 ... ..th614 ..txh61hh6 (D)
The exchange of the dark-squared
bishops is strategically a very plausible
decision. Black intends to capture
on f6 with the knight, and compared to
Line C there is no pin now. The
w
disadvantage is that the operation is
somewhat time-consuming, the rook
is exposed and it is not yet clear
whether the bishop is really needed for
defensive measures - here I am thinking
of controlling the d6-square or defending
the c5-pawn. White has two
options:
Dl: 15 ..tg2 68
D2: 15 'ii'd2 69
Line D 1 is a very natural continuation
but it lacks the directness of the
second option.
01)
15 i.g2 b4
15 ... tLJxf6 16 tLJxb5 is slightly
better for White.
160-0!?
Only recently has this idea been rediscovered.
Dvoretsky analysed it in
1983 but only with the conclusion that
accepting the sacrifice would be too
dangerous and thus Black should reply
16 ... tLJxf6.
The alternative is 16 tLJe4 (16 tLJa4
tLJxf6 17 tLJxc5 transposes to line 'c')