Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)

BLACK'S 13TH MOVE ALTERNATNES 71
21ltJc3l:td3 22 'iWc2 i.f3 is fine for
Black. As long as White cannot swap
rooks with l:tdl he will be facing continuing
threats of Black's rooks penetrating
the 7th rank. Black's problem
is of course that his c-pawns are weak
but it is not that easy for White to pressurize
them without conceding further
advantages to Black; e.g., 23ltJe4 'iVd4
24 'ifa4+ ~f8 25 %:tac1 .txe4 26 %:txc4
'iWd5 27 l:texe4 l:txb2 +.
21 ... ~f8 22 'ii'h6+ ct;e7
Now:
a) 23 'iVh5?! is a mistake that gets
the knight almost trapped in enemy
territory. 23 ... .tc6! (instead of 23 ... l:td3,
as played in Yusupov-Antunes, Clichy
ECC 1993) leaves White in dire straits
according to Yusupov. For example, 24
'iVg5+ is met by 24 ... ct;d7. White's
best chance (which Yusupov for some
reason ignores) is 24 ltJa6 %:tb5 25
'ifg5+ lH6 26 %:tadl 'iVb6 27 'iVe5 (27
'iVd2 .te8! +) 27 ... .tf3 28 ltJc7 (28
%:td7+ ~xd7 29 'iVxf6 .td5 30 'iWxf7+
ct;c6 31 'ife8+ ct;b7 32 ltJb8 l:txb2 is
better for Black) 28 ... l:txb2 29 ltJe8!
.txdl 30 'ifxf6+ ~xe8 31l:txdll:tbl
with an equal position. The best White
has is the repetition 32 'iVh8+ 'i;e7 33
'ifh4+ ~e8 34 'ifh8+, etc.
b) Much better is 23 ltJxd5+ 'iVxd5
24 l:te2 l:.d3 25 'ifh4+, when Yusupov
thinks that White can claim an edge.
This actually looks right since Black
has difficulties defending the rook on
b8 and the f7-pawn at the same time.
For example, after 25 ... 'i;d7 26 'iVf4,
26 ... l:.f8 is close to being the only
sensible move, but this obviously is
not part of Black's plan.
022)
15 ... 'ilVxf6 (D)
w
There are now two main continuations
for White:
D221: 16ltJe4 72
D222: 16 0-0-0 73
16 .tg2 is simply not aggressive
enough. After 16 ... ltJe5 17 0-0 0-0-0
White has a difficult choice:
a) 18 'iWe3? is bad in view of
18 ... l:txh2! 19l:tfel %:txg2+ 20 ~xg2
ltJd3 21 ltJe4 'iVd4 22 l:te2 .txd5 +
Uhlmann-Enders, East Germany 1985.
b) 18 %:tfe1? is suggested by Enders
but is also wrong since it fails to avoid
the idea it seeks to prevent: Black can
play 18 ... l:txh2! anyway, and if 19 ~xh2
then 19 ... l:th8+ followed by ... ltJf3+.
c) 18 f4 is analysed by Shirov but
brings no relief either; e.g., 18 ... ltJd3
19 dxe6? (19ltJxb5 exd5) 19 ... 'ifd4+
20 'i;hl l:txh2+! 21 'i;xh2 l:th8+!