Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)

6 Ideas with .. :iVa5
1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 4:Jf3 4:Jf6 4 4:Jc3 e6 5
J.g5 dxc4 6 e4 b5 7 e5 h6 8 J.h4 g5 9
4:Jxg5 hxg5 10 i.xg5 4:Jbd7 11 g3
~a5 12 exf6 (D)
11 exf6 ~a5 does not really make
any difference as 12 g3 should be the
virtually automatic reply. White could
play 12 J.e2 but this loses the valuable
option of putting the bishop on the
hl-a8 diagonal.
11..:iWaS was a quite popular sideline
in the late 1980s but has now to a
large extent disappeared from tournament
play, and I doubt that its status
will improve.
Compared to .. :iWb6, 11..:iWaS does
not exert pressure against ... d4 and nor
does it help in advancing the c6-pawn.
That said, Black has other advantages,
since after ... b4 the clearance of the
5th rank makes the bishop on g5 vulnerable.
Moreover, if Black gets in
both ... b4 and ... c3 White's king can
sometimes be caught in the centre
when a black bishop arrives at a6. So,
why is this all that bad for Black then?
Well, the main problem is that Black
is spending so much time on attacking
purposes, which in the end may turn
out to backfire since the position easily
becomes too loose. Particularly the
advance ofthe b-pawn is controversial
since Black is rarely able to follow up
with a quick ... c5, meaning that the c­
file easily becomes sensitive, without
Black having adequate counterplay.
Typical plans for both sides
w
This is a very common type of position
for the .. :iWaS complex (it occurs