Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)

84 THE BOTVINNIK SEMI-SLAV
lbeS 21 'iWb7! ':fe8 220-0 ':xe6 23
':adl ':de8 24 'iWe4 'iWbs 2S 'iWh4 1-0
Sakaev-Govedarica, Belgrade 1996.
Black will be mated in a few moves.
14lbe4 (D)
14 ..... d5
Centralizing the queen is an important
part of Black's opening plan. The
queen attacks the d4-pawn and defends
Black's own pawn on c4, thus
making it possible to reactivate the
light-squared bishop on b7, and preparing
the thematic ... cS advance. It is
my feeling that playing ... 'iWdS immediately
is the most accurate, since
there is no point in any of the advances
of the queenside pawns right now.
However, 14 ... 0-0-0 has been the
most common. There has been several
attempts from White to punish Black's
opening play straight away, including
IS b3 and IS lbcs. My preference is
for IS .te2 (1S .tg2? is a common
mistake; White's king is then caught in
the middle ofthe board after IS ... c3!)
IS ... 'iWdS 16 .te3 .tb7 (16 ... cS was
dealt with in the introduction) 17 0-0
(the direct 17 lbgS might in fact be
more accurate) and then:
a) 17 ... .:g8 is aimed against lbgS
and carries the additional possibility
of rounding up the f6-pawn following
... ':g6, but nevertheless seems too
slow. Even 18 h4, renewing the idea of
lbgS, is an option, while 18 'iWf4 cS 19
f3 cxd4 20 .txc4 is also promising according
to Beliavsky and Mikhalchishin.
The game Fodor-Tompa, corr.
1977 continued 18 ':fc1 cS 19 lbd2
lLlxf6 (19 ... cxd4!?) 20 'iWxdS (20 dxcS!?)
20 ... exdS 21 dxcSlbd7 22 a3 (22 c6 is
also possible; then after 22 ... .txc6 23
.txa7 .tg7 White can try 24 lbxc4
dxc4 2S ':xc4 ~b7 26 .td4, which
nets four pawns for apiece) 22 ... .tg7
23 lIabl as 24lbf3 ~c7 2SlbgS d4!
26 .tf4+ .teS 27 lbxf7 .txf4 28
lbxd8 lIxd8! and Black's dynamic
pawn-chain promises enough counterplay
after, for example, 29 gxf4 c3.
b) 17 ... cS 18lbd2 (18lbgS is not
so clear here, since after 18 ... 'iWxgS!
19 'iWxb7+ ~xb7 20 .txgS cxd4 21
.txc4lbeS 22 .te2 d3 23 .td 1 .tcS all
Black's pieces take up active posts,
while White must keep a watchful eye
on the threat posed by Black's centre
pawns, S.Bekker-lensen - N.Pedersen,
Copenhagen 1996) 18 ... lbxf6 19
dxcS c3 (19 ... lbd7!? is another possibility)
20 bxc3 bxc3 21 c6 'iWxc6 22
lIac1 lbdS 23 .td4 .ta3 24 lbe4! and
White has a clear advantage, Mikhalevski-N.Pedersen,
Arhus 1997.
15.te3