Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)

90 THE B01YINNIK SEMI-SlAV
even though I would rather be White
after 18 l:.ad1) 18 axbS l:.d3 19 b6!?
(making sure that the a8-h1 diagonal
will not open easily) 19 ... .txb6 20 ttJe4
1li'eS 21 'iWxc4 l:.gd8 22 1li'c2 1li'dS 23
l:.ac1 Novikov-Thesing, Berlin 1991.
My source says 1-0 here. White is obviously
much better but going as far as
resigning looks premature.
14 .tg2 .tb7 15 ttJxb5 (D)
Consistent but perhaps not the best.
White has to act quickly, and slow
attempts like IS 0-00-0-0 are not advisable,
but IS a4 is interesting. Then
if lS ... b4, 16 ttJe41li'fS 17 l:.c1, as in
the game Liberzon-Lombard, Biel IZ
1976, gives White an edge. Fortunately,
Black has the much superior
lS ... 0-0-0!' After 16 axbS cxbS 17
.txb7+