Botvinnik Semi-Slav, The (Pedersen)

96 THE BOTVINNIK SEMI-SLAV
'fif7 and now 18 'fixf7+ gives White a
superior version of Line A222, but 18
'iWg4! is even more effective, and after
18 ... ltJf8 19 ltJe4 'iWe7 20 :th5!, intending
:tg5, White had a clear advantage
in Dautov-Gabriel, Altensteig
1994.
17 i.e4 ltJe7 (D)
w
18 ltJxbS
I am surprised that this move has
not been investigated more than it has.
It is clearly the most consistent move
as White wins material, but while the
material balance is unusual, three
pieces against two rooks and a pawn is
not that bad for Black if he can make
his pieces cooperate nicely. Maybe
that is why White has been keener to
find a direct way to knock over Black's
position:
a) 18 0-0-0 (this seems to be too
slow) 18 ... i.a6! 19 ltJe2 i.g7 20 ltJf4
ltJf8. This is basically the set-up Black
should be aiming for; the f8-knight
and bishop on g7 cover possible entrances
for White's rook down the
h-file while the knight also guards the
pawns on e6 and g6. Furthermore, the
solid pawn-structure limits the options
for possible pawn-breaks by White,
meaning that Black has a reasonably
quiet time to manoeuvre his pieces
into even better positions. Beliavsky­
Kramnik, Linares 1993 continued 21
ltJh3 0-0-022 ltJg5 'iWe8! (the queen
would be almost stalemated on g8) 23
'iWf3 (23 ltJxe6? 'iWd7) 23 ... ltJf5 24
'iWa3! i.b7 (24 ... ~b7? 25 i.g2!, intending
ltJe4, is annoying) 25 'fixa7
'iWe7 26 ltJf3 c5! 27 i.xb7+ 'iWxb7 28
'iWxb7+ ~xb7 29 dxc5 :tc8 30 b4 cxb3
31 axb3 :'xc5+ 32 'it>b2 ltJe7 with an
edge for Black.
b) 18 :th8!? and now:
bl) 18 .. .'~d8 19 i.c2?! (here White
could also consider 19 ltJxb5 with
similar play to the main line) 19 ... ~c7
20 0-0-0 i.g7 21 :th7 ltJf8 22 l'th2
i.b7 23 ltJe4 :'d8 24 ltJg5 'iWg8 25
~bl ltJf5 26 'iWf4 c5 27 dxc5 :'xdl +
28 i.xd 1 ltJd7 + Davies-McDonald,
Wrexham 1995.
b2) 18 ... i.a6?! 19 a4! b4 20 ltJb5
i.xb5 21 axb5 was already very difficult
for Black in Eingorn-Onishchuk,
Cuxhaven 1994.
b3) 18 ... 'fig7!? is mentioned by
Akopian. White's best might be 19
'iWh3 as 19 'iWxe6 'iWxh8 20 i.xc6 :'b8
21 ltJe4 fails on account of 21...~d8!
(Black might even survive 21. .. 'iWh 1 +
22 ~e2 'ti'xal 23 ltJd6+ 'it>d8 24 ltJf7+
~c7 25 'ti'd6+ ~b6) 22 ltJg5 (22 ltJd6
ltJxe5 -+) 22 ... ltJxc6! 23 'iWxc6 (23
ltJf7 + 'it>c7 24 ltJxh8 ltJdxe5 wins for