The Botvinnik Semi-Slav

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Home > Chess > Book Reviews > Alphabetical Index According to Subject > Openings Index > The Botvinnik Semi-Slav

The Botvinnik Semi-Slav

By Steffen Pedersen
224 pages
$21.95
Gambit Press, 2000

Reviewed by John Donaldson

Theory just keeps growing by leaps and bounds in the land of the Semi-Slav. It was only six years
ago that GM Peter Wells produced his groundbreaking The Complete Semi-Slav, a 304 page
monster devoted to the ...d5, ...c6, ...e6 complex against 1.d4. Now Danish IM Steffen Pedersen
has produced two 220 page-plus books to cover the same territory. The first in the series and the
subject of this review is The Botvinnik Semi-Slav. IM Pedersen's book covers not only the Botvinnik
(1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bg5 dxc4), but also its popular cousin the Moscow variation
(5...h6).
How does one evaluate such a work? A thumbs up from noted Botvinnik connoisseur (from the
White side!) Alex Yermolinsky certainly gets one's attention as he is not one to routinely praise.
Check out
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 c6 5.Bg5 dxc4 6.e4 b5 7.e5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Nxg5 hxg5 10.Bxg5
Nbd7 11.g3 Bb7 12.Bg2 Qb6 13.exf6 c5 14.d5 O-O-O 15.O-O b4 16.Rb1 Qa6 17.dxe6 Bxg2 18.e7
The ultra recent 18...Bb7 isn't covered, though 18...Ba8 and the conventional main line 18...Bxf1
are.
After 18...Bxf1 19.Qd5 Bh6 and ...Be7 both get extensive treatment and I'm sure soon-to-be Senior
Master David Pruess of Berkeley wishes he had this material when he faced off with GM
Yermolinsky in the Frisco Masters in San Francisco this past April. He played 19...Bd3? and after
20.Bf4 Qb6 21.Na4 Qb5 22.exd8(q)+ Kxd8 23.Re1 Bf5 24.Qa8+ Nb8 25.Bxb8 Qxa4 26.Bxa7+ the
game soon came to a sudden end. Pedersen points out a faster win via Burgess' suggestion of 22.
Qa8+ Nb8 23.Qxa7! Na6 24.Nb6+.
Theory changes very fast in the Botvinnik. Consider the Alatortsev variation
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.Bg5 dxc4 6.e4 b5 7.e5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Nxg5 Nd5
An interesting sideline that has never enjoyed a complete bill of good health. Pedersen, who was
once interested in this line for the Black side, has plenty of original material to offer, but ultimately
comes to the conclusion that there is no answer to
10.Nxf7 Qxh4 11.Nxh8 Bb4 12.Rc1 c5 13.dxc5 Nd7! 14.Be2 Nxe5 15.O-O Bb7 16.Nxb5!
(Pedersen)
The Botvinnik Semi-Slav gives 16...Bxc5? and 16...O-O-O, but
16...Rd8!
of Gulko-Vera, Mexico 1999, may cause a reevaluation of 9...Nd5. The point of Vera's move is that
17.Nd6+ runs into 17...Rxd6 18.cxd6 Bxd6. Gulko actually played
17.Qa4
and after
17...Nf4! 18.Nd4+
Black should have played
18...Rd7
with an incredibly messy position. Here is one entertaining possibility:
19.Ng6 Nexg6 20.c6 Bd6 21.cxd7+ Kf7 22.h3 Qxh3!!
The Botvinnik Semi-Slav offers over 60 pages on the Moscow system, with a lot of it devoted to the
razor sharp and very popular 6.Bh4. It also does a fine job of presenting both the theory and main
ideas of the Botvinnik, which is no easy task. This said, the book and the opening demand a great
deal of work. This is not the sort of thing a club player is going to be able to pick up and play. Even
if he could, chances are very unlikely that his opponent would know the theory well enough to get
past a dozen moves or so -- not much of an accomplishment in an opening where theory often
extends over 30 moves! This opening and Pedersen's book are for players of master strength on
up. Those taking up the opening for the first time will find Matthew Sadler's The Semi-Slav a useful
first step in mastering this rich system. One tiny glitch is the repeated mixed use of Yermolinsky
and Ermolinsky -- they are the same guy.

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