Question from David:
I'm rated in the high 1900s and am 35 years
old. In the last couple years I've switched
from 1.e4 to 1.d4 and have enjoyed good results.
I find the positions easier to handle and
also feel that there are less sharp variations
in need of memorization.
One line that bothers me though is the Semi-Slav.
Everyone is playing the darn thing against
me and so far it seems to give my opponents
a pretty active position (unless I'm willing
to lose my manhood and answer 1.d4 d5 2.c4
c6 with 3.cxd5).
What's the best way to handle this opening?
Silman answers: The Semi-Slav is a very good opening for Black, but many
of its lines require a good memory. Some White
players do indeed choose the Exchange Variation
with 3.cxd5 since that tends to take the fun
out of the position (depressing Black as a
result) and, if White knows what he's doing
and has good technical skills, it can give
the first player a reasonable shot at a very
small edge. Yasser Seirawan and Igor Ivanov
are two high-profile players who have always
done well with this simple remedy. The mainline Meran (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3
Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4) is extremely complex and gives
both sides chances (and requires a lot of homework
from both players!), while Black must also
be ready to deal with the insane complications
resulting from the Botvinnik System (5.Bg5
dxc4 6.e4 b5 7.e5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Nxg5). As you can see, this is one heavy-duty opening! So does
White have a less chaotic remedy that has more
sting than the Exchange Variation but requires
less memorization than the Meran with 6.Bd3?
Yes he does. Karpov's longtime choice – 6.Qc2 – offers
chances of a White plus while steering the
game into more placid positional pastures. 
EFFECTIVE WAY TO MEET THE SEMI-SLAV
To see how effective this line can be,
let's take a look at a key game IM John
Donaldson recently annotated.
BONIN'S NEW
IDEA IN THE SEMI-SLAV By John Donaldson In the following game Jay tries an interesting novelty in
the Semi-Slav variation of the Queen's Gambit
in which he sacrifices a pawn for pressure.
Does he get more than enough compensation for
the pawn? Did Shaba over estimate his chances?
I'm not certain what the answer is in this
fascinating game. NOTE – I have added a few of GM Michael Rohde's comments
to my annotations (from his notes in the Winter
2004 issue of Chess Life) in critical positions,
clearly attributing them to him in each case.
J Bonin - Shabalov [D46]
Marshall Club Championship 2003
1.d4 Nf6 It's interesting that Shaba uses 1...Nf6 as
a way to reach the Slav. One reason might be
that he wants White to commit a Knight to c3
or f3 in the event of an Exchange Slav – 1...d5
2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Bf4 (4.Nc3 e5!?) 4...Nc6
5.e3 Nf6 6.Bd3 e6 7.Nc3 circumventing Botvinnik's
old favorite 1...d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Nc3
Nf6 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Bf4 e6 7.e3 Nh5. Another possibility – and
more likely – is he wants to avoid something
like 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 or 3.Bg5. 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 As we will soon see the game continuation
could also arise from Zvaginsev's line of the
Meran: 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.0-0
Bd6 10.Qc2. In this variation White would not
necessarily choose to play Qc2, but if Jay's
novelty proves to be of long-term worth he
will have killed two birds with one stone. 6...Bd6 7.Be2 0-0 8.0-0 dxc4 9.Bxc4 b5
10.Bd3 The text is well known but 10.Be2 is more
popular here. 10…Bb7 11.e4 e5 12.dxe5 Nxe5 13.Nxe5 Bxe5
14.h3 White would like to grab space and get the
kingside pawns rolling but the text is necessary
preparation. In Tuzan-Mukhametov, Moscow 1990,
Black got excellent play after 14.f4 with 14...Bd4+
15.Kh1 Ng4 16.g3 Qc7 17.Nd1 f5 18.h3 Nf6 19.e5
c5+ 20.Kh2 Nd5 21.Qd2 c4 22.Bb1 Rad8. 14...b4 The theoretical move that has been responsible
for putting 10.Bd3 out of favor. Earlier continuations
did not fare so well and illustrate Bonin's
great experience in this variation: (A) 14...Qe7 15.Be3 Rfe8 16.Rae1 a6 17.Ne2
Bd6 (17...c5! 18.Bxc5 Qc7 19.Bd4, 1/2-1/2,
Portisch-Tukmakov, Reggio Emilia 1987 was correct)
18.Nd4 g6 19.Nb3 Nd7 20.Na5 Ne5 21.Nxb7 Qxb7
22.Be2 Rac8 23.f4 Nd7 24.Bg4 Rc7 25.e5 Bb4
26.Rd1 Nf8 27.Bf3 Rcc8 28.Rc1 Re6 29.Bd5 and
White went on to victory in Bonin-Shabalov,
New York 1992. (B) 14...Re8 15.Be3 Qe7 16.Ne2 Bc7 17.Rad1
Bb6 (why not 17...Nxe4 18.Bxe4 Qxe4 19.Qxe4
Rxe4 20.Rd7 Rc8?) 18.Nd4 and White had a clear
advantage, Bonin-Alexopolous, New York
1994. (C) Rohde suggest 14..Rc8! as Black's best,
meeting 15.Be3 with 15...c5! and 15.f4 with
15...Bd4+ 16.Kh1 c5! 17.e5 Ng4 18.Bxh7+ with
a messy position. I'm not sure I totally agree
with this. After 14...Rc8 (played by Portisch
against Z. Varga in the 1993 Hungarian Team
Championship) 15.Be3 c5 (Portisch played 15...b4
16.Na4 c5 and lost) I think White came claim
some advantage with 16.Bxb5 and now: (C1) 16...Bxc3 17.Qxc3 Nxe4 18.Qc2; (C2) 16...Qa5 17.Bc4 Bxc3 18.Qxc3 Qxc3 19.bxc3
Nxe4 20.Rab1 Bc6 21.Rb3. In both cases White's
Bishops should give him some pull. 15.Na4 Here 15.Ne2 c5 16.f3 c4! (16...Rc8 17.Bc4)
17.Qxc4 Qb6+ 18.Kh1 Rfd8 is Illescas's great
idea which gives Black good play. 15...Bd4 Black intends ...c5, ...Qe7 and ...Rfe8 with
strong counterplay. 16.Be3!? 
INTERESTING NEW IDEA
This is Jay's very interesting new idea in
which he cripples his pawn structure in return
for activity. Odds are strong that he will
lose the front e-pawn but compensation will
come in the form of more active pieces. Previously
seen was 16.Rd1 Qe7 17.Bf4 c5 18.e5 Nh5 19.Bh2
f5 20.Be2 Qg5 21.Bf3 Bxf3 22.Qb3+ Kh8 23.Qxf3
f4, 1/2-1/2, Gutman-Goloshchapov, Alushta 1999.
Note that 16.e5?! fails to 16...Bxe5 17.Nc5
Bc8 and Black's position is superior to the
game continuation as he has no weakness on
e6. 16...Bxe3 17.fxe3 Nd7 18.e5 h6 19.e6 Another possibility was 19.Rad1 Qe7 20.Bh7+
Kh8 21.Bf5 Nxe5 22.Nc5, but I prefer Jay's
choice. 19...fxe6 20.Bc4 Qe7 21.Qg6 Rf6 22.Rxf6
Nxf6 23.Rc1 Rd8 This certainly looks natural. An alternative
was 23...Kh8 trying to keep White's Knight
from coming to c5. Rohde then suggests 24.Rf1!
intending to play Bc4-d3. 24.Nc5 Bc8 25.Nd3 Rf8 26.Nf4 Bd7 
PLENTY OF COMPENSATION
White definitely has compensation for the
pawn, but probably no more. One could easily
imagine Shaba playing White in such a position! 27.Qd3 Rf7 28.Ng6 Qc5 29.Qd4 Qg5 No doubt Shaba was playing for a win here,
but I wonder if the text overreaches. Maybe
it was time to consider trying to bail out
with 29...Qxd4 30.exd4 Nd5 31.Bxd5 exd5 32.Ne5
Re7 33.Nxd7 Rxd7 34.Rxc6 Re7. GM Rohde gives
29...Qxd4 30.exd4 Nd5 31.Ne4 as the way for
White to play. He continues 31...Re7 32.Bb3
Be8 and White can keep improving with Rc1-c5,
Bb3-a4, Kg1-f2, etc. while Black watches. 30.Ne5 Re7 31.h4 Qg3 32.Rf1 White could reach an attractive ending after
32.Qf4 Qxf4 33.exf4 but Jay, sensing blood,
correctly keeps the Queens on. 32...Nd5 33.Rf3 Qe1+ 34.Kh2 Be8 35.Rg3
h5 It's difficult to suggest an improvement here.
Trying to anticipate Qd4-c5-d6 with 35...Rb7
runs into 36.Nd3 Qd2 37.e4. 36.Qc5 Rb7 37.Qd6 Nf6 38.Bxe6+ Kh7 39.Bf5+
Kg8 Seeing that White can't play 40.Qxf6?? due
to 40…Qxg3+. 40.Nd3, 1-0. This forces the Black
Queen away from its connection with the White
Rook. Now a Queen move like 40…Qb1 allows 41.Qxf6.
| 