As Black adjusted to these, a third plan became popular: a central pawn-advance.
Mikhail Botvinnik - Bent Larsen
Noordwijk (Netherlands) 1965
1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5
Playing 1...e6 and 2...d5 can be used as a universal system against just about everything, including 1.d4, 1.c4, 1.Nf3 and 1.e4.
3.d4 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6
This move is second in popularity to 5...Be7. Black nearly always plays ...c6 at some point in the QGD Exchange, but some people believe playing ...c6 early is rather committal in that Black might want to play ...c5 in one move, for example if White castles long. On the other hand, 5...c6 can be the prelude to a radical plan, popularised by Nigel Short, involving an early ...Bf5. I will cover this later in the series.
6.e3 Be7
Larsen is happy to transpose to the main line.
7.Qc2 0-0 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.Nge2
This development of the king's knight has overtaken 9.Nf3 in popularity in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database.
9...h6!? 10.Bh4 Re8 11.f3!?
White starts to advance in the centre, while holding back on committing his king to either flank.
11...c5!?
If Black dithers, he can easily get overrun in the centre. The text, first played in this game, is today the most-popular response to 11.f3!?
12.0-0
Botvinnik goes short. The move Nge2 has been played with a view to castling long, especially when Black has created a kingside target by playing ...h6. Here Botvinnik may have felt 12.0-0-0!? was rather unclear.
12...a6 13.Rad1 b5 14.Bf2?!
Black is ready to expand into White's side of the board on the queenside, and it seems this pawn-storm should be broken up with 14.dxc5 Bxc5 15.Nd4, with a roughly equal game, according to my main analysis engines Stockfish12 and Komodo11.01.
14...c4 15.Bf5 Nb6
Forcing light-square bishops off can be regarded as a major success for Black, although the engines prefer 15...b4!?, continuing 16.Na4 Nb6 with advantage to Black (winning, according to Stockfish12, but just a slight edge, according to Komodo11.01).
16.Ng3 Bf8 17.a3 Bb7?!
A strange decision. It is not as if ...Bb7 prevents White playing e4. Perhaps Larsen thought his light-square bishop would become powerful after exchanges on e4, but that does not happen.
18.e4 g6 19.Bh3 a5
The problem with 19...dxe4?! is that, after 20.fxe4, White's hanging pawns are not weak, but instead threaten to drive back the black pieces.
20.e5 b4 21.Nce2
Not 21.exf6? bxc3 22.bxc3 Qxf6 - the e pawn is too powerful to be swopped in this way.
21...Nh7
21...Nh7
It seems Black did not have to be so quick about withdrawing the knight. One line given by the engines runs 21...Bc6!? 22.Rde1 Ba4 23.Qb1, with a possible continuation being 23...Bd7 24.Bxd7 Nfxd7, although after 25.f4 White's kingside plays looks much more effective than Black's queenside counterplay.
22.f4 Bc6 23.Rda1 Ba4 24.Qb1 f5?!
The engines give 24...c3 25.b3 Bb5, albeit with advantage to White.
25.axb4 axb4
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| How should White proceed? |
*****
*****
*****
*****
26.Nxf5! gxf5 27.Bxf5 Qe7
The engines prefer 27...Qc7!?, their main line running 28.Bg6 Rec8 29.Re1 Kh8 30.f5 with advantage to White.
28.Ng3?!
This largely lets Black off the hook. Much stronger seems to be 28.Bg6, when the engines reckon Black has to give up the exchange as, after the king's rook moves, say to c8, 29.f5 is very powerful.
28...Bd7?!
The engines reckon Black gets good counterplay with 28...Bb5, for example 29.Re1 Rxa1 30.Qxa1 Ra8.
29.Bxd7 Nxd7 30.Qg6+ Qg7 31.Qc6 Rxa1 32.Rxa1
White is still material down - a knight for two pawns - but his pieces are better coordinated and the white f and g pawns are more of a threat than the black b and c pawns.
32...Qf7 33.Ra7 Nxe5??
Larsen cracks under the pressure. The engines reckon 33...Nb8 keeps Black in the game, although they prefer White after 34.Qa4.
34.dxe5 Qe6 35.Qxe6+ Rxe6 36.Nf5
Black is only a pawn down materially, but in reality he is the equivalent of at least a piece down, according to the engines.
36...Rc6 37.Kf1 c3 38.bxc3 bxc3 39.Be3 Bc5
This loses the h6 pawn, but Black has virtually run out of moves, eg 39...c2 40.Bc1 Rc4 runs into 41.e6.
40.Bxc5 Rxc5 41.Ra1
Arguably simpler is 41.Nxh6+ followed by 42.Ra1, but Botvinnik decides Black has so many weaknesses he does not need to pick up the h6 pawn.
41...Nf8 42.Ke2 Ne6 43.g3 h5
At last Larsen feels compelled to move his h pawn off-prise, as Nigel Davies would put it, as otherwise he is in danger of going two pawns down.
44.Kd3 d4 45.Nd6
Not 45.Nxd4? Rd5 46.Ra4 Nxd4! 47.Rxd4?? Rxd4 48.Kxd4 c2 etc.
45...Rc7 46.Ne4 Kh7 47.f5 Nd8 48.Nf6+ Kh6 49.Nd5 Rb7 50.e6 Nc6 51.Ra6 Ne5+
Or 51...Ne7 52.Nxe7 Rxe7 53.f6 etc.
52.Kxd4 1-0
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