Botvinnik Sytem Part 2 by GM Magesh and GM Arun

Last week we saw the sidelines of the Botvinnik System and for this week we shall head into the mainlines of this system. This system a couple of years ago was considered very dangerous for Black and was played only by few Elite Players. But now this variation has once again risen thanks to the efforts of players like Shirov, Cheparinov. 

Since this system is extremely complicated it is not everybody's choice to play such positions. But there are players who really like to play such positions due to their tactical abilities and calculating skills. I personally developed a liking for this system because of its complex nature and I started liking playing complex positions. In our previous article and other few articles I saw the readers commenting these kind of systems are not meant for beginners. Yes it is true, but if you feel you can play any position without making piece blunders and if you have a liking for playing complex positions where there are 4-5 pieces hanging on the board you can seriously try out this kind of system. Maybe not against a master but against an intermediate player. 

Our first game is between Van Wely and Shirov. In this game it was white who came up with a new idea on the 23rd move but Black replied well. After intense struggle, it was a drawn game where White tried to press for a win and blundered. Otherwise it was a clean game from both sides.

Our next game is between Bacrot and Carlsen. In this game white came up with a new idea in a variation that was considered to be harmless for Black. Initially it looked dangerous, but Black reacted well and after a few moves it was White who was playing for a draw.