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Bent Larsen

BENT LARSEN (born Mar-04-1935, died Sep-09-2010, 75 years old) Denmark [what is this?] Jørgen Bent Larsen was born March 4, 1935 in Denmark. At age 19 he became an International Master, and two years later a grandmaster. He won the Danish Championship six times. He and world champion Mikhail Tal are the only players ever to win three Interzonals. Larsen tied for first with Smyslov, Tal, and Boris Spassky at the Amsterdam Interzonal (1964). He advanced to the Candidates' semifinals, where he lost to Tal. He again won the Sousse Interzonal (1967). This time he lost to Spassky in the Candidates' semifinals. For his tournament achievements during 1967, including first-place finishes in Havana (1967), Winnipeg (1967) (tied with Klaus Darga, just ahead of Spassky and Keres), Sousse Interzonal (1967) and Palma de Mallorca (1967), Larsen received the first Chess Oscar. He also won Monte Carlo (1968), Palma de Mallorca (1969), Lugano (1970), and the Canadian Open (1970). At USSR vs. Rest of the World (1970), he played top board for the World (ahead of Fischer), scoring 2.5 out of 4, including 1.5 out of 3 against World Champion Spassky. Larsen tied for second at the Palma de Mallorca Interzonal (1970), 3.5 points behind Robert James Fischer, and handed Fischer his only loss. In 1971, he made the Candidates' semifinals for the third consecutive time, facing Fischer, who had just whitewashed Mark Taimanov 6-0. To everyone's astonishment, Fischer repeated the feat against Larsen. After that defeat, Larsen's position in the world rankings gradually declined, but he remained a formidable tournament player. He won Teesside (1972) and Hastings (1972/73). He won the Biel Interzonal (1976) (his third Interzonal win!), but lost the Portisch - Larsen Candidates Quarterfinal (1977) by three points. He won Geneva (1977), Buenos Aires (Clarin) (1979) (by an astonishing three-point margin), and Buenos Aires (Clarin) (1980). He finished second to Garry Kasparov at the Niksic (1983) supertournament. He won Reykjavik (1985) and tied for first at the Nimzowitsch Memorial (1985). He again tied for first at Hastings (1986/87), his last major tournament win. In 1993 he won a match against Deep Blue (Computer) 2.5-1.5. Larsen lived his last years in Buenos Aires with his wife, Laura, until his death in 2010. The opening move 1. b3, which he played with great success, is named Larsen's Opening. The version with 1.Nf3 and 2.b3 is called the Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack after Aron Nimzowitsch and him. ChessBase eulogy: http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp... Wikipedia article: Bent Larsen Last updated: 2025-03-31 01:34:49

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page 1 of 106; games 1-25 of 2,631  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. B Larsen vs E Lauridsen 1-0 24 1948 Holstebro - Herning match C35 King's Gambit Accepted, Cunningham 2. B Larsen vs L Laursen 1-0 52 1950 Holstebro CC spring tournament C36 King's Gambit Accepted, Abbazia Defense 3. V Engel Christensen vs B Larsen   0-1 61 1951 Danish Championship Class 1 Group D E20 Nimzo-Indian 4. B Larsen vs B Nyren 0-1 18 1951 World Junior Championship B70 Sicilian, Dragon Variation 5. S Asker vs B Larsen   0-1 22 1951 World Junior Championship C12 French, McCutcheon 6. B Larsen vs E Selzer   1-0 33 1951 World Junior Championship B28 Sicilian, O'Kelly Variation 7. M Barker vs B Larsen 1-0 38 1951 World Junior Championship C02 French, Advance 8. B Larsen vs R C Cruz   ½-½ 43 1951 World Junior Championship B54 Sicilian 9. J Walsh vs B Larsen   0-1 32 1951 World Junior Championship C12 French, McCutcheon 10. B Larsen vs Ivkov   0-1 32 1951 World Junior Championship B59 Sicilian, Boleslavsky Variation, 7.Nb3 11. F Olafsson vs B Larsen   1-0 49 1951 World Junior Championship D51 Queen's Gambit Declined 12. B Larsen vs L Joyner 1-0 32 1951 World Junior Championship C30 King's Gambit Declined 13. B Coosemans vs B Larsen   0-1 24 1951 World Junior Championship E14 Queen's Indian 14. B Larsen vs A Eikrem   1-0 27 1951 World Junior Championship B92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation 15. B Larsen vs K Blom 1-0 25 1951 Aalborg - Aarhus match C34 King's Gambit Accepted 16. B Larsen vs A Hammartang   1-0 37 1951 Nordic Juniors, Trondheim 1951/52 A20 English 17. B Larsen vs G Lindgard   1-0 41 1952 Nordic Juniors, Trondheim 1951/52 A20 English 18. B Larsen vs P Ofstad 1-0 17 1952 Nordic Juniors, Trondheim 1951/52 A20 English 19. E Pedersen vs B Larsen   0-1 40 1952 Larsen - Pedersen E48 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 d5 20. B Larsen vs E Pedersen   0-1 59 1952 Larsen - Pedersen A13 English 21. E Pedersen vs B Larsen 1-0 58 1952 Larsen - Pedersen C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 22. B Larsen vs E Pedersen   ½-½ 46 1952 Larsen - Pedersen B54 Sicilian 23. B Larsen vs P Ravn 1-0 35 1952 Danish Championship Masters C35 King's Gambit Accepted, Cunningham 24. T Store vs B Larsen   0-1 24 1952 Norway - Denmark E00 Queen's Pawn Game 25. B Larsen vs E Madsen ½-½ 47 1952 Norway - Denmark B56 Sicilian  page 1 of 106; games 1-25 of 2,631

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< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 6 OF 35 ·  Later Kibitzing> May-16-05    fred lennox: Larson's quote is ammusing but i don't agree with it. I consider the most important function is to bring the player beer and bratwurst. Jun-09-05    mynameisrandy: Wait a minute, wait a minute. First we discover that Larsen believes that the second is mainly for bringing you sandwiches and now we find out that his wife is his second? Cult of domesticity! Jun-09-05    chancho: That picture of Larsen makes him look nerdy. Jun-09-05    aw1988: Um, he's a chess player. He's quite good looking actually. Jun-16-05    Heavy Metal Thunder: Those glasses are indeed nerdy. Jun-20-05    vampiero: what exactly does ZOOM 001 talk about, which openings. i like the grunfeld so maybe i should get it. and is there a ZOOM 002. lol. Aug-08-05    WTHarvey: Here are some crucial positions from Bent's games: http://www.wtharvey.com/lars.html Aug-11-05    Blugar: Beware of Larsen games, that are not Bent Larsen games in this collection!! Oct-11-05    offramp: What is the Jorgen part of his name here http://webpages.charter.net/stormki... Oct-12-05    Benzol: I thought his name was Bent Jorgen Larsen. Oct-17-05    henderson10: I'm looking for other players who could be considered similar in style to Larsen. One name I've seen mentioned is Ljobojevic--does anyone have any other suggestions? Oct-17-05    AdrianP: <Henderson10> Tangential to your query, but it put me in mind of Timman, in Power Chess with Pieces referring to Huebner's comments on Smyslov and Ljubojevic. Apparently, Huebner said something like, Smyslov who is considered to be a classical positional player, was really just an attacking player and Ljubojevic, who is considered to be an out-and-out attacking player, is really a positional player. This struck me as Huebner being idiosyncatic just for the sake of it, like when in his monograph on Fischer, he concludes that Fischer's weakness was accurate, concrete calculation. Larsen had a very singular style, so far as my impression goes, which was characterised by (i) aggression; (ii) an offbeat opening repertoire; and (iii) pushing wing-pawns. Comparable modern players might be Morozevich and, perhaps, Ivanchuk. Oct-17-05    henderson10: I've always thought of Larsen as more of a counterattacker, one who preferred a sharp tactical game as opposed to a positional one. I'm basically trying to build an opening repertoire (especially playing White) suitable for that style, but as you said Larsen's openings are very unusual. Oct-27-05    who: I never noticed till now, but according to our database Larsen never even drew Fischer with the white pieces. Oct-27-05    Larsker: <I'm looking for other players who could be considered similar in style to Larsen.> Larsen himself has said that Petrosian was the top player whose style resembled his own the most. Oct-27-05    keypusher: <Larsen had a very singular style, so far as my impression goes, which was characterised by (i) aggression; (ii) an offbeat opening repertoire; and (iii) pushing wing-pawns. Comparable modern players might be Morozevich and, perhaps, Ivanchuk.> <henderson10> I think AdrianP sums it up pretty well. Or you could just say he was an aggressive positional player. It's always impressed me how Larsen could get wins from seemingly quiet, unpromising openings, by just <playing>. Here's an example Kasparov writes up in OMGP IV: Larsen vs Geller, 1960 This was the decisive game in a candidates match: Larsen vs Portisch, 1968 He seemed to demonstrate that, even at the super-GM level, it didn't matter so much whether your opening was "aggressive" or "quiet"; what mattered was how you played the game. I was reminded of this watching Topalov in the San Luis tournament, especially this game: Topalov vs Kasimdzhanov, 2005 Oct-27-05    suenteus po 147: <Larkser> That would explain why I enjoy a majority of Larsen's games when I see or review them. Oct-31-05    Poulsen: I haven't read Kasparov's description of Larsen in OMGP IV. Can anyone enlighten me on the main points? Nov-01-05    larsenfan: I also enjoy very much Larsen games -so my nickmane- and I have recently got a copy of Bent Larsen master of counter attack, in english, also I had it in danish - let me aclare than I am spaniard and do not konw danish, just to point out how fond of this book I am- I also recommend his book on Baguio match and San Antonio 72 tournament. Probably you know there is a web page devoted to him. In my opinion one of most imaginitave players ever. Nov-02-05    henderson10: <Larsker, Keypusher, et al.> Thanks much--appreciate the help. Nov-02-05    henderson10: <Larsker> Isn't that (re: Petrosian) because they were both of what I'll call the Niemzowitsch school? I always thought of them as being representative of the two branches of that style, with Larsen looking for openings to counterattack and Petrosian playing crushing positional games. Nov-02-05    Hesam7: @ henderson10 From an interview with Larsen: <Q. Tell me, who of modern chess players has a style of playing that is similar to yours? L. It’s a difficult question. Certainly, I don’t keep up with modern chess, but I don’t see a congenial candidate. Q. Probably, any chess player of your generation had this style. L. Maybe it was Petrosian. We had the same basis: “My System,” by Nimzovitch. We are so called foster-brothers. However, we had different feelings of a position – - and of danger. On the one hand, Petrosian hasn’t lost so many games as I, but, on the other hand, he hasn’t won so many of them. Q. Have you ever wanted to play like some other chess player? L. Certainly, I have. When I was young, Tal was my idol! Fortunately, I have never tried to play in his style – I just liked to watch him playing. Tal was a fearless fighter. Nobody could successfully accomplish so many incorrect maneuvers! He simply smashed his opponents… Q. Did you really want to play “correct” chess, to make only correct evaluations? L. Not so fast, mister! The point is that chess doesn’t have a strict criterion of correctness – chess is a multiform game!> the full interview: http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail... Nov-03-05    you vs yourself: <Tal was idol! Fortunately, I have never tried to play his style> Is there anyone who successfully replicated Tal's style? Tal occupies a place in chess history that is very unique and unreachable in today's computer influenced theory. Nov-03-05    henderson10: <Hesam> Thanks much--en route to check out the rest of the interview right now. <AdrianP> Sorry for the much-delayed response, but I'm rapidly becoming a fan of Ivanchuk's play. Not to slight Moro, who I also enjoy, but he reminds more of a pure attacking player. Thanks again to all. Nov-03-05    BishopofBlunder: I had a Bent Larsen once. But I went to the doctor and got it all straightened out. Jump to page #    (enter # from 1 to 35) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 6 OF 35 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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