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Larsen 
 
Bent Larsen
Number of games in database: 2,529
Years covered: 1948 to 2008
Last FIDE rating: 2415
Highest rating achieved in database: 2625
Overall record: +1106 -564 =779 (61.1%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games
      Based on games in the database; may be incomplete.
      80 exhibition games, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 King's Indian (130) 
    E90 E62 E97 E94 E66
 Sicilian (129) 
    B21 B52 B80 B50 B40
 English (98) 
    A15 A13 A14 A10 A17
 English, 1 c4 c5 (91) 
    A30 A37 A36 A34 A38
 King's Indian Attack (73) 
    A07 A08
 English, 1 c4 e5 (69) 
    A20 A25 A29 A26 A21
With the Black pieces:
 Sicilian (319) 
    B30 B27 B39 B38 B56
 Queen's Pawn Game (84) 
    A40 E00 A46 A41 A45
 Caro-Kann (70) 
    B19 B16 B10 B14 B18
 Sicilian Dragon (69) 
    B39 B38 B35 B36 B34
 English (68) 
    A10 A15 A17 A14 A16
 Queen's Indian (66) 
    E16 E15 E12 E14 E18
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   Larsen vs Petrosian, 1966 1-0
   Fischer vs Larsen, 1970 0-1
   Larsen vs Geller, 1960 1-0
   Larsen vs A Matanovic, 1965 1-0
   Larsen vs Spassky, 1964 1-0
   Petrosian vs Larsen, 1966 0-1
   Taimanov vs Larsen, 1970 0-1
   Larsen vs Kavalek, 1970 1-0
   Larsen vs J Penrose, 1969 1-0
   Larsen vs Chandler, 1987 1-0

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   IGM Bent Larsen by 64rutor
   Veliki majstori saha 32 BENT LARSEN by Chessdreamer
   my favourite endgames by obrit
   Guess-the-Move Chess: 1960-1979 (Part 1) by Anatoly21
   "Larsen's Selected Games" by Bent Larsen by OBIT
   Larsen Plays the Larsen by willyfly
   Exchange sacs - 3 by obrit
   Nimzowitsch/Larsen Attack by Raymond Keene by willyfly
   Master of Attack--Best Games of Bent Larsen by Ron
   Garry Kasparov's On My Great Predecessors (4) by AdrianP
   Larsen's Opening P-QN3 by Andrew Soltis by willyfly

Search Sacrifice Explorer for Bent Larsen
Search Google for Bent Larsen


BENT LARSEN
(born Mar-04-1935, died Sep-09-2010) 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 he achieved the grandmaster title. He was Danish Champion on 6 occasions and won the Interzonal 3 times. In 1964, he won the Amsterdam Interzonal and advanced to the semifinals of the Candidates, where he lost to Mikhail Tal. He again won the Interzonal in 1967, and again made the Candidates' semifinals before losing to Boris Spassky, who went on to win the World Championship the next year.

For his tournament achievements during 1967, including first-place finishes in Palma and Havana, he later became the recipient of the inaugural Chess Oscar award. When the USSR vs. Rest of the World (1970) tournament took place, he played top board for the World, scoring 1.5-1.5 against World Champion Spassky.

In 1971 he made the Candidates' semifinals for the third consecutive time. His opponent was his constant rival, Robert James Fischer. The Fischer-Larsen Candidates Match (1971) met in Denver and, to the astonishment of most of the chess world, Larsen was shut out, losing all six match games. After that defeat his position in the world rankings gradually slipped back, although he did achieve another Interzonal victory at Biel in 1976 and a Candidates appearance at Rotterdam where he was defeated by Lajos Portisch. Larsen lived his last years in Buenos Aires with his wife, Laura, until his death in 2010. Today the opening move 1. b3, which he occasionally played, is called the Nimzo-Larsen attack after him.

Chessbase eulogy: http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp...

Wikipedia article: Bent Larsen


 page 1 of 102; games 1-25 of 2,529  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves Year Event/LocaleOpening
1. Larsen vs W Lauridsen 1-024 1948 Hostelbro/HerningC35 King's Gambit Accepted, Cunningham
2. Larsen vs Laursen 1-052 1950 Holstebro springC36 King's Gambit Accepted, Abbazia Defense
3. Larsen vs K Blom 1-025 1951 HerningC34 King's Gambit Accepted
4. M Barker vs Larsen  1-038 1951 World Junior ChampionshipC02 French, Advance
5. Larsen vs L Joyner 1-032 1951 Birmingham-jrC30 King's Gambit Declined
6. Larsen vs E Pedersen  ½-½46 1952 Aabybro mB54 Sicilian
7. Larsen vs P Ravn 1-035 1952 Herning, mesterklassC35 King's Gambit Accepted, Cunningham
8. E Pedersen vs Larsen  1-058 1952 Aabybro mC65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense
9. E Pedersen vs Larsen  0-140 1952 Aabybro mE48 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 d5
10. Larsen vs E Pedersen  0-159 1952 Aabybro mA13 English
11. H Enevoldsen vs Larsen 0-126 1953 Club MatchD70 Neo-Grunfeld Defense
12. Larsen vs A Nielsen 1-029 1953 Nordic ChampionshipA31 English, Symmetrical, Benoni Formation
13. Larsen vs F Olafsson 0-138 1953 Wch U20 final-AE94 King's Indian, Orthodox
14. Larsen vs J Enevoldsen 0-155 1953 Copenhagen mD85 Grunfeld
15. Larsen vs J Sherwin  ½-½45 1953 Wch U20 qual-BE68 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Variation, 8.e4
16. J Sherwin vs Larsen  1-032 1953 Wch U20 final-AE98 King's Indian, Orthodox, Taimanov, 9.Ne1
17. F Scafarelli vs Larsen  1-041 1953 Wch U20 qual-BA15 English
18. J Enevoldsen vs Larsen  ½-½37 1953 Copenhagen mC65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense
19. Larsen vs H Heikkila  1-040 1953 Wch U20 qual-BB31 Sicilian, Rossolimo Variation
20. Larsen vs Ivkov  ½-½24 1953 Wch U20 final-AB58 Sicilian
21. J Enevoldsen vs Larsen  ½-½35 1953 Copenhagen mC82 Ruy Lopez, Open
22. Larsen vs M Farre 1-048 1953 Wch U20 qual-BB52 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Rossolimo) Attack
23. C Poulsen vs Larsen 1-026 1953 DEN-chE10 Queen's Pawn Game
24. Larsen vs J Herbin 1-028 1953 Wch U20 qual-BC05 French, Tarrasch
25. Panno vs Larsen 1-083 1953 Wch U20 final-AE18 Queen's Indian, Old Main line, 7.Nc3
 page 1 of 102; games 1-25 of 2,529  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Larsen wins | Larsen loses  
 

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 27 OF 27 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Sep-28-11  pazzed paun: there is an interesting account of Larsen in that bio-book about Benko Larsen spent several months in the U.S. in the early 60's hanging out with Benko and Larry Evans. In the my great predecssor's series

Kasparov says Fischer knew more about Larsen's own games than Larsen did. strange that Larsen would always try to make some excuse about Fischer's talent-

Dec-16-11
Premium Chessgames Member
  FSR: Bent Larsen is still selling jewelry. http://www.google.com/webhp?rlz=1C1...
Jan-27-12  Penguincw: Quote of the Day

< "Many people don't understand the role of a second. Their most important function is to bring their player milk and cheese sandwiches." >

---Bent Larsen

:-\

Jan-28-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  whiteshark: < Quote of the Day

<When I was very young, I overprotected all the time, a la Nimzovitch My System. When I didn't know what to do, I would make an overprotection move, because at least I would have a principle: overprotect the e5 pawn or some such thing. However, I overprotect much less nowadays. >>

-- Larsen

Jan-28-12  Penguincw: Quote of the Day

< "When I was very young, I overprotected all the time, a la Nimzovitch My System. When I didn't know what to do, I would make an overprotection move, because at least I would have a principle: overprotect the e5 pawn or some such thing. However, I overprotect much less nowadays." >

---Bent Larsen

Feb-22-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  whiteshark: <Quote of the Day

<My wife is my second. >>

-- Larsen

So she understand about the most important function of a second...

Feb-22-12  Penguincw: Quote of the Day

< "My wife is my second." >

--- Larsen

So his wife brings him milk and cheese sandwiches?

Feb-22-12  AlphaMale: Why not? She get hotdog in return.
Feb-22-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  brankat: The Siamese twins strike again :-)
Feb-22-12  Penguincw: < AlphaMale: Why not? She get hotdog in return. >

Now, his wife is more like a maid.

< brankat: The Siamese twins strike again :-) >

There's a reason this happens.

Mar-04-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  brankat: Happy Birthday GM Larsen.
Mar-04-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  whiteshark: R.I.P. Bent.
Mar-04-12  Penguincw: R.I.P. Bent Larsen.

< Feb-22-12 Penguincw: ...

There's a reason this happens. >

That reason is now gone. :)

Mar-04-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: When Larsen died, in September 2010, I paid a modest tribute to him by posting on my forum the key moments of his games at Buenos Aires (Clarin tournament) 1979, which some call the best result of his career (+9 -0 =4). Feel free to visit if you are a fan of Larsen. The first post, on his round 1 game v. Andersson, is here: Fusilli chessforum.
Mar-04-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  parisattack: <Fusilli: >

Very nice; great work, contribution! (I actually had to go back one further page.)

Larsen was a terrific innovator and pumped new life into so many openings - Alekhine, Center Counter, Philidor, Old Indian, Bishop's - just to name a few. His early games with the Pelikan (now Sveshnikov) got me playing that line from which I garnered many points. His game against Olafsson 1958 is I believe the trunk Sveshnikov variation.

Mar-04-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: <parisattack> Glad you liked it! I wonder if the link has something to do with the browser... My browser (Explorer) takes me to the post on Larsen v. Andersson when I click on it.

One of the things I admire of Larsen is his fighting spirit. He was generally reluctant to make short draws, even against top players. I was actually trying to get a count on short draws by Larsen and compare it to Petrosian's, Tal's, and other contemporaries with careers of abouth the same length as Larsen's, but ran into a technical glitch (I posted a question on it at chessgames.com chessforum).

Mar-04-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: Okay, based on a quick and dirty calculation I hereby declare Bent Larsen the second elite player (since, roughly, World War II) as ranked by fighting spirit, behind Bobby Fischer. See the quick and dirty calculation here: Fusilli chessforum.
Mar-04-12  BlackSheep: Fischer was Larsen's second in the 1970 match-up "The World vs The U.S.S.R." that much is true .
Mar-04-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  brankat: <BlackSheep> You mean B.Fischer played on board #2 :-)
Aug-30-12  cunctatorg: Regarding Bent Larsen's "Notable Games", I firmly believe that his brilliant victory (with Black) over Anatoly Karpov at 1980 (Petrov Defense, Modern Variation) should be included!
Jan-09-13  Granny O Doul: I remember reading, in "The Complete Chess Addict", I believe, that Larsen's job was to read Tarzan stories to Fischer. It is plausible enough, as one of Fischer's best NYC friends owns to having had to read to him from a book called "Man is the Prey".
Jan-09-13  Granny O Doul: Let me add to that that I had just been reading on the previous page about Larsen's role at the '59 Candidates.
Jan-09-13  ozmikey: <Granny O Doul> Larsen mentions the Tarzan episode in his "article" on Fischer in his own book of best games. Apparently Fischer just wanted something read to him when he was sick and inhaling some unpleasant medicine.

The whole article is well worth reading, very funny in parts (as you would expect from Larsen). Here's a nice bit, about Fischer's early avoidance of alcohol:

"I don't know the reason for this hatred of alcohol, but it's one of those things about which Fischer's views became a bit more flexible as he got older...as was the case with communism, the Caro-Kann and the bishop pair."

Mar-04-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  talisman: happy birthday Bent. R.I.P.
Mar-13-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  Garech: In 117 games, Larsen scored 58% wins opening with 1.g3 - impressive stuff!

-Garech

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