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Christiansen 
Photo copyright © 2007, courtesy of Pittsburgh Chess Club.  
Larry Christiansen
Number of games in database: 1,440
Years covered: 1962 to 2009
Current FIDE rating: 2588
Overall record: +549 -283 =572 (59.5%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games
      Based on games in the database; may be incomplete.
      36 exhibition games, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 King's Indian (69) 
    E81 E77 E83 E76 E92
 Sicilian (69) 
    B23 B30 B40 B31 B22
 Queen's Indian (50) 
    E12 E15 E17 E14 E16
 English, 1 c4 e5 (47) 
    A29 A28 A21 A27 A22
 English (47) 
    A16 A18 A10 A13 A19
 English, 1 c4 c5 (41) 
    A30 A33 A34 A35 A37
With the Black pieces:
 Sicilian (137) 
    B30 B22 B42 B32 B40
 Queen's Pawn Game (64) 
    A46 A41 E00 D01 A45
 Caro-Kann (50) 
    B17 B14 B10 B13 B19
 Queen's Indian (43) 
    E15 E12 E17 E16 E14
 Nimzo Indian (40) 
    E32 E21 E20 E38 E48
 Bogo Indian (39) 
    E11
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   Christiansen vs Karpov, 1993 1-0
   Christiansen vs Seirawan, 1978 1-0
   Christiansen vs Wojtkiewicz, 2006 1-0
   J L Burden vs Christiansen, 1992 0-1
   Beliavsky vs Christiansen, 1987 1/2-1/2
   D Botto vs Christiansen, 1975 0-1
   Christiansen vs L C Gilden, 1976 1-0
   Christiansen vs DeFirmian, 1985 1-0
   Christiansen vs M Zivanic, 2008 1-0
   Quinteros vs Christiansen, 1981 0-1

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   Storming The Barricades by jakaiden
   Wijk aan Zee 1977 B by EmperorAtahualpa
   Pan-Pacific GM Tournament, San Francisco 1991 by wanabe2000
   Linares 1981 by suenteus po 147
   Plaza International Chess Tt 1988 by Benzol
   good coach by chessprocom
   Rockin the ramparts by mobiegobie

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LARRY CHRISTIANSEN
(born Jun-27-1956) United States of America

[what is this?]
Larry Mark Christiansen was born in Riverside, California on June 27, 1956. Christiansen has gained a reputation as a very strong attacking player. He is an eleven time member of the United States Olympiad team, and he earned his Grandmaster title in 1977 after winning at Torremolinos in that same year.

He is a three time winner of The United States Championship, and also has three United States Open crowns. His international wins include, 1st place at Linares 1979, and 1981 with Anatoli Karpov. Some other 1st place finishes came at, Cologne 1988, Wiesbaden 1994, Reykjavik 1998, and Essen 1999.

Christiansen has authored several chess books, and was a frequent competitor at the Bundesliga in Germany.


 page 1 of 58; games 1-25 of 1,440  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves Year Event/LocaleOpening
1. K Husak vs Christiansen ½-½35 1962 EU-ch M corrC92 Ruy Lopez, Closed
2. R Flacco vs Christiansen  0-137 1972 Lone PineA22 English
3. G Treppner vs Christiansen  0-130 1972 Schilde,jrA07 King's Indian Attack
4. Christiansen vs Browne  ½-½50 1972 Lone PineA37 English, Symmetrical
5. Christiansen vs T Hay  0-141 1972 Lone PineA05 Reti Opening
6. Christiansen vs D Krystall 1-020 1972 Pacific Southwest OpA04 Reti Opening
7. Martinovsky vs Christiansen  1-064 1972 Lone PineA43 Old Benoni
8. Christiansen vs M A Costa  1-049 1972 Lone PineA05 Reti Opening
9. L C Gilden vs Christiansen  0-151 1972 Lone PineB35 Sicilian, Accelerated Fianchetto, Modern Variation with Bc4
10. W Martz vs Christiansen  ½-½29 1972 Lone PineA22 English
11. J Peterson vs Christiansen  0-137 1973 USA-ch jrB22 Sicilian, Alapin
12. Christiansen vs J Frankle  1-041 1973 USA-ch jrB31 Sicilian, Rossolimo Variation
13. Christiansen vs C Barnes  1-037 1973 USA-ch jrB27 Sicilian
14. R Gross vs Christiansen 0-112 1973 Lone PineA53 Old Indian
15. Beliavsky vs Christiansen  1-042 1973 Wch U20 prel-AB34 Sicilian, Accelerated Fianchetto
16. D A Berry vs Christiansen  0-125 1973 USA-ch jrE62 King's Indian, Fianchetto
17. Christiansen vs Beliavsky  0-134 1973 Teesside (England)A30 English, Symmetrical
18. Christiansen vs J Jacobs 1-027 1974 Lone PineA13 English
19. Casten vs Christiansen  1-036 1974 New YorkA02 Bird's Opening
20. A Watson vs Christiansen 0-123 1974 Canadian opE15 Queen's Indian
21. Christiansen vs J S Neto  ½-½41 1975 Buenos Aires jrB85 Sicilian, Scheveningen, Classical
22. Tosan Felipe vs Christiansen 0-120 1975 Buenos AiresB24 Sicilian, Closed
23. Christiansen vs C Madsen 1-017 1975 Showboat opC15 French, Winawer
24. D Botto vs Christiansen 0-122 1975 Buenos Aires jrB61 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer, Larsen Variation, 7.Qd2
25. J Villarreal vs Christiansen  1-049 1975 Buenos AiresB23 Sicilian, Closed
 page 1 of 58; games 1-25 of 1,440  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Christiansen wins | Christiansen loses  
 

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 5 OF 5 ·  Later Kibitzing >
Apr-03-06   blingice: Speaking of Mr. Christiansen's teaching skills/instruction, get Chessmaster 10th Edition. It has so many teaching features that you really shouldn't have to buy a book again. It provides puzzles of all types, game analyis, a 500,000+ game database, Christiansen's instruction regarding too many things to list here, and Joshua Waitzkin's instruction regarding too many things to list here. It's only 20 bucks, and you get a good chess engine with it. Definetely the best thing you can buy if you want to learn chess by instruction.
May-18-06   zerowley: Can anyone recommend a few d4/c4 openings to look into?

I consider myself an attacking player (although I really haven't played enough to find out what my "style" is). I was taught the "e4 leads to a more tactical game, while d4 leads to a more positional one" so I always opened with e4 as white (I usually meet d4 with the KID as black, although my lack of success with it which I assume is due to its complexity and my lack of experience, has turned me off of it).

When I came across Christiansen and found out many consider him to be one of the world's best attacking players I was baffled by his opening repertoire. I'm looking to broaden my horizons and hopefully find out what my "style" is and thought getting some d4/c4 openings to try out would help.

Any recommendations, opinions, or similar experiences would be great. Thanks.

May-18-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  Open Defence: <zerowley> in my humble opinion, the best way is to study games of attacking players...instead of concentrating on a few opening systems... Tal for example was renowned for attacking and played many types of openings.. the English Opening 1c4 though known for its quiet positional type play can quickly become tactical if Black doesnt find the right moves or White goes astray.. hence study master games.. try to spot the combinations they do.. Alekhine's games are a great start.. some of his tactics erupt from a seemingly quiet position .. hope I have been of help
May-19-06   zerowley: <Open Defence> Thanks.

Also, sorry if this was a bit off-topic. I didn't know where to put it and figured that Christiansen's page was the most relevent. Would the Kibitzer's Cafe have been better?

Aug-04-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  whiskeyrebel: I brought "Rocking the ramparts" by Larry home from the library a few days ago and can't put it down. It's a 3 ring circus of great attacking games with his comments and insights. Most of the motifs are familiar but others are new to me. I'm a positional player by nature...but I read all the attacking manuals I can find to try to improve in that area. The way he explains how deep he would calculate (or follow his instincts) in certain positions and what candidate moves he would choose dovetails nicely with other aggressive works I've studied.
Aug-04-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  Caissanist: <zerorowley> - try Queen's Pawn Game (D00) and English (A10).
Jan-21-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  Strongest Force: Is larry still living on the internet? He had to be on icc 10 hours a day!
Jan-21-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  JointheArmy: Larry loves to stay home.
Mar-22-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  ketchuplover: Me too!
Jun-27-08   BIDMONFA: Larry Christiansen

CHRISTIANSEN, Larry
http://www.bidmonfa.com/christianse...
_

Jun-27-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Travis Bickle: GM Christiansen looks like either he is auditioning for the rock band KISS or is going to be on the cover of Elle magazine with all that makeup on. ; P
Jun-27-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Marmot PFL: No recent games it seems. Does LC only play blitz these days?
Jun-27-08   RookFile: I know that he played US Chess League games last year for Boston.
Jun-27-08   Akuni: <hey WMD, why does the right-wing always think to be a true-blooded American" you have to be pro-war?>

I think this belief (Which is certainly not held by every member of the self-labelled right, so stereotyping is going on on both sides right now) is rooted in the idea that people who are against the war are also not supporting the troops.

Contradictory considering that many people agree that the best way to support the troops would be to bring them home.

Anyway, now that i've put my two cents in, how is this relevant?

Jun-27-08   najdorfman: RookFile: Having seen his wife Natasha playing in Foxwoods and at the 2008 National Open, without Larry with her, I wondered about whether he had retired from over the board chess. Basically Larry told me that he was tired of staying in the same hotels, visiting the same cities, playing in essentially the same tournament(s) over and over again. Plus, being a highly ethical player, he's tired of the cheaters and buyers-and-sellers of chess games getting away with their "business". The organizers and top players know what's going on. Very little has been done to punish the cheaters and the burden of proof is substantial. The cost of litigation is enormous and one successful lawsuit could put the Continental Chess Assn. out of business. Goichburg doesn't want to act like a cop and he's not going to risk his livelihood because of a difficult to prove "allegation" of cheating. The best he and others can do is to avoid certain late round pairings between certain players with "reputations" for funny business. Larry has decided that he's simply had enough. One of the fundamental problems in the chess world is that there is too much talent chasing after too little prize money....
Jun-27-08   Interbond: If he is tired of playing in the USA maybe he should take a tour in Europe. I think europeans would be very happy to see him play here again.
Aug-05-08   myschkin: . . .

"Santa Christiansen"

http://tinyurl.com/5datgh

for the coffee enthusiasts ^^
http://tinyurl.com/5zwqva

Dec-16-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  blacksburg: his picture here reminds me of the rock monster from the neverending story.
Dec-16-08   hackmate: lol @ rock monster!
Mar-05-09   Maynard5: The following story is posted here because it was the first time that GM Larry Christiansen became widely-known to the chess world. Reporter Steve Imitt of the New York Star compiled a history of the National High School championship from 1969 to the present day. The outlines of Imitt’s story about the 1971 championship follow here, along with some notes about the other players.

In May 1971, 537 students from 26 states competed in the 3rd annual National High School Championship, held at the McAlpine Hotel in New York City.

The 1969 and 1970 National High School Championships had both featured a remarkable run for the top spot by an unknown local player. This year that tradition was upheld by Peter Radomskyj, from Irvington, NJ. After defeating the top-rated player in Round 6 he was 6-0. Just as in the past two years, the end of the Cinderella story came in Round 7, this time when Radomskyj was outplayed by fifth-ranked Larry Christiansen, from Riverside, CA. Now a point ahead of the field, Larry drew with 3rd-ranked Robert Gruchacz (2122), to clinch the championship with 7.5 points.

Four players scored 7-1, finishing 2nd-5th: Howard Gee, Bronx, NY; Danny Kopec, Queens, NY; Jon Jacobs, New York, NY and Robert Gruchacz, Jersey City, NJ.

Note: IM Danny Kopec is now a professor of computer science at Brooklyn College, with many published papers. He has a collection of games on this website. The link to his website is: www.sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~kopec/ IM Robert Gruchacz went into commodities trading, but died in 2006, aged only 52. He also has a game collection here.

Several posts on another website mentioned that none other than Robert J. Fischer dropped by the tournament on the third day. Apparently, he walked past the elevated section where the leading players were battling it out, and watched the last-round battle between Christiansen and Gruchacz. According to those other posts, he left after being recognized.

Meanwhile, this was an impressive triumph for Larry Christiansen, who has gone on to distinguish himself as an International Grandmaster.

Mar-05-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Davolni: I enjoy his GAME OF THE DAY comentaries in ICC.

Great stuff!!!!

Jun-27-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  wordfunph: I got a book of Larry's Rocking the Ramparts - A Guide to Attacking Chess.

Happy Birthday GM Christiansen!

Jun-27-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  brankat: Happy Birthday Mr.Christiansen!
Jun-27-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  schroedingers cat: Happy Birthday GM Christiansen!
(Can CG.com change his profile pic. with another pic. where he looks more...well normal?)
Jun-27-09   WhiteRook48: Happy birthday!
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