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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 2,633  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Larsen vs E Lauridsen 1-0 24 1948 Holstebro - Herning match C35 King's Gambit Accepted, Cunningham 2. Larsen vs L Laursen 1-0 52 1950 Holstebro CC spring tournament C36 King's Gambit Accepted, Abbazia Defense 3. V Engel Christensen vs Larsen   0-1 61 1951 Danish Championship Class 1 Group D E20 Nimzo-Indian 4. Larsen vs B Nyren 0-1 18 1951 World Junior Championship B70 Sicilian, Dragon Variation 5. S Asker vs Larsen   0-1 22 1951 World Junior Championship C12 French, McCutcheon 6. Larsen vs E Selzer   1-0 33 1951 World Junior Championship B28 Sicilian, O'Kelly Variation 7. M Barker vs Larsen 1-0 38 1951 World Junior Championship C02 French, Advance 8. Larsen vs R C Cruz   ½-½ 43 1951 World Junior Championship B54 Sicilian 9. J Walsh vs Larsen   0-1 32 1951 World Junior Championship C12 French, McCutcheon 10. Larsen vs Ivkov   0-1 32 1951 World Junior Championship B59 Sicilian, Boleslavsky Variation, 7.Nb3 11. F Olafsson vs Larsen   1-0 49 1951 World Junior Championship D51 Queen's Gambit Declined 12. Larsen vs L Joyner 1-0 32 1951 World Junior Championship C30 King's Gambit Declined 13. B Coosemans vs Larsen   0-1 24 1951 World Junior Championship E14 Queen's Indian 14. Larsen vs A Eikrem   1-0 27 1951 World Junior Championship B92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation 15. Larsen vs K Blom 1-0 25 1951 Aalborg - Aarhus match C34 King's Gambit Accepted 16. Larsen vs A Hammartang   1-0 37 1951 Nordic Juniors, Trondheim 1951/52 A20 English 17. Larsen vs P Ofstad 1-0 17 1952 Nordic Juniors, Trondheim 1951/52 A20 English 18. Larsen vs G Lindgard   1-0 41 1952 Nordic Juniors, Trondheim 1951/52 A20 English 19. E Pedersen vs Larsen   0-1 40 1952 Larsen - Pedersen E48 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 d5 20. Larsen vs E Pedersen   0-1 59 1952 Larsen - Pedersen A13 English 21. E Pedersen vs Larsen 1-0 58 1952 Larsen - Pedersen C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 22. Larsen vs E Pedersen   ½-½ 46 1952 Larsen - Pedersen B54 Sicilian 23. Larsen vs P Ravn 1-0 35 1952 Danish Championship Masters C35 King's Gambit Accepted, Cunningham 24. T Store vs Larsen   0-1 24 1952 Norway - Denmark E00 Queen's Pawn Game 25. Larsen vs E Madsen ½-½ 47 1952 Norway - Denmark B56 Sicilian  page 1 of 106; games 1-25 of 2,633

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< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 21 OF 35 ·  Later Kibitzing> Sep-12-10    AgentRgent: The world will never know anyone quite like him. Absolutely an original. Rest in Peace Sep-12-10    tud: Very gutsy player. The closest style I can think of is Morozevich. Unfortunately, his openings would never make him a world champion. Sep-12-10    JuliusCaesar: Yes, tud, agreed, Morozevich does seem to have a similar devil-may-care attitude to the game as Larsen did. I always thought Larsen shared a lot in common in with Bronstein: a strong innovative spirit and perhaps a greater love of the creative struggle than of the actual result of the game. Other players with this 'affliction' are Ljubojevic and Velimirovic and, more recently, Nakamura. It makes for great beauty, excitement and popularity ... but not the world title. Sep-12-10    theodor: dear Bent, we'll surely meet sooner or later, and I hope you'll concede a game, without a rook, of course! Sep-12-10    Honza Cervenka: Oh, it is really very sad news! Another great chess legend has passed away.... RIP Grand Master! Sep-13-10    LIFE Master AJ: Perhaps one of the saddest pieces of news I had gotten in the last 5-10 years. I met him while I was stationed in Iceland, he would occasionally stop there ... Nice guy, great chess player! Another chess legend - gone. RIP GM Larsen, I have always enjoyed your games. - LM A.J. Goldsby I Sep-13-10    profK: As much as Fischer was claimed to halt the russian juggernaut in the 60s and 70s, one must not forget Gligoric, Portish and the mighty mighty Bent who was a truly great tounament player... You have secured a well deserved spot in Valhalla, and your games will live on !!! Sep-13-10    HeMateMe: Have the russian players commented much on Larsen? I know there are many interviews where Fischer is discussed. Are there any articles around with their thoughts on Larsen, if any? He must have been a pain in the neck of the USSR juggernaut in the late 60s, but not such a great match player. Sep-13-10    ossipossi: great artist of chess Sep-13-10    kingscrusher: Hi all I wonder if the "Notable games" should highlight one of the three games in the 1970 match where Larsen beat Spassky. I hate to think that the most memorable larsen game is the 1.b3 disaster game. Here is a relevant page from my old barnet site about the three games played on Board 1 above Fischer: http://www.gtryfon.demon.co.uk/bcc/... Sep-13-10    Troller: <HeMateMe: Have the russian players commented much on Larsen?> Karpov was asked about his impression of Fischer once, and he replied something like "I met him, yes", after which he turned instead to Larsen, whom he obviously held in high esteem. The logician Botvinnik never had much respect for the unorthodox Larsen, and this has undoubtedly influenced the Russian perception of him. But Tal would say "Try and play a match against Larsen" in response to such opinions that Larsen was not a world-class player. Larsen was in fact the first non-Soviet to beat a Soviet player in a Candidates match, Geller being the victim in playoff for 3rd place. Sep-13-10    dinekum: Just found out of Larsen's demise. Another of the greats has left us. His games will live on forever. Sep-13-10    jackpawn: I just heard the news. I'm sad. I came into chess about at the time Larsen was at his peak. It was obvious to me, even then, that he would never be world champion, but I loved his original style. RIP Grandmaster Larsen. One of the giants . . . Sep-13-10    paulalbert: I just returned from vacation and learned of GM Larsen's death. Another great loss to the chess community of a legendary GM! He was a remarkable and especially creative and innovative player. His book Larsen's 100 Selected Games is especially worthy of study. I had the pleasure of meeting Bent Larsen and his wife during the Watson Farley Williams Tournament in NY in 1990,, which he won. This tournament was played in the WFW offices in NY and the only spectators were a few invited guests, of whom I was one of the privileged few, who could sit right next to the boards during the games and listen to and participate with the players in the post game analysis. Needless to say a very instructive experience with all the GMs, but Bent Larsen's creative and provocative ideas were sometimes astounding even to the other GMs. Requiescat in Pace Paul Albert Sep-13-10    CapablancaFan122: I haven't visited Chessgames for a while, nor have I read anything chess related in the last weeks. In fact, what prompted me to come here was seeing two consecutive GOTDs by Larsen. Normally such instances occur only when a player dies. I am sincerely sorry to have found out that Mr. Larsen passed away. He was a great player and the future generations will have his games to remember him. May he rest in peace. Sep-14-10    LIFE Master AJ: <paulalbert> Thanks for the story. This is my favorite game (for B.L.); Larsen vs Geller, 1960; Geller was a giant ... and Larsen beat him brilliantly. At one time, there were only a few "westerners" that the Soviets were really afraid of. (Feared or truly respected.) Its a short list: Fine, Reshevsky, Gligoric, Najdorf. Later, LARSEN, Fischer, and maybe Mecking. Sep-14-10    JuliusCaesar: Life Master AJ, you can add Portisch to that list, although, like Gligoric, he wasn't a 'westerner' ... just a non-Soviet. I think they probably kept an eye on Browne and Christiansen, too, in the early to mid-70s to see if the US would spawn any more 'Fischers'. And let's not forget Timman, the only 'western' player who regularly gave Karpov a run for his money in the late 70s and early 80s. Sep-14-10    Anubis33: Another strong non-Soviet GM worthy of mention was the Icelandic GM Fridric Olafsson. The period around 1960, he was consistently ranked in the top 10-20 players in the world. He and Larsen split their career games, 15-15. As we all know Larsen played inventively, which occasionally can backfire spectacularly. His games were never dull, win or lose. Here he blows a tire in 23 moves against Olafsson: Larsen vs F Olafsson, 1959 Sep-14-10    Rolfo: Peace, old master. Games live forever.. Anyone who knows if Larsen ever commented on present young players, for example on Carlsen? Sep-14-10    echever7: <Troller: <HeMateMe: Have the russian players commented much on Larsen?> > Yes, in fact Russians always higly praised Larsen as a player. They remember how Larsen defeated Petrosian (at that time World Champion) twice in Santa Monica (I´m not sure, in 1965-66). Despite some perceptions, chess atmosphere in Russia (USSR better) was diverse and open. I mean public opinion. Obviously they believed in Soviet superiority and regarded a chess as one of ideological war fronts. But they're aware of what's good in the west as well, and Larsen along with Fischer were among them. Sep-14-10    Troller: <Roflo> Oh yes, plenty. Larsen was writing articles for every issue of "Skakbladet" for the last five years or so. Some of those featured recent games where he would comment on Topalov, Carlsen, Anand etc. Issues of Skakbladet can be found online here: http://www.dsu.dk/?id=155 You'll have to browse around to find an article where Carlsen is mentioned, though. No easy method. I take it you read Danish? Sep-14-10    Troller: That would be <Rolfo> of course. ROFL... Actually in some issues you will also find PH Nielsen commenting on all of Anand's WC games with his inside knowledge. That was a pretty good link you made me find. Sep-14-10    Troller: Diggin' up more gold: Issue #2 of 2008 has Larsen writing a memorial about Fischer. It is in his usual anecdotal style, sometimes a bit self-referential; so if you find some of his articles difficult to understand, that might simply be his style, not the language. In issue #6 2008 Larsen comments on Kramnik vs Carlsen, 2008 Sep-14-10    Rolfo: Thank you so much Troller :) Sep-14-10    malthrope: Caissa has taken a true gentleman away from us. R.I.P. my old friend... ♙♙♙♙♖♘♗♕♔♗♘♖♙♙♙♙ I first met Bent at the Piatigorsky Cup in 1966. Then right after that he came up for a visit to perform a special 'Clock Simul' and 'Simul Exhibition' (which also featured a wonderful lecture where he showed us just one of his brilliant victories against Petrosian [ Larsen vs Petrosian, 1966 ]). All this took place at the Mechanics' Institute Chess Club in San Francisco on August 19th & 20th. Then in later years, I was to meet him once again at the "Lone Pine Chess Tournaments" in 1978 (which he won!) and 1979 (where he he found himself in a 6-way tie for 5th-10th place). Hence, I've posted a personal tribute with many recollections on my ~chessforum~ in a triple-post (now includes a follow-up posted) which talks about my first-hand experiences with the Great Dane! :XD It starts off with < First and foremost this is a true story about the wonderful times spent with Grandmaster Bent Larsen > and proceeds from there with many more anecdotes and stories (posted Sep-13-10). Everyone is welcome to drop bye and take a look. :) Sincerely, - Mal Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 35) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 21 OF 35 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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