Larsen had - he's still alive but doesn't play so much chess anymore - a fragile health. In fact, he took up ches while lying sick in bed as a child.

Topalov is more a steamroller type of player.

Larsen was famous for playing "crazy" openings that would end up in brilliancies - either winning or losing. He won games against everyone, including Fischer, Spassky, etc.

As to the 0-6 wipe-out against Fischer. The site that was chosen for the games was anti-Larsen. He was suffering because of the intense heat.

Timing: Larsen went head-on into Fischer in his prime. Topalov was lucky that Kasparov retired and that Anand was topping out. You have to be lucky too.

And - oh - finally: Do I feel like defending Larsen when trolls like <abcpokerboy> are denigrating him. Not really. Larsen's games speak for themselves. A fine player, a fine author of chess books and a fine, good-humoured man.

Now, knowing how 'grumpy' Bobby can get, how did they survive the almost 2 month long tournament?

Larsen told afterwards to his good friend Hein Donner that Fischer managed to drive him almost desperate by sitting alone in his room with a chess set, eating sparingly and sleeping little. Also, for instance, Bobby's persistence in playing a dubious variation of the Caro-Kann, although he lost game after game with it. Larsen told him again and again to play something else, but to no avail.

<Why did Bobby choose Bent?>

The number of grandmasters from the "West" was quite limited in 1959. There was some money available for a second, and rumor has it that Bobby asked Donner, who replied that it would be wiser to have him accompanied by his mother. The source of this information is Donner himself, so the usual caveat is applicable.

<Maybe this allowed Bobby to have an understanding of Bent no one else did? And later led to the 6-0 shutout in Denver?>

I don't know the exact year of that (my guess is mid-1980'es), but it is important to understand, that the possibility of becoming WCh always was a great motivating factor for Larsen. If he felt, that he was not the best, then he crumbled - and underperformed - and exterior factors got the blame..

As late as in 1986 I witnessed him saying, that if he could have 3 month to prepare, maybe Kasparov no longer would be WCh. I remember, that the audience silenced, when he said that - I became sad, that this great player could show such a lack of self-understanding. I also noted on another occasion, that he seemed out of touch with contemporary chess - as if he lived in the past - before computers became important for preparations.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos...

Selected Games of Chess, 1948-69
Bent Larsen

Also publihed as "Bent Larsen master of counter attack" first edition was printed in 1970 as far as I know. Descriptive notation, contains 50 games annotated by Larsen. I also own a spanish edition, almost impossible to find, printed in 1973 which includes an extra chapter with 12 more games. Larsen's notes are extremely instructive, no as dry as Karpov's , neither so stuffed with variations as Kasparov's, and he has a great sense of humor. Of particular interest is his phycological approach to some games. He has written several more books, but unfortunately they are out of print and har to find. You can see more reviews at amazon. My advise is: buy that book and enjoy it.