Jørgen Bent Larsen
(born March 4, 1935,
Thisted
) is a
Danish
chess
Grandmaster
. He has been a six-time
Danish champion
, and a
Candidate
for the
World Chess Championship
on four occasions: 1965, 1968, 1971, and 1977. He won three
Interzonal
tournaments:
Amsterdam
1964,
Sousse
1967, and
Biel
1976. Larsen won several dozen major international tournaments during his career, and was awarded the first
Chess Oscar
in 1967.
Larsen is considered to be the strongest chess player ever born in Denmark, and strongest in
Scandinavia
at least until the emergence of
Magnus Carlsen
. Since the early 1970s, he has lived for part of the year in
Las Palmas
and in Buenos Aires, with his Argentinian-born wife.
Career
Early life
Larsen represented Denmark twice in the
World Junior Championship
, in 1951 at
Birmingham
(placing fifth), and 1953 at
Copenhagen
(placing eighth). He never graduated in
Civil Engineering
, but decided to become a chess professional. He became an
International Master
at the age of 19 in 1954, from his bronze-medal performance on board one at the
Amsterdam Olympiad
. He won his first of six Danish Championships in 1954, and repeated in 1955, 1956, 1959, 1963, and 1964.
Larsen defeated
Friðrik Olafsson
in an exhibition match at
Oslo
1955 by 4.5-3.5. He won at
Copenhagen
1956 with 8/9.
Young Grandmaster
Larsen became an
International Grandmaster
in 1956 with his gold-medal performance on board one at the
Moscow
Olympiad. He tied for 1st-2nd places at
Hastings
1956-57 on 6.5/9 with
Svetozar Gligoric
. At
Dallas
1957, he scored 7.5/14 for a shared 3rd-4th place; the winners were Gligoric and
Samuel Reshevsky
.
At the 1957
Wageningen
Zonal, he tied for 3rd-4th places, along with
Jan Hein Donner
, with 12.5/17; there were only three qualifying berths, so the two players had to dispute a playoff match. Larsen won by 3-1 over Donner at
The Hague
1958 to qualify for his first
Interzonal
, at
Portoro?
1958. Larsen could score only 8.5/20 for 16th place, and was not close to qualifying. But he scored his first major individual international success by winning
Mar del Plata
1958 with 12/15, ahead of
William Lombardy
,
Erich Eliskases
,
Oscar Panno
, and
Herman Pilnik
.
Larsen went into a slump beginning with the 1958
Interzonal
. He tied 5th-6th in a powerful field at
Zurich
1959 with 9.5/15, behind winner
Mikhail Tal
, Gligoric,
Paul Keres
, and
Bobby Fischer
. But Larsen placed only 4th in a middle-range field at the 1960
Berg en Dal
Zonal 1960 with 5.5/9, and did not advance to the Interzonal. He recovered by sharing 1st-2nd places at
Beverwijk
1961 on 7.5/9 with
Borislav Ivkov
. At
Zurich
1961, he tied for 6th-7th places with 6/11, as Keres won ahead of
Tigran Petrosian
. At
Moscow
1962, he shared 7th-11th places with 7.5/15 (
Yuri Averbakh
won).
Challenging for the World title
Around this time Larsen diversified his style, switching over to risky and unusual openings in some of his games, to try to throw his opponents off balance; this led to the recovery of his form and further development of his chess. He finished 2nd at the 1963
Halle
Zonal with 13/19, behind winner
Lajos Portisch
, to advance to the Interzonal the next year. At
Belgrade
1964, he shared 5th-6th places with 10/17 (
Boris Spassky
won). He tied for 5th-7th places at
Beverwijk
1964 on 9.5/15; Keres and Nei won. Larsen's unusual openings were on full display at the 1964
Amsterdam
Interzonal, where he shared the 1st-4th places on 17/23 with
Boris Spassky
,
Mikhail Tal
, and
Vasily Smyslov
, advancing as a
Candidate
.
In the 1965 Candidates' matches, he first defeated
Borislav Ivkov
at
Bled
by 5.5-2.5, but lost in the semi-final, also at
Bled
by 4.5-5.5 to
Mikhail Tal
, a former world champion. He won a playoff match for alternates, an eventual third-place Candidates' position, against
Efim Geller
by 5-4 at
Copenhagen
1966. In 1967 he won the
Sousse
Interzonal after Fischer withdrew, then won his first-round match against
Lajos Portisch
by 5.5-4.5 at
Porec
1968. In
Malmo
, however, he lost the semi-final by 2.5-5.5 to
Boris Spassky
, who went on to win the title.
In 1970 he shared 2nd in the
Palma de Mallorca
Interzonal, on 15/23, behind
Bobby Fischer
. He reached his top rank in the
Elo rating system
at the start of 1971, equal third in the world (with Korchnoi, behind Fischer and Spassky) with a rating of 2660.
[1]
He then defeated
Wolfgang Uhlmann
by 5.5-3.5 at
Las Palmas
1971. But then he lost the semi-final 0-6 at
Denver
to Fischer, who also went on to win the title.
Larsen later claimed in a
Kasparov.com
interview (1998) that his one-sided loss to Fischer was due in part to his condition during the match: "The organizers chose the wrong time for this match. I was languid with the heat and Fischer was better prepared for such exceptional circumstances... I saw chess pieces through a mist and, thus, my level of playing was not good."
In 1973 he failed to advance from the
Leningrad
Interzonal; he tied for 5th-6th places with 10/17, with
Anatoly Karpov
and
Viktor Korchnoi
winning. In 1976 he won the Biel Interzonal, but lost his 1977 Candidates' match, a rematch of their 1968 encounter, to
Lajos Portisch
by 3.5-6.5 at
Rotterdam
. In the
Riga
Interzonal of 1979, Larsen scored 10/17 for 7th place, and did not advance.
Tournament dominance 1965-1973
Starting in the mid-1960s, Larsen enjoyed a very successful run in major tournaments around the world, and he and Fischer became the two strongest players outside the
Soviet Union
. Larsen played in a lot of strong events, at least as many as any other top player, and repeatedly finished ahead of the top Soviet players. He won at
Le Havre
1966 with 9/11, ahead of
Lev Polugaevsky
. At
Santa Monica
1966, he placed third with 10/18, behind Spassky and Fischer. He won at
Havana
1967 with a powerful 15/19, ahead of a strong group which included
Mark Taimanov
, Smyslov, Polugaevsky, Gligoric, and
Miroslav Filip
. He shared 2nd-3rd places at
Dundee
1967 with 5.5/8, behind Gligoric. At
Beverwijk
1967, he was 4th with 8.5/15 (Spassky won). At
Monte Carlo
1967, he shared 3rd-4th with 6/9, behind Fischer and
Efim Geller
. He shared 1st-2nd at
Winnipeg
1967 with 6/9, along with
Klaus Darga
, ahead of Spassky and Keres. He won at
Palma de Mallorca
1967 with 13/17, ahead of Smyslov,
Mikhail Botvinnik
, Portisch, Gligoric, and
Borislav Ivkov
. He was awarded the first
Chess Oscar
in 1967.
Somewhat unusual for the late 1960s, Larsen, as one of the world's top players, often entered large Open tournaments run on the Swiss system, and had plenty of success. He won the
Canadian Open Chess Championships
at
Toronto
1968 and
St. John's
1970. He also won the
U.S. Open Chess Championships
at
Aspen
1968 and
Boston
1970.
Larsen shared 2nd-3rd places at
Palma de Mallorca
1968 with 13/17, along with Spassky;
Viktor Korchnoi
won. Larsen won at
Monte Carlo
1968 with 9.5/13, ahead of Botvinnik, Smyslov,
Vlastimil Hort
,
Robert Byrne
, Portisch, and
Pal Benko
. He defeated
Heikki Westerinen
by 6-2 in a 1969 exhibition match at
Helsinki
. In a playoff match for third place in the
Candidates Tournament
, he defeated
Mikhail Tal
at
Eersel
1969 by 5.5-2.5 in a rematch of their 1965 encounter. He won at
Palma de Mallorca
1969 with 12/17 ahead of Petrosian, Korchnoi, Hort, and Spassky. There was a further victory at
Buesum
1969 with 11/15 ahead of Polugaevsky. At
San Juan
1969, he scored 9/15 for a shared 6th-7th place (Spassky won).
Larsen won at
Lugano
1970 with 9.5/14, ahead of Olafsson. In the
USSR vs Rest of the World
match at
Belgrade
1970, he played first board for the World side, ahead of Fischer, and scored 2.5/4 against Spassky and
Leonid Stein
. At
Leiden
1970, he shared 3rd-4th places with 5.5/12, (Spassky won). He defeated
Lubomir Kavalek
in a 1970 exhibition match at
Solingen
by 6-2. He won at
Vinkovci
1970 with 10.5/15, ahead of
David Bronstein
, Hort, and Gligoric. At
Palma de Mallorca
1970, he shared 6th-7th places with 9/15 (Panno and
Ljubomir Ljubojevic
were joint winners). Larsen shared 8th-9th places at
San Antonio
1972 on 8.5/15 (Portisch, Petrosian, and
Anatoly Karpov
triumphed). He won at
Teesside
1972 with 11/15, ahead of Ljubojevic and Portisch. At
Las Palmas
1972, he shared 2nd-3rd places on 11/15 (Portisch won).
Larsen won at
Hastings
1972-73 on 11.5/15, ahead of
Wolfgang Uhlmann
. At
Bauang
1973, he scored 6/9 for 4th place (Kavalek won). Larsen won at
Grenaa
1973 in the
Nordic
Championship with 8.5/10. He won again at
Manila
1973 with 12.5/15, ahead of Ljubojevic and Kavalek.
Olympiad performances
He represented Denmark six times in
Olympiad
play, always on first board, and compiled an aggregate score of 75/109 (+61 =28 -20), for 68.8 per cent, according to olimpbase.org. He always played a very high number of games, almost all of the rounds, and won three board medals, one gold and two bronzes.
- Amsterdam
1954, board one, 13.5/19 (+11 =5 -3), board bronze medal;
- Moscow
1956, board one, 14/18 (+11 =6 -1), board gold medal;
- Munich
1958, board one, 13/19 (+11 =4 -4);
- Havana
1966, board one, 11/18 (+9 =4 -5);
- Lugano
1968, board one, 10.5/18 (+8 =5 -5);
- Siegen
1970, board one, 13/17 (+11 =4 -2), board bronze medal.
Later career
In 1988 he lost a game to
Deep Thought
in the Software Toolworks Championship, becoming the first Grandmaster and the player with the highest
Elo rating
(by then 2560) to be defeated by a computer in tournament play.
Larsen has continued to play occasionally in tournaments to the present day. In 1999 he finished 7th of 10 in the Danish Championship, but in the 2000 event he was forced to withdraw when he became seriously ill with an
edema
, requiring brain surgery. He has played in only a few tournaments in Buenos Aires since then. He was 4th in the 2002
Najdorf
Memorial knock-out. In the April 2009
FIDE
list, he has an Elo rating of 2415.
Chess style and writings
Larsen is known as a deep thinking and highly imaginative player, more willing to try unorthodox ideas and to take risks than most of his peers. This aspect of his play can even manifest itself in his choice of
openings
. "He is a firm believer in the value of surprise. Consequently, he often resorts to dubious variations in various openings. He also likes to complicate positions even though it may involve considerable risk. He has a great deal of confidence in his game and fears no one. His unique style has proven extremely effective against relatively weak opponents but has not been too successful against top-notchers."
[2]
He is one of the very few modern Grandmasters to have employed
Bird's Opening
(1.f4) with any regularity, and has long been associated with the move 1.b3, a system commonly known as
Larsen's Opening
or the Nimzo-Larsen Attack in his (and
Aron Nimzowitsch
's) honor. He played the
Dutch Defence
with success at a time when that opening was rare at the top level. He revived the very rare
Bishop's Opening
(1.e4 e5 2.Bc4) with success in 1964. He also was the first top player to successfully use the Grand Prix Attack against the
Sicilian Defence
(1.e4 c5 2.f4), spurring its popularity. In the mid-1960s, he was one of the very few top players to trust
Alekhine's Defence
(1.e4 Nf6) on important occasions. He played the rare
Scandinavian Defence
1.e4 d5 to defeat World Champion Anatoly Karpov in 1979, sparking renewed interest in the variation. A favorite line in the
Caro-Kann Defence
(1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ gxf6) is co-named for him and
David Bronstein
. He used the
Grunfeld Defence
(1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5) with success, also often played Grunfeld Indian Structures with the White pieces, and co-authored a groundbreaking 1979 book on this opening and similar structures with Steffen Zeuthen (
ZOOM 001 -- Zero Hour for Operative Opening Models
). His book of 50
Selected Games
(1968) is renowned for its pithy annotations which delve into chess psychology and use of rare openings, in a way rarely seen from top players. Larsen is respected as an excellent writer who reaches out to his readers; he was one of seven top Grandmasters who wrote fine chapters in the 1974 book
How to Open a Chess Game
. He edited the tournament book for
San Antonio
1972.
Larsen defeated the seven World Champions who held the title from 1948 to 1985. He won games against
Mikhail Botvinnik
,
Vasily Smyslov
,
Mikhail Tal
,
Tigran Petrosian
,
Boris Spassky
,
Bobby Fischer
, and
Anatoly Karpov
.
[3]
Notable chess games
- Bent Larsen vs Boris Spassky, Amsterdam Interzonal 1964, Bird's Opening (A03), 1-0
Larsen successfully played unusual openings in this tournament, and here he uses one of them to knock off a top Soviet, on his way to winning the tournament.
- Svetozar Gligoric vs Bent Larsen, Zagreb 1965, Sicilian Defence, Scheveningen Variation (B83), 0-1
Gligoric launches a dangerous-looking attack, but Larsen finds an inspired defence. Larsen had a strong head-to-head dominance over the top Yugoslav player of that era.
- Bobby Fischer vs Bent Larsen, Santa Monica 1966, Ruy Lopez, Open Variation (C82), 0-1
Fischer has a promising position but miscalculates and is punished in drastic style by Larsen's counterattack.
- Bent Larsen vs Tigran Petrosian, Santa Monica 1966, Sicilian Defence, Accelerated Dragon Variation (B39), 1-0
Larsen unleashes a queen sacrifice to defeat the World Champion.
- Mikhail Tal vs Bent Larsen, Eersel 1969, match game 6, Sicilian Defence, Richter-Rauzer Variation (B65), 0-1
Larsen was dangerous with the Black pieces, and here he shows a former World Champion why.
- Mikhail Botvinnik vs Bent Larsen, Leiden 1970, Dutch Defense, Classical Variation (A90), 0-1
Another former World Champion can't hold a long endgame.
- Bobby Fischer vs Bent Larsen, Palma de Mallorca Interzonal 1970, Sicilian Defence, Velimirovic Attack (B89), 0-1
Larsen surprised Fischer, who was then nearly invincible, with an opening innovation, and plays a near-perfect game to win.
- Anatoly Karpov vs Bent Larsen, Montreal 1979, Scandinavian Defence (B01), 0-1
Larsen springs a rare opening on the World Champion, and is rewarded with success.
References
Further reading
External links