As a dane I think it's time to create a thread to celebrate the
greatest danish GM ever: Bent Larsen
Bent Larsen, 71, was without a doubt one of the world's strongest
players in the 60's and 70's. He was reknown for his very agressive
style of play. In his mind, a draw was a loss of ½ a point and not
a win of a ½ point. That attitude brought him far more wins and far
more losses than any other GM of his time and it secured him
numerous tournament victories through his career. He was probably
the best tournament player in the late 60's and early 70's and he won
the Chess Oscar in 1967, acknowledging him as the greatest player in
the world that year.
Bent Larsen was, of course, a technically extremely strong player.
But he had a psychological side to his game as well; He was very
aware of any opportunity to disturb his opponent and to recognize
situations where he could possibly catch his opponent off balance.
There are several examples on his psychological skills, but I think the
most extreme example is from the Biel Interzonal 1976 (won by Bent
Larsen!). In round 10, Bent Larsen - the leading player, faced Oscar
Castro. Bent Larsen felt he had to win to remain a contender for the
tournament. After 20 moves Bent Larsen hadn't gained any
advantage from the opening and decided to sacrifice his queen!
The sacrifice was later discussed by many GM's, but consensus was
never reached: Was the sacrifice correct or not?
At the table that didn't matter, because Castro didn't take Larsen's
queen. He probably thought that the leading player knew what he was
doing, and how was he to decide what several GM's afterwards couldn't determine?
Castro still had an even game, but the psychological battle was lost
and Castro went down in 36 moves. The game can be seen here:
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1318509
Despite the psychological strengths of Bent Larsen he was never really
successful in matches: He reached the semi finals of the Candidat
Tournament three times, losing to Tal (4½-5½ in 1965), Spassky (2½-5½ in 1968) and Fischer (0-6!!! in 1971)
Bent Larsen has only played a minor part in development of theory
and yet he has an opening of his own: 1.b3 the Larsen Attack
Don't forget he played on board 1 in the Russia vs. Rest of the World match in 1970. Board 1 was Larsen vs. Spassky and board 2 was Fischer vs. Petrosian. I think Larsen was +2 -1 =1, though one game may have been against a sub for Spassky. If I remember right, Larsen won something like 6 strong tournaments that year and Fischer voluntarily took second board!
A very impressive combination by Larsen:
Larsen v Petrosian; Santa Barbara 1966
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1106678
Brilliant infiltration of Knight and Queen in this game; sacrificing a few pawns and winning a simplified endgame:
Larsen v Spassky, Amsterdam 1964
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1128624
Interesting black opening; I liked the way Larsen attacked the weak pawn on e4 (w/rooks); diverting queenside forces - allowing him to gobble up queenside pawns, leading to won game:
E Jimenez Zerguera vs Larsen, 1967
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1266068
fritz 9 after 10 minutes:
1. = (0.13): 21.Nxe4 Bxb2 22.Bxb2 Kf8 23.Nf6 Qe2 24.dxc6 Be6 25.Nxh7+ Kg8 26.Re1 Qd2 27.Nf6+ Kf8 28.a3 Rd3 29.Rec1 Rc7
2. ³ (-0.41): 21.Qb3 Na5 22.Qb4 Bxh3 23.Bxh3 Qxh3 24.Qxe4 Qd7 25.d6 Re8 26.Qf4 Rc2 27.Rbc1 Be5 28.Qh6 Rxa2 29.Rc7
3. ³ (-0.59): 21.g4 Bxb2 22.gxh5 Bxa3 23.dxc6 Bxc6 24.Nxe4 Ba4 25.Rxd8+ Rxd8 26.hxg6 hxg6 27.Nf6+ Kg7 28.Nd5 Bc2 29.Rb5 Bd3 30.Rb3
4. -+ (-1.41): 21.Qc2 Nd4 22.Qxe4 Ne2+ 23.Kf1 Nc3 24.g4 Qh6 25.Qf3 Ba4 26.Rdc1 Bc2 27.Kg1 Nxd5 28.g5 Qxg5
5. -+ (-1.84): 21.Qb5 Nd4 22.Qf1 Bb5 23.Rxb5 Nxb5 24.Bb4 Qxd5 25.Bxe4 Qd7 26.Bf3 Nc3 27.Bxc3 Bxc3 28.Ne4 Qf5 29.Rxd8+
6. -+ (-2.04): 21.dxc6 Bxb2 22.cxd7 Rc2 23.Nxe4 Qe5 24.Rd5 Qxd5 25.Nf6+ Bxf6 26.Bxd5 Rxd7 27.Bb3 Re2 28.Rc1 Kg7
Bent Larsen's best tournament results:
1954
Amsterdam, Olympiad, board 1, B-final 1.Larsen 13½/19
1955
Oslo, Nordic Championship 1.-2.Larsen og Olafsson
1956
Reykjavik, Nordic Championship Final match Larsen-Olafsson 4½-3½
Gijon 1.Larsen 7.5/9
Copenhagen, Ekstrabladet 1.Larsen 8/9
Moscow, Olympiad, board 1, A-final 1.Larsen 14/18, 2.Botvinnik
After the olympiad Larsen was GM
1956/57
Hastings 1.-2.Larsen and Gligoric
1958
Mar del Plata 1.Larsen, 2.Lombardy
1960
Bevervijk 1.-2.Larsen og Petrosian 6½/9
1961
Bevervijk 1.-2.Larsen og Ivkov
1963
Halle zonal 1.Portisch, 2.Larsen, 3.Ivkov
1964
Amsterdam IBM 1.Larsen 7/9
1966
Le Havre 1.Larsen
1967
Havanna 1.Larsen
Winnipeg 1.Larsen
Palma de Mallorca 1.Larsen
1968
Monaco 1.Larsen
US Open 1.Larsen
Canadian Open 1.Larsen
Merrimac Grand Prix 1.Larsen
1969
Busum, Anderssen Memorial 1.Larsen 11/15
Mallorca 1.Larsen 12/17
1970
Lugano 1.Larsen
Beograd, USSR-Rest of the World, board 1:Larsen-Spassky 1½-1½ and Larsen-Stein 1-0
US Open 1.Larsen
Canadian Open 1.Larsen
Vinkovci 1.Larsen 10½/15, 2.Hort,Bronstein,Gligoric 10
1972
Tessside 1.Larsen, 2.Ljubojevic
Hastings 1.Larsen 11½, 2.Uhlmann 11
1973
Manila 1.Larsen 12½, 2.Ljubojevic 11½
Grenå, Nordic Championship 1.Larsen
1975
Orense 1.Larsen
1976
Costa Brava 1.Larsen
1977
Geneva 1.Larsen 8½/13, 2.Andersson 8
1977/78
Ljubljana/Portoroz, Vidmar memorial 1.Larsen 9½/13, 2.Hort,Savon 9
1978
Lone Pine 1.Larsen
1979
Buenos Aires 1.Larsen 11/13, 2.Najdorf,Miles,Spassky,Andersson 8
1980
Buenos Aires 1.Larsen 9½/13, 2.Timman 9, 3.Ljubujevic 8, 4.Karpov, Andersson 7½
Bugojno 1.Karpov, 2.Larsen
1981
Linares 1.-2. Karpov og Christiansen, 3.Larsen
1983
Niksic 1.Kasparov, 2.Larsen
1985
Næstved (Nimzowitch Memorial) 1.-3.Larsen, Vaganian og Browne 6½/11
Reykjavik 1. Larsen 8/11
1989
London (Williams Watson & Farley) 1.Larsen 9.5/13
1990
New York (Williams Watson & Farley) 1.Larsen 6.5/9
...and his Inter Zonal performances:
1958 Portoroz
1.Tal 13½/20, 2.Gligoric 13, 3.Petrosian, Benko 12½ ... 16.Larsen 8½
1964 Amsterdam
1.Smyslov, Larsen, Spassky, Tal 16½/24
1967 Sousse, Tunis
1.Larsen 15½/21, 2.Geller, Gligoric, Korchnoi 14½
1970 Palma de Mallorca
1.Fischer 18½/23, 2.Geller, Hübner, Larsen 15
1973 Leningrad
1.Korchnoi, Karpov 13½/17, 3.R.Byrne 12½, ... 5.Larsen, Hübner 10
1976 Biel
1.Larsen 12½/19, 2. Petrosjan, Tal, Portisch 12
1979 Riga
1.Tal 14/17 2.Polugajevski 11½, ... 7.Larsen 10
1982 Las Palmas
1.Ribli 9½/13, 2.Smyslov 8½ ... 7.Larsen 6½
...and the Candidate Tournament results:
1965
QF: Bent Larsen - Borislav Ivkov 5½-2½
SF: Bent Larsen - Mikhail Tal 4½-5½
1968
QF: Bent Larsen - Lajos Portisch 5½-4½
SF: Bent Larsen - Boris Spassky 2½-5½
1971
QF: Bent Larsen - Wolfgang Uhlmann 5½-3½
SF: Bent Larsen - Robert Fischer 0-6
1977
QF: Bent Larsen - Lajos Portisch 3½-6½
Originally posted by cludiBahahaha! Fischer smashed Larsen like he was a punk! So it goes... the greatest ever to play the game... Bobby Fischer.
As a dane I think it's time to create a thread to celebrate the
greatest danish GM ever: Bent Larsen
Bent Larsen, 71, was without a doubt one of the world's strongest
players in the 60's and 70's. He was reknown for his very agressive
style of play. In his mind, a draw was a loss of ½ a point and not
a win of a ½ point. That attitude brought him far mor development of theory
and yet he has an opening of his own: 1.b3 the Larsen Attack
Originally posted by cludiWhat move number was this queen sacrafice on. I didn't quite catch it.
As a dane I think it's time to create a thread to celebrate the
greatest danish GM ever: Bent Larsen
Bent Larsen, 71, was without a doubt one of the world's strongest
players in the 60's and 70's. He was reknown for his very agressive
style of play. In his mind, a draw was a loss of ½ a point and not
a win of a ½ point. That attitude brought him far mor ...[text shortened]... development of theory
and yet he has an opening of his own: 1.b3 the Larsen Attack