Jørgen Bent Larsen (4 March 1935 – 9 September 2010) was a Danish

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

grandmaster and author. Known for his imaginative and unorthodox style of play, he was the second-strongest non-

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

player, behind only

Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Chess Champi ...

, for much of the 1960s and 1970s. He is considered to be the strongest player born in Denmark and the strongest from

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

until the emergence of

Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, five-time World Rapid Chess Championship, World Rapid Chess Champio ...

. Larsen was a six-time Danish Champion and a

Candidate A candidate, or nominee, is a prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position. For example, one can be a candidate for membership in a group (sociology), group or election to an offic ...

for the

World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Gukesh Dommaraju, who defeated the previous champion Ding Liren in the World Chess Championship 2024, 2024 World Chess Championship. ...

on four occasions, reaching the semifinal three times. He had multiple wins over all seven World Champions who held the title from 1948 to 1985:

Mikhail Botvinnik Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (; ; – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster who held five world titles in three different reigns. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer sci ...

Vasily Smyslov Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov (; 24 March 1921 – 27 March 2010) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster who was the seventh World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidates Tournament, Candidate for the World Chess Championship on ...

Mikhail Tal Mikhail Tal (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992) was a Soviet and Latvian chess player and the eighth World Chess Champion. He is considered a creative genius and is widely regarded as Comparison of top chess players throughout history, one ...

Tigran Petrosian Tigran Vardani Petrosian (; ; 17 June 1929 – 13 August 1984) was a Soviet-Armenian chess grandmaster and the ninth World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his almost-impenetrable defensive playing s ...

Boris Spassky Boris Vasilyevich Spassky (; January 30, 1937 – February 27, 2025) was a Russian chess grandmaster who was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 to 1972. Spassky played three world championship matches: he lost to Tigra ...

, and

Anatoly Karpov Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (, ; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian and former Soviet Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, ⁣and politician. He was the 12th World Chess Champion from 1975 ...

, but lifetime negative scores against them. From the early 1970s onward, he divided his years between

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

and

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

with his

Argentinian Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

-born wife Laura Beatriz Benedini. He suffered from diabetes, and he died in 2010 from a

cerebral haemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as hemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain (i.e. the parenchyma), into its ventricles, or into both. An ICH is a type of bleeding within the skull and one kind of stro ...

Career

Early life

Larsen was born in Tilsted, near

Thisted Thisted is a town in the municipality of Thisted in the North Denmark Region of Denmark. It has a population of 13,505 (1 January 2025)Aalborg Cathedral School. In January 1942, he contracted a number of childhood diseases. Although none had any permanent effects, it was during this period that he discovered chess. Larsen went on to represent Denmark twice in the World Junior Championship, in 1951 at

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

(placing fifth) and in 1953 at

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

(placing eighth). He began playing seriously at the age of 17 when he moved to Copenhagen to study

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

, but he never graduated, choosing instead to play chess professionally. Furthermore, during his military service he studied Russian, which was instrumental in assisting him to understand Russian-language chess literature (something Bobby Fischer was also known to have done). Larsen became an

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

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, repeating this feat in 1955, 1956, 1959, 1963 and 1964. Larsen defeated

Friðrik Ólafsson Friðrik Ólafsson (26 January 1935 – 4 April 2025) was an Icelandic chess grandmaster. He was president of FIDE from 1978 to 1982. He was a six-time Icelandic Chess Champion and a two-time Nordic Chess Champion. Chess career Friðrik was ...

in an exhibition match at

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

in 1955 by 4½–3½. He took first prize at the Gijón International Chess Tournament in 1956, ahead of Klaus Darga and

Jan Hein Donner Johannes Hendrikus (Hein) Donner (July 6, 1927 – November 27, 1988) was a Dutch chess grandmaster and writer. He was born in The Hague. His father Jan Donner was a prominent Dutch politician and judge. Donner won the Dutch Championship in 195 ...

, and in the same year won at Copenhagen with 8/9.

Young Grandmaster

Larsen became an

International Grandmaster Grandmaster (GM) is a Chess title, title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Chess Championship, World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is hel ...

in 1956 with his gold-medal performance on board one at the Moscow Olympiad, where he drew with World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik. He tied for 1st–2nd places at

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

1956–57 on 6½/9 with

Svetozar Gligorić Svetozar Gligorić ( sr-Cyrl, Светозар Глигорић; 2 February 1923 – 14 August 2012) was a Serbian and Yugoslav chess grandmaster and musician. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record 11 times, and is considered the best ...

. At

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

1957, he scored 7½/14 for a shared 3rd–4th place; the winners were Gligorić and

Samuel Reshevsky Samuel Herman Reshevsky (born Szmul Rzeszewski; November 26, 1911 – April 4, 1992) was a Polish chess prodigy and later a leading American chess grandmaster. He was a contender for the World Chess Championship from the mid 1930s to the late 1 ...

. At the 1957

Wageningen Wageningen () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a historic city in the central Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland. It is famous for Wageningen University, which specialises in life sciences. The municipality had a ...

Zonal, he and Donner tied for 3rd–4th places, with 12½/17. There were only three qualifying berths, so Larsen and Donner had to play off; this match Larsen won by 3–1 at

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

1958, thus qualifying for his first

Interzonal Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by the World Chess Federation FIDE from the 1950s to the 1990s. They were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle and were held after the Zonal tournaments, and before the Ca ...

, at

Portorož Portorož (; ) is a Slovenian Adriatic seaside resort and spa settlement located in the Municipality of Piran in southwestern Slovenia. Its modern development began in the late 19th century with the vogue for the first health resorts. In the earl ...

1958. He scored only 8½/20 for 16th place, and was not close to qualifying. However, he scored his first major individual international success by winning

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Argentine Sea, Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón Partido, General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires ...

1958 with 12/15, ahead of

William Lombardy William James Joseph Lombardy (December 4, 1937 – October 13, 2017) was an American chess grandmaster, chess writer, teacher, and former Catholic priest. He was one of the leading American chess players during the 1950s and 1960s, and a conte ...

Erich Eliskases Erich Gottlieb Eliskases (15 February 1913 – 2 February 1997) was a chess player who represented Austria, Germany and Argentina in international competition. In the late 1930s he was considered a potential contender for the World Championship. ...

Oscar Panno Oscar Roberto Panno (born 17 March 1935) is an Argentine chess Grandmaster. Biography Panno was born in Buenos Aires. He won the 2nd World Junior Chess Championship in 1953, ahead of such future strong Grandmasters as Borislav Ivkov, Bent Lar ...

, and

Hermann Pilnik Hermann Pilnik (8 January 1914, Stuttgart, Germany – 12 November 1981, Caracas, Venezuela) was a German Argentines, German-born Argentine chess Grandmaster (chess), Grandmaster. Career In 1929, he won the championship of Stuttgart. Pilnik emi ...

. Larsen went into a slump beginning with the 1958 Interzonal. He tied 5th–6th in a strong field at

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

1959 with 9½/15 – behind winner Tal, Gligorić,

Paul Keres Paul Keres (; 7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five ...

, and

– but placed only 4th in a middle-range field at the 1960 Berg en Dal Zonal 1960 with 5½/9, and did not advance to the Interzonal. He recovered by sharing 1st–2nd places at

Beverwijk Beverwijk () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The town is located about northwest of Amsterdam in the Randstad metropolitan area, north of the North Sea Canal very close to the North Sea coast. A ...

1961 on 7½/9 with

Borislav Ivkov Borislav Ivkov (12 November 1933 – 14 February 2022) was a Serbian chess Grandmaster. As one of the most decorated players in the history of Chess Olympiad, Ivkov was a World championship candidate in 1965, and played in four more Interzonal t ...

. At

1961, he tied for 6th–7th places with 6/11, as Keres won ahead of

. At Moscow 1962, he shared 7th–11th places with 7½/15 (

Yuri Averbakh Yuri Lvovich Averbakh (; 8 February 1922 – 7 May 2022) was a Russian chess grandmaster and author. He was chairman of the USSR Chess Federation from 1973 to 1978. Averbakh was the first centenarian FIDE Grandmaster. Despite his eyesight and ...

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 Lajos Portisch (born 4 April 1937) is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik". One of the strongest players from the early 1960s into the late 1980s, he participated in twelve c ...

, to advance to the Interzonal the next year. At

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

1964, he shared 5th–6th places with 10/17 (

won). He tied for 5th–7th places at

1964 on 9½/15; Keres and Nei won. Larsen's unusual openings were on full display at the 1964

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

Interzonal, where he shared the 1st–4th places on 17/23 with Spassky, Tal, and

, advancing as a Candidate. In the 1965 Candidates' matches, he defeated

Bled Bled (; ,''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 146. in older sources also ''Feldes'') is a town on Lake Bled in the Upper Carniolan regio ...

by 5½–2½ but lost a hard-fought semifinal, also at Bled by 4½–5½ to former World Champion Mikhail Tal, who won the tenth game with a complex speculative knight sacrifice in the center. Larsen won a playoff match for alternates, an eventual third-place Candidates' position, against

Efim Geller Efim Petrovich Geller (; ; 8 March 1925 – 17 November 1998) was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Championship twice (in 1955 and 1979) and was a Candidate for the World Championship on six occa ...

by 5–4 at Copenhagen 1966 (the first time a Soviet grandmaster had ever been beaten by a non-Soviet in a match). In 1967 he won the

Sousse Sousse, Sūsah , or Soussa (, ), is a city in Tunisia, capital of the Sousse Governorate. Located south of the capital Tunis, the city has 271,428 inhabitants (2014). Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf of Hammamet, which ...

Interzonal with the score of 15½/21 after Fischer withdrew; this placed him 1½ points ahead of the field. He then won his first-round match against

by 5½–4½ at

Poreč Poreč (; known also by several alternative names) is a town and municipality on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula, in Istria County, west Croatia. Its major landmark is the 6th-century Euphrasian Basilica, which was designated a UN ...

1968. In

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

, however, he lost the semifinal by 2½–5½ to Boris Spassky, who went on to win the title. In 1970 he shared 2nd in the

Palma de Mallorca Palma (, ; ), also known as Palma de Mallorca (officially between 1983 and 1988, 2006–2008, and 2012–2016), is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is ...

Interzonal, on 15/23, behind Bobby Fischer. He reached his top rank in the

Elo rating system The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in zero-sum games such as chess or esports. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-American chess master and physics professor. The Elo system wa ...

at the start of 1971, equal third in the world (with

Viktor Korchnoi Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi (, ; 23 March 1931 – 6 June 2016) was a Soviet (before 1976) and Swiss (after 1980) chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. He is considered one of the strongest players never to have become World Chess Champion. Bor ...

, behind Fischer and Spassky) with a rating of 2660. He then defeated

Wolfgang Uhlmann Wolfgang Uhlmann (29 March 193524 August 2020) was a German chess grandmaster. He was East Germany's most successful chess player between the mid-1950s and the late 1980s, reaching the 1971 Candidates Tournament. During his career, Uhlmann pla ...

by 5½–3½ at

1971, but lost the semifinal 0–6 at

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

to Fischer, who also went on to win the title. Larsen later claimed 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 Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

Interzonal; he tied for 5th–6th places with 10/17, with Korchnoi and

winning. In 1976 he won the Biel Interzonal, but lost his 1977 Candidates' match, a rematch of their 1968 encounter, to Lajos Portisch by 3½–6½ at

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

. In the

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

Interzonal of 1979, Larsen scored 10/17 for 7th place, and did not advance.

Tournament dominance (1965–73)

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 Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

1966 with 9/11, ahead of

Lev Polugaevsky Lev Abramovich Polugaevsky ( rus, Лев Абрамович Полугаевский, p=pəlʊɡɐˈjefskʲɪj; 20 November 1934 – 30 August 1995) was a Soviet chess player. He was awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE in ...

. At

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

1966, he placed third with 10/18, behind Spassky and Fischer. He won at

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Mark Taimanov Mark Evgenievich Taimanov (; 7 February 1926 – 28 November 2016) was one of the leading Soviet and Russian chess players, among the world's top 20 players from 1946 to 1971. A prolific chess author, Taimanov was awarded the title of Grandmas ...

, Smyslov, Polugaevsky, Gligorić, and

Miroslav Filip Miroslav Filip (27 October 1928 – 27 April 2009) was a Czech chess grandmaster. Filip was awarded the title of International Master in 1953, and the Grandmaster title in 1955. Filip represented Czechoslovakia in 12 consecutive Chess Olympiad ...

. He shared 2nd–3rd places at

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

1967 with 5½/8, behind Gligorić. At

1967, he was 4th with 8½/15 (Spassky won). At

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

1967, he shared 3rd–4th with 6/9, behind Fischer and

. He shared 1st–2nd at

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

1967 with 6/9, along with Darga, ahead of Spassky and Keres. He won at

1967 with 13/17, ahead of Smyslov, Botvinnik, Portisch, Gligorić, and

. He was awarded the first

Chess Oscar Chess Oscar was an international award given annually to the best chess player. The winner was selected by votes that were cast by chess journalists from across the world. The traditional voting procedure was to request hundreds of chess journalis ...

in 1967. Somewhat unusually 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 Championship The Canadian Open Chess Championship is Canada's Open chess championship, first held in 1956, and held annually since 1973, usually in mid-summer. It is organized by the Chess Federation of Canada. The event celebrated its 50th rendition in 2013. ...

s at

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

1968 and St. John's 1970. He also won the

U.S. Open Chess Championship The U.S. Open Championship is an open national chess championship that has been held in the United States annually since 1900. The top American player usually qualifies for the U.S. Chess Championship. History The tournament was originally th ...

of 1968 at

Aspen, Colorado Aspen is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The city population ...

, and that at

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

in 1970. Larsen won at

1968 with 9½/13, ahead of Botvinnik, Smyslov,

Vlastimil Hort Vlastimil Hort (12 January 1944 – 12 May 2025) was a Czech and German chess grandmaster. During the 1960s and 1970s he was one of the world's strongest players and reached the World Chess Championship 1978, 1977–78 Candidates Tournament for ...

, Robert Byrne, Portisch, and

Pal Benko Pal Charles Benko (; July 15, 1928 – August 25, 2019) was a Hungarian and American chess grandmaster, author, and composer of endgame studies and chess problems. Early life Benko was born on July 15, 1928, in Amiens, France, where his ...

. This completed a string of five consecutive clear wins of major tournaments, a feat that had not previously been accomplished in modern chess. Larsen shared 2nd–3rd places at

1968 with 13/17, along with Spassky;

won. In a playoff match for third place in the Candidates Tournament, he defeated Tal at

Eersel Eersel () is a municipality and a town in southern Netherlands in the province of North Brabant. Eersel is situated in the Campine (Kempen) area. Eersel is part of the Acht Zaligheden (Eight Beatitudes) and known for its attractive market. Thi ...

1969 by 5½–2½ in a rematch of their 1965 encounter. He won at

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 San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

1969, he scored 9/15 for a shared 6th–7th place (Spassky won). He defeated

Heikki Westerinen by 6–2 at

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

in 1969 in a match in which every game was decisive. Larsen won at

Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...

1970 with 9½/14, ahead of Olafsson. In the USSR vs Rest of the World match at

1970, he played first board for the World side, ahead of Fischer, and scored 2½/4 against Spassky and

Leonid Stein Leonid Zakharovych Stein (; November 12, 1934 – July 4, 1973) was a Soviet Union, Soviet chess Grandmaster (chess), Grandmaster from Ukrainian SSR, Ukraine. He won three USSR Chess Championships in the 1960s (1963, 1965, and 1966), and was amo ...

. At

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

1970, he shared 3rd–4th places with 5½/12, (Spassky won). He defeated

Lubomir Kavalek Lubomir (Lubosh) Kavalek (, August 9, 1943 – January 18, 2021) was a Czech-American chess player. He was awarded both the International Master and International Grandmaster titles by FIDE in 1965.Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 195. He won two Czechos ...

in a 1970 exhibition match at

Solingen Solingen (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 25 km east of Düsseldorf along the northern edge of the Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr. After Wuppertal, it is the second-largest city in the Bergisches Land, and a member of ...

by 6–2. He won at

Vinkovci Vinkovci () is a city in Slavonia, in the Vukovar-Syrmia County in eastern Croatia. The city settlement's population was 28,111 in the 2021 census, while the total population was 30,842, making it the largest town of the county. It is a local tr ...

1970 with 10½/15, ahead of

David Bronstein David Ionovich Bronstein (; February 19, 1924 – December 5, 2006) was a Soviet chess player. Awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE in 1950, he narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in World Chess Championship 195 ...

, Hort, and Gligorić. At

1970, he shared 6th–7th places with 9/15 (Panno and

Ljubomir Ljubojević Ljubomir Ljubojević (; born November 2, 1950) is a Serbian chess grandmaster. He won the Yugoslav Chess Championship in 1977 (tied) and 1982. Life and career Ljubojević was born on 2 November 1950 in Titovo Užice, Yugoslavia (now Užice, S ...

were joint winners). Larsen shared 8th–9th places at

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

1972 on 8½/15 (Portisch, Petrosian, and Karpov triumphed). He won at

Teesside Teesside () is an urban area around the River Tees in North East England. Straddling the border between County Durham and North Yorkshire, it spans the boroughs of Borough of Middlesbrough, Middlesbrough, Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, Stockton ...

1972 with 11/15, ahead of Ljubojević and Portisch. At

1972, he shared 2nd–3rd places on 11/15 (Portisch won). Larsen won at

1972–73 on 11½/15, ahead of

. At

Bauang Bauang, officially the Municipality of Bauang (; ; ), is a municipality in the province of La Union, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 78,449. Bauang is recognized as the ''"Fruit Basket and Beach Capital of th ...

1973, he scored 6/9 for 4th place (Kavalek won). Larsen won at

Grenaa Grenaa (or Grenå) is a Danish town and seaport on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula. Tourism, education and commerce are important sectors in the economy of Grenaa. It is the only larger town on Djursland. Grenaa is the municipal seat, a ...

1973 in the

Nordic Nordic most commonly refers to: * Nordic countries, the northern European countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and their North Atlantic territories * Scandinavia, a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern ...

Championship with 8½/10. He won again at

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

1973 with 12½/15, ahead of Ljubojević and Kavalek. In 1975, Larsen defeated Danish Champion and future International Master Gert Iskov at

Gellerup Gellerup is a neighborhood of the Brabrand district in the city of Aarhus, Denmark. The neighborhood was formerly a suburb that has now completely merged with the city and it is characterized by several natural attractions, detached house sectors ...

by the score of 5½–½ and lost a match to GM

Ulf Andersson Ulf Andersson (born 27 June 1951) is a leading Swedish chess player. FIDE awarded him the International Master title in 1970 and the Grandmaster title in 1972. Chess career At his peak, Andersson reached number four on the FIDE rating list. ...

by the score of 5½–2½ at

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

the same year.

Olympiad performances

He represented Denmark six times in

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in FIDE Onli ...

play, always on first board, and compiled an aggregate score of 75/109 (+61 −20 =28), for 68.8%. He always played a very high number of games and in 1954 played a maximum of 19 games. He won three board medals, one gold and two bronze. * Amsterdam 1954, board one, 13½/19 (+11 −3 =5), board bronze medal; * Moscow 1956, board one, 14/18 (+11 −1 =6), board gold medal; * Munich 1958, board one, 13/19 (+11 −4 =4); * Havana 1966, board one, 11/18 (+9 −5 =4); * Lugano 1968, board one, 10½/18 (+8 −5 =5); * Siegen 1970, board one, 13/17 (+11 −2 =4), board bronze medal.

Later career

In 1988 he lost a game to Deep Thought in the Software Toolworks Championship, becoming the first Grandmaster and, at the time, the player with the highest

Elo rating The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in zero-sum games such as chess or esports. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-American chess master and physics professor. The Elo system wa ...

(by then 2560) to be defeated by a computer in tournament play. In 1993 Larsen won a return match against the supercomputer

Deep Blue Deep Blue may refer to: People, figures, and characters * Deep Blue (musician), electronic and drum and bass musician * Deep Blue (DC Comics), a superhero in the post-Crisis DC Universe * Deep Blue (''Tokyo Mew Mew''), a character from ''Tokyo ...

in Copenhagen by 2½–1½. Despite his advancing age, Larsen continued to play in tournaments. In 1999, he finished 7th out of 10 in the Danish Championship, but in the 2000 event he was forced to withdraw when he became seriously ill with an

edema Edema (American English), also spelled oedema (British English), and also known as fluid retention, swelling, dropsy and hydropsy, is the build-up of fluid in the body's tissue (biology), tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. S ...

which required brain surgery. Thereafter he only played a few tournaments in Buenos Aires. He was 4th in the 2002 Najdorf Memorial knock-out. Larsen's final tournament was Magistral Internacional Ruibal 2008 in Buenos Aires. He delivered a poor performance and lost all nine games he played. In the April 2009

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

list, he had an Elo rating of 2415. He died in Buenos Aires in September 2010. According to the

English Chess Federation The English Chess Federation (ECF) is the governing chess organisation in England. It is affiliated to FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an internation ...

Newsletter, "His health had been poor for some considerable time and he had been virtually inactive for years".

Playing style and authorship

Larsen was known as a deep-thinking and highly imaginative player, more willing to try unorthodox ideas and to take more risks than most of his peers. This aspect of his play could even manifest itself in his choice of

opening Opening may refer to: Types of openings * Hole * A title sequence or opening credits * Grand opening of a business or other institution * Inauguration * Keynote * Opening sentence * Opening sequence * Opening statement, a beginning statemen ...

s. Grandmaster

wrote that Larsen "is a firm believer in the value of surprise", and that led him to resort to "dubious variations in various openings". He also wrote that while Larsen "has a great deal of confidence in his game and fears no one", his style was "extremely effective against relatively weak opponents but has not been too successful against top-notchers." He was one of the very few modern grandmasters to have employed

Bird's Opening Bird's Opening (or the Dutch Attack) is a chess opening characterised by the move: : 1. f4 Named after 19th century English player Henry Bird, Bird's opening is a standard flank opening. White's strategic ideas involve control of the e5-squa ...

(1.f4) with any regularity, and had a long-term association with the move 1.b3, a system commonly known as Larsen's Opening or the Nimzo–Larsen Attack in his (and

Aron Nimzowitsch Aron Nimzowitsch (; , ''Aron Isayevich Nimtsovich''; 7 November 1886 – 16 March 1935) was a Latvian-born Danish chess player and writer. In the late 1920s, Nimzowitsch was one of the best chess players in the world. He was the foremost f ...

's) honor. He played the

Dutch Defence The Dutch Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves: : 1. d4 f5 Black's 1...f5 stakes a claim to the e4-square and envisions an attack in the middlegame on White's ; however, it also weakens Black's kingside to some extent, espec ...

with success at a time when the opening was rarely seen at the top level. He revived the almost dormant

Bishop's Opening The Bishop's Opening is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Bc4 White attacks Black's f7-square and prevents Black from advancing the d-pawn to d5. By ignoring the beginner's maxim "develop knights before bishops", White ...

(1.e4 e5 2.Bc4) with success in 1964 and explored new ways for Black to seek activity in the

Philidor Defence The Philidor Defence (or Philidor's Defence) is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 d6 The opening is named after the famous 18th-century player François-André Danican Philidor, who advocated it as an alternativ ...

(1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6). Indeed, he wrote a short monograph on the Philidor, ''Why Not The Philidor Defense?'', in 1971. He was also the first top player to successfully use the Grand Prix Attack against the

Sicilian Defence The Sicilian Defence is a chess opening that begins with the following moves: :1. e4 c5 The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White's first move 1.e4. The opening 1.d4 is a statistically more successful opening for Whi ...

(1.e4 c5 2.f4), spurring a sudden and sustained gain in its popularity. In the mid-1960s, he showed surprising faith in

Alekhine's Defence Alekhine's Defence is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. e4 Nf6 Black tempts White's pawns forward to form a broad , with plans to undermine and attack the white structure later in the spirit of hypermodern defence. White's imposi ...

(1.e4 Nf6) and even employed it on important occasions. He played the rare

Scandinavian Defence The Scandinavian Defense (or Center Counter Defense, or Center Counter Game) is a chess opening characterized by the moves: :1. e4 d5 This opening is classified under code B01 in the ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings''. The Scandinavian Def ...

1.e4 d5 to defeat World Champion Anatoly Karpov in 1979, sparking renewed interest in that variation. A favourite line in the

Caro–Kann Defence The Caro–Kann Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. e4 c6 The Caro–Kann is a common defence against 1.e4. It is classified as a Semi-Open Game, like the Sicilian Defence and French Defence, although it is thought to b ...

(1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ gxf6) is co-named for him and

; the idea is to accept a weakness to the Black pawn structure in exchange for an unbalancing of the position and retaining the bishop pair. Larsen's 1969 book ''Larsen's Selected Games of Chess, 1948–69'' contained annotations that delved into chess psychology and the effective use of rare openings. A chapter of the book gives some of Larsen's thoughts on his own style, and he upholds the views of Polugaevsky and Gligorić that he indulged in flank attacks and favored the advance of rooks' pawns more than other contemporary masters. He was also content to be described as an aggressive player, stemming from his dislike of draws. He disputed the notion that he would willingly accept dubious positions in order to complicate tactics, a characteristic he attributed more to Tal. The book was first published in Denmark; an English-language version followed in 1970 and was sub-titled "Master of Counter-Attack". Larsen was one of seven top grandmasters who wrote chapters for the 1974 book ''How to Open a Chess Game''. He edited the tournament book for San Antonio 1972. When Ken Smith played most of his games in that event with the white pieces using the Smith-Morra Gambit, Larsen quipped—after one of Smith's opponents responded to 1.e4 with 1...e6, entering a

French Defence The French Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. e4 e6 This is most commonly followed by 2.d4 d5. Black usually plays ...c5 soon after, attacking White's and gaining on the . The French has a reputation for solidity ...

and avoiding the gambit—"stronger was c5, winning a pawn!" He also wrote the well-received ''Karpov Vs. Korchnoi: World Chess Championship, 1978'', which was published within days of the match ending and was the first book in any language on the 1978 World Championship match. The

Grünfeld Defence The Grünfeld Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. d4 Nf6 :2. c4 g6 :3. Nc3 d5 Black offers White the possibility of 4.cxd5, which may be followed by 4...Nxd5 and 5.e4, giving White an imposing duo. If White does not ...

(1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5) was another opening that became a frequent choice of Larsen with the Black pieces, and similarly he placed considerable reliance on Grünfeld-Indian systems as White. This led him to co-author, with Steffen Zeuthen, a 1979 book on this opening titled ''Zoom 001 Zero Hour for Operative Chess Opening Models''.

Notable 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.
David Bronstein vs. Bent Larsen, Amsterdam Interzonal 1964, King's Indian Defense: Averbakh. Benoni Defense Advanced Variation (E75), 0–1
Larsen defends and ends Bronstein's dream of becoming a World Championship Candidate.
Svetozar Gligorić vs. Bent Larsen, Zagreb 1965, Sicilian Defence, Scheveningen Variation (B83), 0–1
Gligorić 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
Larsen outplays another former World Champion in 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.
Viswanathan Anand vs. Bent Larsen, Roquebrune 1992, Sicilian (B27), 0–1
Larsen beats a future World Champion using Larsen's favourite opening.

References

External links

* * Edward Winter
Bent Larsen (1935–2010)
*

Chess Great Bent Larsen Dies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larsen, Bent 1935 births 2010 deaths People from Thisted Municipality Chess Grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors Danish male writers Danish chess writers 20th-century Danish chess players

Career

Early life

Young Grandmaster

Challenging for the World title

Tournament dominance (1965–73)

Olympiad performances

Later career

Playing style and authorship

Notable games

References

Further reading

External links