Danish Grandmaster Larsen Is Now Living in Argentina

Oct. 5, 2001

Position No. 5658: White to play and win. From the game Fedorowicz-Leung, U.S. Open, Framingham 2001.

Solution to Position No. 5657: White wins a piece with 1 Rxf6, as 1

BENT LARSEN

Rudy Smith of Indio asks, “What happened to Bent Larsen?” In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Danish grandmaster Bent Larsen was the most successful player on the international circuit. He resurrected discarded openings, won an amazingly high percentage of games as Black and, together with U.S. champion Bobby Fischer, demonstrated that a creative individual could outshine the best products of the Soviet school of chess.

Larsen captivated chess fans with daring play and an unrelentingly optimistic attitude. Those qualities, his string of first prizes, his lively interest in non-chess matters and his fluent command of many languages testified to his genius. Either he or Fischer seemed destined to dethrone world champion Boris Spassky.

On the eve of their 1971 Candidates match in Denver, Larsen was regarded as a slight underdog to Fischer. The astonishing result (six straight wins by Fischer) ended Larsen’s world championship dreams.

Some claim that the trouncing shattered Larsen’s self-confidence. I do not believe this. He remained an elite grandmaster during the Anatoly Karpov era of the late 1970s, and he continued to win tournaments into the mid-1980s, although his occasional failures occurred more frequently.

Now Larsen is 65 years old. Since remarrying and moving to Argentina, he has played little in the past decade. He suffers from diabetes and other health problems. However, he has not retired from chess. The October issue of Chess Life magazine includes Larsen’s ad offering to annotate games.

LOCAL NEWS

Last Friday’s column inadvertently omitted mention of David Bassett, who took first prize in the highest-rated section of the Wilshire Chess Society tournament.

The Exposition Park Chess Club will run a free three-round tournament at 1 p.m. Sunday in the public library, 3665 S. Vermont Ave. in Los Angeles.

The October Chess Fest, an event open to any student in grades K-12, takes place Oct. 27 at Hart High School, 24825 Newhall Ave. in Newhall. Jay Stallings of the California Youth Chess League will supervise a day of chess fun that includes a rated and a non-rated tournament, team and individual trophies, free T-shirts for all players, a lecture by IM Jeremy Silman, music, face painting and more. Each entrant plays four games against others in his grade. Early registration closes Oct. 10. For complete information, send a message to coachjay@cycl.org.

Eduardo Ortiz swept the 40-player Bill Smith Memorial at the Arcadia Chess Club with a perfect 5-0 score. Gordon Brooks finished second at 41/2-1/2. Class prizes went to Arcie Pragale, Andras Mohai, Reilly Moss, Cary Johnson and Steven Williamson.

The Arcadia Chess Club runs tournaments continuously on Monday evenings in the Senior Citizens building, 405 S. Santa Anita Ave. in Arcadia. The five-round Istvanyi Memorial begins Monday. Call Fred Brock at (626) 331-1638 for details.

The Hemet Chess Club, which meets at noon Sundays in Olivera’s Coffeeshop on the corner of State and Stetson in Hemet, will begin its annual club championship on Sunday. For more information, call Craig Geisen at (909) 925-8483.

The West Covina Chess Club has opened. The club welcomes players of all ages for casual games from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Tuesdays in the West Covina Senior Center, 2501 E. Cortez St. In addition, the club offers free instruction for beginners and may run a ladder tournament. No speed chess allowed. Bring chess equipment. For more information, call Richard Williams at (626) 339-5188.

TODAY’S GAME

GM Sutovsky (Israel)--GM Ye Jiangchuan (China), Europe vs. Asia Match, Batumi 2001: 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 Nc3 Nc6 4 Bb5 A nameless system that relies on rapid development against the Sicilian Defense. Nge7 5 0-0 Ng6 Other lines begin 5 ... a6 6 Bxc6 Nxc6 7 d4 and 5 ... Nd4 6 Nxd4 cxd4 7 Ne2. 6 d4 cxd4 7 Nxd4 Be7 8 Be3 0-0 9 f4 a6 10 Bxc6 Consistent, although 10 Be2 makes sense, too. bxc6 11 Qh5 White wants to attack before Black catches up in development. c5 12 Nb3 d6 13 Rf3! Re8 To meet 14 Rh3 by 14

GM Krasenkow (Poland)--GM Kindermann (Germany), European Club Cup, Crete 2001: 1 Nf3 f5 2 d3 A harmless response to the Dutch Defense. d6 3 e4 e5 4 Nc3 Nc6 5 exf5 Bxf5 6 d4 The only aggressive idea. But White’s hesitation should allow Black to equalize. Nb4? Simply 6 ... Nxd4 7 Nxd4 exd4 8 Qxd4 Nf6 solves Black’s problems. 7 Bb5+ c6 8 Ba4 e4 9 Ng5 d5 Also 9 ... Nf6 10 f3 favors White. 10 f3 exf3 11 0-0 Nf6 Black is already in trouble because of his lagging development and uncastled King. The attempt 11 ... Be7 12 Qxf3 Bxg5 13 Qxf5 Bf6 fails to 14 a3, when 14 ... Ne7 15 Qh5+ and 14 ... b5 15 Nxb5 drop material, while 14 ... Na6 15 Nxd5 Bxd4+ 16 Kh1 Nf6 gets mated by 17 Qe6+ Kf8 18 Nxf6 Bxf6 19 Bf4. 12 a3 Na6 13 Qxf3 Bg4 A bit sturdier is 13 ... g6. 14 Qd3 Qd7 Best. Black cannot cover e6 by 14 ... Nc7 15 Bf4 Qd7, as 16 Bxc7! Qxc7 17 Rae1+ wins neatly: 17 ... Be7 18 Rxf6! gxf6 19 Nxd5, or 17 ... Kd8 18 h3 Bc8 19 Nxd5! cxd5 20 Rxf6. And White refutes 14 ... Be7 15 Bf4! 0-0? by 16 Bc7! Nxc7 17 Rxf6 g6 18 Rxg6+, mating. 15 h3 Bh5 16 Re1+ Be7 17 Ne6 Kf7? Allowing another tactical shot. Perhaps 17 ... Bg6 18 Qf3 Kf7 survives. 18 Nxd5! White invites 18 ... Qxd5 19 Bb3 Qd6 20 Bf4 Qd7 21 Nc5+ and 19 ... Qa5 20 Re5 Qb6 21 Nf4+ Kf8 22 Nxh5. Nxd5 It’s too late for 18 ... Bg6, as 19 Nxf6 Bxf6 (or 19 ... Qxe6 20 Ne4) 20 Qf3 keeps an extra pawn and the initiative. 19 Qf5+ Nf6 20 Bb3 Setting up a lethal discovery. If Black runs, by 20 ... Ke8 21 Nxg7+, White obtains easy endgames from 21 ... Kf8 22 Qxd7 Nxd7 23 Nxh5 and 21 ... Kd8 22 Qa5+ Nc7 23 Ne6+ Kc8 24 Qxc7+. Bg6 21 Nxg7+! Relying on 21 ... Kxg7 22 Qxd7 Nxd7 23 Rxe7+ to regain material. Kf8 22 Qxd7 Nxd7 23 Bh6, Black Resigns. The threat of 24 Nf5+ forces Black to return his extra piece.