MARK RUBERY CHESS
The Danish legend, Bent Larsen (1935-2010), was along with Fischer the only western GM to seriously challenge the might of the USSR. He participated in seven Candidates matches but Spassky, and later Fischer, blocked his road to the chess throne. He was one of the greatest tournament players racking up numerous victories with his uncompromising style of play. A pioneer in the opening phase he was the only strong GM to open a game with such moves as 1 b3 and 1 f4 which are rarely seen at the highest levels. A fierce desire to win along with the ability and patience to grind out long wins in the endgame made many regard him as the complete tournament player. Here we see him defeat a leading Soviet GM after finding a very elegant defensive resource.
Taimanov-larsen Vinkovci, 1970
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 c5 5.dxc5 0-0 6.Bf4 Bxc5 7.Nf3 Nc6 8.e3 d5 9.a3 Qa5 10.Rc1 Be7 11.Be2 dxc4 12.Bxc4 Nd5 13.Bxd5 exd5 14.Qb3 g5! 15.Bg3 g4 16.Nd4 Nxd4 17.exd4 Bg5 18.0-0 (Taimanov gives up the exchange to whip up what appears to be a promising attack)... Bxc1 19.Rxc1 Be6 20.h3 gxh3 21.Be5 f6 22.Ne4 fxe5! (Bravely accepting the gauntlet but Larsen has seen a ‘studylike’ solution to the position) 23.Qg3+
… Bg4!! (This is the move that refutes Taimanov’s concept as he no doubt looked forward to 23…Kf7 24 Ng5+ Ke7 25 Qxe5. Now the king slots safely into the corner and Larsen quickly converts his material advantage)
24.Qxg4+ Kh8 25.Ng5 Qd2 26.Rc7 Qxf2+ 27.Kh2 Qxg2+ 28.Qxg2 hxg2 29.dxe5 Rac8 30.Rxb7 Rc2 31.Nf7+ Kg7 32.e6 Kf6 33.e7 g1q+ 34.Kxg1 Rg8+ 0-1
Here are a few quotes from the famous Danish player…
‘I don’t care very much for miniatures. I don’t try to beat my opponents quickly because if they are strong I think I should respect them. It’s too risky to play very sharply to beat them in 20 moves.’
‘Botvinnik has never had very high respect for my play. One of the reasons is that he thinks I play too many different openings, and that I don’t concentrate enough on one or two openings like he did himself when he was younger.’
‘The main thing is not to be afraid of losing. Why should I be afraid? Although chess is my profession and a very important part of my life, if I lose I know two things: first, it is only a game, and second, by taking the risks I do I will win more than I lose. For some masters losing at chess is almost like dying; for me this is absolutely not so.’