RIP - Bent Larsen

Bent Larsen

Nationality : Danish

International Grandmaster

b. : 04 March 1935

d. : 09 September 2010

. Bent Larsen passed away last week in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He became a (Chess) International Grandmaster in 1956, and back in those days, that title meant something. . His best playing days were in the 1960's and 70's, back when I was breaking into chess. His opening repertoire was unique for a top-flight chessplayer in that it included a lot of offbeat and rarely-played lines. This made a major influence upon me, and affects my choices of openings even to this day. . Those openings, and his wide-open, risk-taking middle-game play, often flummoxed the legions of Russian grandmasters. Indeed, in those days, Larsen and a skinny American kid named Bobby Fischer were the only Western players that were a threat to beat up on the Soviet players. .

He was also a great annotator. I enjoyed reading his comments because he gave you real, honest remarks. If his opponent was outplaying him, he'd tell you. If he caught a lucky break, he'd admit it. Most annotators want you to believe their opponents just rolled over and begged for mercy. I'm sorry, Walter Browne. My opponents don't do that.

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So God's team now consists of Bobby Fischer, Vassily Smyslov, and Bent Larsen. Look out for Heaven at the next Olympiad.