Bent Larsen - poor guy...

I don't know if anyone else has noticed this but in almost every game involving Bent Larsen found annotated in chess books he's on the losing side. Whether it's against Spassky, Fischer, Petrosian etc...

Maybe it's just the nature of the chessbooks I'm reading but they tend to paint him as a perpetual loser. Poor guy.

Nice, thanks...

Larsen was an incredibly strong player from the 50's to the 70's.

(He has a 2200+ rating today)

From 1963-1975 Larsen and Fischer were the two strongest players outside of the Soviet Union.

My opinion of why he is on the losing end in books is because of his style of play.

Risky openings that avoid control of the center.

So books use his "losses" to show how general chess rules..."center control,development, etc etc" should not be neglected.

Larsen is one of those players who likes to try new things. He has a clever way of going about his plans which may seem strange in the Opening or other phases. Like NLA said, they probably just use his losses to show why the center and development are important to the game.

At least he's consistently inconsistent.

Bent Jorgen Larsen was born March 4, 1935 in Denmark. At age 19 he became an International Master, and two years later he achieved the grandmaster title. In 1964 he won the Amsterdam Interzonal and advanced to the semifinals of the Candidates, where he lost to Mikhail Tal. He again won the Interzonal in 1967, and again made the Candidates' semifinals before losing to Boris Spassky, who went on to win the World Championship the next year.

For his tournament achievements during 1967, including first-place finishes in Palma and Havana, he later became the recipient of the inaugural Chess Oscar award. When the U.S.S.R. vs. the Rest of the World match took place in 1970, he played top board for the World, scoring 1.5-1.5 against World Champion Spassky.

In 1971 he made the Candidates' semifinals for the third consecutive time. His opponent was his constant rival, Robert James Fischer. They met in Denver and, to the astonishment of most of the chess world, Larsen was shut out, losing all six match games. After that defeat his position in the world rankings gradually slipped back, although he did achieve another Interzonal victory at Biel in 1976. Larsen now lives in Argentina and is still active in tournaments. Today the opening move 1. b3, which he occasionally played, is called the Nimzo-Larsen attack after him.

I think it was in Saidy's book "The Battle of Chess Ideas" that Larsen's match with Spassky in 1968 was referred to by the Soviets as the "Boomerang of Bravado." Larsen lost 5.5-2.5. I guess Larsen was running his mouth but I never have seen what that transgression was that prompted the Soviets to select him as a target, beyond just being strong enough to threaten them some.

Can't find anything via google so far. Anyone remember at all?

It's his birthday today. Tillykke med fødselsdagen, Bent!

Larsen's Elo rating is 2415, down from 2572 a few years ago, and ranked #21 from Denmark.

It's hard to believe there are 21 players from little Denmark better than Bent Larsen...who's the Danish #1 - anyone know?

I've always admired Larsen as an innovator and great chess player. See Gary Kasparov's "On My Great Predecessors"-the volume devoted to Fisher. It contains a section on Larsen with many annotated games. Kasparov does a great job showing just how strong Larsen actually was. Of course, he was overshadowed by Fischer, but so was everyone else.

I`m Nr. 1..:-)

1		Peter Heine Nielsen	Helsinge Skakklub	2657	2660
2		Curt Hansen	Tønder Skakklub	2623	2619
3		Kamil Milon	Skanderborg Skakklub	2604	2595
4		Emanuel Berg	Helsinge Skakklub	2592	2606
5		Lars Bo Hansen	Enkeltmedlem 2. HK	2573	2579
6		Sune Berg Hansen	Helsingør Skakklub	2544	2543
7		Kaido Kulaots	Aalborg Skakforening af 1889	2541	2573
8		Jonny Hector	Skakklubben Nordkalotten	2537	2551
9		Jacob Aagaard Madsen	Sydøstfyn	2531	2535
10		Tiger Hillarp-Persson	Brønshøj Skakforening	2526	2586
11		Victorija Cmilyte	Helsinge Skakklub	2512	2497
12		Lars Schandorff	Sydøstfyn	2506	2505
13		Allan Stig Rasmussen	Jetsmark Skakklub	2490	2497
14		Sergey Klimov	Hørsholm Skakklub	2484	2521
15		Emil Hermansson	Skanderborg Skakklub	2477	2424
16		Stellan Brynell	Skakklubben Nordkalotten	2468	2459
17		Steffen Pedersen	Sydøstfyn	2467	2457
18		Karsten Rasmussen	Århus Skakklub/Skolerne	2466	2466
19		Axel Smith	Skakklubben K41	2463	2391
20		Bent Larsen	Københavns Skakforening	2461	2415

Tak skal du have! :-)

If Bent Larsen Is or was a loser? then i wish I could be that bad too

Dear chessoholicalien

Bent Larsen never won a world championship. Probably he wasn't that good, but less can do:

Larsen defeated the seven World Champions who held the title from 1948 to 1985. He won games against Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, Mikhail Tal (he won 1969 by 5.5-2.5 in a match), Tigran Petrosian, Boris Spassky, Bobby Fischer, and Anatoly Karpov.

About this and at lot more you can read here:

http://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/Bent_Larsen/6

greetings

I've always thought of Larsen as a top top player for sure, but this is a funny post because just recently I've noticed he's the fall guy in many recent games I've been given.  If I notice the name Larsen as one of the players, I can bet he's on the losing side.  I forgot which book it was, but I dont' remember finding one Larsen win (not that there were tons of his games, maybe 4)

Here's Larsen busting Fischer in 30 moves.  He could play pretty well when we wanted to.

@chessoholicalien you clearly didn’t see Bent Larsen’s game against Spassky where he destroyed Spassky playing the Bird’s Opening😂

Has chessoholicalien been here since 2009?

I've made the same mistake! You decide to contribute to a topic only to realize that the thread has been dead for the last 8 years

i wish i could get the book Best Larsen’s Bent Games of Chess.