Using Bent Larsen's Wisdom To Crush In The Opening
GM Bent Larsen was not only one of the best players in the world, but also a great thinker and writer. A book of his selected 50 games is one of the most original chess books I've ever read. It is not just a collection of Larsen's unusual openings and strategic patterns; it also shares his wisdom and a practical approach to chess. Here is an example that helped me a lot throughout my whole chess career. In the annotations to his game vs. GM Efim Geller, Larsen mentions the following game:
Larsen analyzes the opening in general and the move 12.f4!? in particular. He says that Black made a serious mistake with 15...Rad8?, and then he adds that he doesn't believe that this game proves anything. At the end, he quips that if it were Herbert Heinicke who beat GM Tigran Petrosian, then he would trust the variation much more.
The point is quite obvious and strong. Say GM Magnus Carlsen beats a 2400 player. You don't know whether it is because of a powerful opening play or because Carlsen is just much stronger than his opponent. But if the opposite happens, and it's that 2400 player who beats Carlsen, then we should really check out the opening play that allowed the 2400 to defeat a much stronger opponent.
As a kid, I learned this piece of wisdom from Larsen, and whenever I saw that a very strong player had lost a game in some offbeat opening, I always checked that opening line to see what really happened.
If you followed the 2026 Tata Steel Chess India Open Blitz, you couldn't possibly miss the following game:
Yes, the final tactical shot is not very difficult, yet it's quite cute. But what about this game's opening?
Doesn't the move 3...Qf6 break pretty much all the rules of openings? It sure does, and if GM Arjun Erigaisi beats anyone with this line, I would think it's because he is one of the best players in the world, and the result of the game has nothing to do with the opening. But when it is GM Viswanathan Anand on the receiving end of a dubious line, then Larsen's wisdom immediately pops into my mind, and some investigation is required.
A quick look at the database revealed that this line is employed regularly by GMs Erigaisi and Aman Hambleton. I was also happy to see games of our old friend GM Jergus Pechac.
Of course, I saw this opening line before, but never paid real attention to it. Since my childhood, I knew that the verdict "junk" was put on it by none other than world champion Alexander Alekhine, who criticized it in his annotations to the following game:
It looks like a real culprit was not the move 3...Qf6 but rather 5...Nd4?, and Erigaisi's move 5...a6, which helped him beat Anand, is a serious improvement. Here is another Erigaisi win where he used this move:
It is very easy to see the negative sides of the move 3...Qf6?!, but after studying dozens of games, you start seeing some positive sides as well. First of all, Black brings his queen to the kingside, which can support an attack there later on. The following game is a good example:
Another benefit, which is typical for "junk openings," is that your opponents will try hard to punish you for breaking the rules. Sometimes they will try a little too hard, which can easily backfire, especially in blitz:
About five years ago, I wrote an article where we analyzed another move that breaks the rules of the openings: 1.e4 e5 2.Qh5?! There, my verdict was: "I am not recommending you play 2.Qh5 since there are many openings in chess that promise White an opening advantage, and 2.Qh5 is not one of them. But as a tricky weapon of internet chess for players rated below 1600, it can be quite dangerous." As you can see, in this case, the line 3...Qf6?! can be played at any level, but, in my opinion, it is still best suited to blitz and rapid games.
