Hans-Walter, please invite Mr Larsen next year!
11 October 2008 18:21 PM
Chessvibes
Last week the legendary Bent Larsen played in his first tournament since 2004. Avoiding theory in every game, the famous Dane only played very exotic openings and scored… 0 out of 9. We urge Hans-Walter Schmitt to invite Larsen for his Chess960 tournament in Mainz next year.
It was Hans Ree’s column in the Dutch newspaper NRC that brought our attention to the Magistral Internacional of the Argentine chess club Ruibal in Buenos Aires. It’s the first tournament in four years in which the now 73-year-old Bent Larsen participated last week.
The six-time Danish Champion and four-time world championship candidate (in 1965, 1968, 1971, and 1977!) won three Interzonal tournaments and many, many other international tournaments. In 1967 he was awarded the first Chess Oscar. Since the early 1970s Larsen has mostly been living in Buenos Aires, with his Argentinian-born wife. From the year 2000 he only played in a few tournaments over there.
Larsen’s tournament result of last week is a bit of a sad story, because in this event he managed to “improve” upon his famous 6-0 loss against Fischer in 1971. In the Buenos Aires tournament he lost all of his games – nine this time!
The reason was not his age and certainly not his lack of chess understanding. No, game after game the famous Dane avoided theory with the most ridiculous moves, like 1.g4 with White or 1.e4 a5 with Black. Even when the Argentine player Carlos Garcia Palermo (one of Larsen’s opponents in the good old days) offered a draw after seven moves, Larsen refused and lost terribly.
Here is the full story on chessvibes.
Very very sad. He’s the best in his time.
Is he suffering from the same condition that Fischer was afflicted with? The Chessplayer’s Parkinson’s?
Chess fans pay a hidden tax imposed by the extreme and ever growing need to study the esoteric tactics that volumniously branch from the same one start position that is endlessly reused in every chess1 game.
The tax is players like Larsen must leave active chess. We would enjoy their continued participation.
Aging players like Larsen pay a similar tax that is more personal and more devastating: they stop playing the game they love.
Inclusion of more FRC-chess960 tournaments would alleviate this problem.
Larsen is free to enter the August chess960 tournaments in Mainz, without any special invitation from HWS.
Larsen’s broad variety of opening play should make him the quintessential chess960 player.
GeneM
CastleLong.com
The old guy’s gonna get smacked in 960 too. He gets unusual positions and LOSES. Not as though he’s better without mainstream theory he is WORSE.
As a reader of Kaissiber (German chess magazine)i know that Bent Larsen still has a great under-standing of chess.I hope he is not ill. He was a great player.
This makes Korchnoi’s performances, who is older than Larsen, even greater.
Korchnoi is the only senior (+60) who can keep up with younger players. At least to some extent.