Happy birthday, Bent Larsen! The legendary Danish grandmaster and world championship candidate turned 70 on March 4. An optimist by nature, Larsen was one of the fiercest fighters in the last century and one of the few players capable of challenging the Soviets for the world championship. He came close, participating in seven Candidates matches. But when his chances were the best, he was stopped twice by players who became world champions: Boris Spassky in 1968 and Bobby Fischer in 1971.
On a personal note, I was fortunate to witness Larsen's many victorious drives in tournaments and matches. It was always a pleasure to meet him at the bridge or chess table. Larsen created rich positions, did not shy away from complications, and it was an honor and fun to play against him. We played 30 games against each other from 1963 till 1986. Larsen had a deep knowledge of the game and was always ready to go where nobody else dared to go. He created several original opening ideas, often shocked his opponents with risky and unusual moves in the middle game and scored many points by grinding down players in long endgames. Larsen considered the following game, played in 1970 in Lugano, Switzerland, as one of his best. Analyzing the stunning hidden possibilities was as exciting as moves played on the board.
Larsen-Kavalek
1.b3 c5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.c4 e5 4.g3 d6 5.Bg2 Nge7 6.e3 g6 7.Ne2?! Bg7 8.Nbc3 0-0 (Preparing the advance d6-d5 with 8 . . . Be6 was better. White can't play 9.Nd5?! because of 9 . . . Bxd5 10.cxd5 Nb4!) 9.d3 Be6 10.Nd5 Qd7 11.h4! (Larsen's trademark -- a rook pawn move. Here it prevents 11...Bh3.) 11 . . . f5 (Stopping white's advance with 11...h5 was better.) 12.Qd2 Rae8 (Larsen thought that 12...Rab8!? gave black more chances for a counterplay on the queenside.) 13.h5! b5 14.hxg6 hxg6 15.Nec3 bxc4 16.dxc4 e4 17.0-0-0 Ne5 18.Nf4 Rd8 (After 18...g5? Larsen planned the exciting 19.Nxe6 Nd3+ 20.Qxd3!! exd3 21.Nxg7 Kxg7 22.Nd5+ Kg6 23.Bf3!! and white is winning.) 19.Kb1 (I thought here for 16 minutes about the sacrifice 19...Bxc4! and left myself with only 12 minutes for 21 moves. It is remarkable, since the time control in those days was 40 moves in 2 1/2 hours. What was I doing for the first 19 moves?)
19 . . . Bf7?! (Chickening out, although my instinct told me that the bishop sacrifice is the right thing to do. Larsen did not think much of it, saying that after 19 . . . Bxc4! 20.bxc4 Nxc4 21.Qe2, black does not have anything.
However, Gavril Veresov, a Belorussian master, later provided splendid analysis, confirming that black's attack was indeed very powerful after 21...Nxb2 22.Kxb2 Qa4! and suddenly a disaster is looming on the long diagonal a1-h8 after 23.Qd2 [On 23.Qc2? Rb8+ 24.Kc1 Qa3+ 25.Kd2 Rb2 wins for black.] 23...Rb8+ 24.Ka1 Qa3! 25.Rc1 d5!!, and white has a hard time coping with black's threat to push his d-pawn.
For example, after 26.Nfxd5?! Nxd5 27.Qxd5+ Rf7 28.Qd2 Rd7! 29.Qc2 Rd3, white loses quickly.
Black has to be more creative after 26.Ne6 with 26...Bf6!! 27.Nxf8 Kxf8 with powerful threats, e.g. 28.Qc2 Rb4 29.Bf1 Rb3!! winning; or 28.Rc2 Rb3 29.Rhc1 Nc6 and the threat 30...Nb4 decides, since after 30.Qxd5 Bxc3+ 31.Rxc3 Qb2 mates.
After 26.Bf1, black has two ways to victory. The most amazing variations come after 26...Rb4! 27.Nfxd5 [the other knight leap 27.Ne6 is met by 27...Rfb8 28.Nxg7 Rb2 29.Rc2 Qxa2+! 30.Nxa2 Rb1 mate.], but here Veresov suggested 27...Qxc1+ 28.Qxc1 Nxd5, which is unclear after 29.a3. He missed the incredible 27...Rd8!!, for example 28.Nxe7+ Kf7 29.Ned5 [On 29.Qc2 Bxc3+ 30.Qxc3 Qxc3+ 31.Rxc3 Rd1+ 32.Rc1 Rxc1 mates.] 29...Kf8!! and amazingly, white does not have a good defense to 30...Rxd5!, for example 30.Be2 Rxd5! 31.Qc2 Rd3! 32.Bxd3 exd3 33.Qd2 Rb3 and there is no defense to 34...Rxc3 winning.
Less spectacular, but very effective, is after 26.Bf1 Rf6!, for example, 27.Nfxd5 Nxd5 28.Qxd5+ Rf7 29.Qd2 Rd7! 30.Bc4+ Kf8 31.Qc2 Rdb7!, threatening 32...Bxc3+ and 33...Rb1+ winning. All this was impossible to see during the game with the clock ticking.)
20.g4! (Opening files on the black king.) 20...Nxg4. (Now after 20...Bxc4 comes 21.gxf5! And white's attack is faster.) 21.f3! exf3 22.Bxf3 Ne5 (Larsen correctly claims that after 22...Nf6 23.Qh2 Rfe8 24.Nb5 Nc8 25.Bxf6 Bxf6 26.Qh7+ Kf8 27.Bd5, white wins quickly, e.g. 27...g5 28.Ng6+ Bxg6 29.Qg8+ Ke7 30.Rh7+ Bxh7 31.Qf7 mate). 23.Qh2 Bxc4!? (After 23...Rfe8 24.Nb5 Nc8 25.Qh7+ Kf8 26.Bd5, threatening 27.Nxg6+!, white wins.) 24.bxc4 Nxf3 25.Qh7+ Kf7 26.Ncd5 Rg8 27.Nxe7 Rb8 28.Ka1. (The other king move, 28.Kc1, won less brilliantly, e.g. 28...Qxe7 29.Qxg6+ Kf8 30.Bxg7+ Qxg7 31.Ne6+ etc.) 28...Qxe7 29.Qxg6+ Kf8 30.Ne6+ Qxe6 31.Bxg7+! (Sidestepping the last trick: 31.Qxe6? Bxb2+ 32.Kb1 Ba3+ and white has to make a draw with 33.Ka1, since 33.Kc2 loses to 33...Rg2+ 34.Kd3 Ne5+.) 31...Ke7 (Almost escaping, but Larsen nails down a magnificent finish.) 32.Bf8+! Rbxf8 33.Rh7+ (After 33...Rf7 34.Rxf7+ Qxf7 35.Qxd6+ Ke8 36.Qd8 mates.) Black resigned.
Solution to today's study by H. Rinck (White: Kh1,Nd8,P:f6,h2; Black: Kd6,P:c3,f3,h3): 1.f7 Ke7 2.Ne6 Kxf7 3.Ng5+ Kf6 4.Nxf3 c2 5.Ng1! c1Q stalemate.
