Grand Larsen-y

It is said that more books have been written about chess than about any other game, sport or pastime. I can well believe it. When the Chess and Bridge (shop.chess.co.uk) catalogue dropped through my letterbox last week, I counted 360 book titles, and I know that is just the tip of the iceberg.

One book that caught my eye in the catalogue was the unlikely entry Best Larsen’s Bent Games of Chess. I know that Bent Larsen, a supergrandmaster who in his time defeated Botvinnik, Smyslov, Tal, Petrosian, Spassky, Fischer and Karpov, sometimes resorted to weird openings, but the catalogue typo seemed to be taking things a little far.

The game below is based on one from a new book on Larsen, Larsen Move by Move by Cyrus Lakdawala (Everyman Chess).

Botvinnik-Larsen; Leiden 1970; Dutch Defence

1 c4 f5 2 d4 Nf6 3 g3 e6 4 Bg2 Bb4+ 5 Nd2 0-0 6 Ngf3 a5 7 0-0 b6 8 Ne5 Ra7 Larsen took an almost malicious delight in confusing booked-up opponents by injecting the position with original problems for both sides to solve. 9 Nd3 Bb7 10 Nf3 Be7 11 b3 Ne4 12 Bb2 Bf6 13 a3 c5 14 e3 Nc6 15 Nfe5 cxd4 16 exd4 Nxe5 17 dxe5 Be7 18 a4 A rare strategic misjudgment from the maestro. Larsen’s oddness of play had a mysteriously confusing effect on even experienced opponents. Botvinnik wants to fix b6 as a target but this is misguided. 18 … Qc7 19 Qc2 Bc6 20 f3 Nc5 21 Nf4 Bg5 22 Ne2 Be3+ 23 Kh1 f4 (see diagram 1) It is disorienting to witness Botvinnik getting outplayed strategically. White’s game continues to subtly deteriorate. 24 Nd4 A mistake. Botvinnik seriously underestimates the danger to his king. His plan is too simple and instead, 24 Rad1 was necessary, intending 24 … fxg3 (24 … Raa8 is correct) 25 Qc3! Bg5 26 hxg3, when White’s pieces suddenly unravel with advantage.