Bent Larsen: the Dane who defied the Soviet machine

Before Bobby Fischer broke Soviet dominance of chess, one man had been trying to do it, practically alone, for years: Bent Larsen. The Dane was the best Western player of the 1960s and 70s, a tireless fighter who refused to accept draws, who despised memorized theory, and who played every game as if victory were the only thing that mattered. In an era of near-total Soviet hegemony, Larsen was the great hope of the West.

Who Larsen was

He was born on March 4, 1935 in Tilsted, a small town in northern Denmark. He learned to play as a child and, in a country with no great elite chess tradition, trained in a practically self-taught way. He went as far as studying engineering, but chess ended up winning out as his absolute calling.

His jump to the world elite came at the 1956 Moscow Olympiad, where, at just 21, he obtained the best individual score of the entire tournament, ahead of the great Soviet grandmasters. The chess world took notice: a star had been born in the most unexpected place.

The style: always play to win

What made Larsen unique was his absolute combative attitude. In an era when many grandmasters agreed to quick draws to save energy, Larsen played every game to the death, always seeking victory, accepting risks others avoided.

His most defining traits:

• Originality: he avoided the most theoretical openings to take the game onto his own ground. The Larsen Opening (1.b3) bears his name.
• Aggressiveness: he attacked boldly, willing to complicate the position.
• Independence: he thought for himself, without following the theoretical fashions of the Soviet school.
• Fighting spirit: he preferred to lose while seeking victory than to draw without risk.

This philosophy made him extraordinarily popular among fans and feared by his rivals.

The best in the West

By the late 60s, Larsen was at his peak. In 1967 he won four major international tournaments in a row, a streak that confirmed him as the best player in the world outside the USSR. His symbolic crowning came in 1970, in the legendary “USSR vs Rest of the World” match: when it came to deciding who would lead the world team on first board, Larsen claimed it on the strength of his results — and Bobby Fischer himself agreed to play second board. That a Dane was considered on par with Fischer says everything about his level.

The 0-6 against Fischer

The great obstacle on Larsen’s path to the title was, precisely, Bobby Fischer. In the semifinals of the 1971 Candidates Tournament, the two met with the American on the most impressive streak in chess history. The result was brutal: Fischer 6 – Larsen 0.

It wasn’t that Larsen played badly: it was that Fischer was at a superhuman level (he had also won 6-0 the previous round). That defeat hurt, but it didn’t stain the Dane’s reputation. Larsen kept winning tournaments for years and remained a living legend of chess until his death, on September 9, 2010, in Buenos Aires, where he lived out his final decades.

His chess DNA

In our chess DNA system, Larsen represents the profile of the original, independent fighter: high aggression, sharp tactics, and a will to win that doesn’t accept an easy draw. If your GM twin is Larsen, your strength lies in original play and in positions where your creativity and fighting spirit overwhelm the opponent; your biggest challenge may be prudence in moments where taking on too much risk backfires.

Keep exploring

• Bobby Fischer, who beat him 6-0 on his way to the world title
• Mikhail Tal, the other great attacker of his generation
• Viktor Korchnoi, another great fighter who defied the USSR
• Boris Spassky, the Soviet champion of his era
• All players