World Chess hall of fame
Bent Larsen
Inducted 2023 1935 - 1935
Denmark
Biography
Bent Larsen is remembered as one of the strongest players of the 1960s and 1970s, second in the West behind only Bobby Fischer. A four-time Candidate for the World Championship, he won three Interzonals, a feat matched only by World Chess Champion Mikhail Tal. Larsen was an original theorist far ahead of his time. His predilection for advancing his rook pawns was only given the seal of approval by the supercomputer AlphaZero over half a century later. One of the best writers in the history of chess, Larsen’s 1969 book of his selected games broke new ground with its insights into chess psychology. The opening 1.b3 is named after him.
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